Who will come out on top? Midfield dynamo Robert Andrich is involved in a very special duel today (Monday) – albeit not on real turf. The Werkself number eight is taking on supporters of the Black and Reds, who have previously applied through the club's social media channels, in the #B04eSports event ‘#BeatThePro’ in two FIFA clashes. And that's not all: eSports player Marc ‘marc_LDW23’ Landwehr is also challenging Leverkusen supporters in two matches.
It all kicks off at 17.00 CET on the Bayer 04 Twitch channel. Click here for the live stream.
A total of 15 players started the second week of training during international break on Monday afternoon fresh and recovered. It was straight into the action with a range of passing drills and small-scale matches. In addition to the Werkself players, Seoane welcomed youth players onto the pitch. Six U19 players made up the training group. That included Sadik Fofana, Noah Pesch, Aaron Tshimuanga, Felix Erken, Joshua Eze and Ingyom Jung.
Other particularly good news: Andrey Lunev was able to complete his first session with the team since his ankle injury.
The transfermarkt.de website has updated the market values of Bundesliga players during the international break. And the figures are interesting: Bayer 04 are top in terms of improvement of squad value. The Werkself leads the Bundesliga table with an increase of 4.1%, that is €17 million. The Black and Reds are followed by TSG Hoffenheim with an increase of €14 million putting them amongst the biggest winners in the league.
Also, Moussa Diaby was able to increase his market value by €10 million – the France international is currently worth €55 million. The Werkself now have an overall market value of €434.5 million.
Bayer 04 pay tribute to the longstanding sports journalist and ZDF head of sports Dieter Gruschwitz. Gruschwitz passed away on Sunday 27 March at the age of 68. Gruschwitz was born in Neuwied, Rhineland Palatinate and he started his TV career in 1979 with the Sender Freies Berlin broadcaster. He moved on to ZDF in April 1996 and in his role he covered the World Cup finals in France in 1998 and in South Korea and Japan in 2002. From 2004 he was the head of the sports editorial office.
The Champions League journey continues! On the eighth and final matchday of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26, Bayer 04 secured their place in the play-offs with a commanding 3-0 win over Villarreal. Malik Tillman put in a mature and combative performance for Leverkusen, scoring a brace (12', 35') to make it 2-0 at the break, while Alejandro Grimaldo (57') and plenty of control of the game did the rest in the second half. The draw for the Werkself's next UCL opponents will take place on Friday 30 January at 12:00 CET.
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The Leverkusen eSports team played the remaining three of the six matches in the online preliminary round of the fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg were among the teams with the highest goal threat, including two World Cup participants in their ranks. Although the #B04eSports players were defeated in the matches overall, nine points from the first three games last week were enough for Leverkusen to advance to the offline round in Berlin on 2 February.
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A decisive showdown awaits: The Werkself are aiming to progress to the play-off round of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League with a home win against Villarreal CF on the eighth and final matchday of the league phase. Ahead of the match on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the importance of the game, the possible return of Edmond Tapsoba and a statement from new signing Jonas Omlin in an exclusive interview with Werkself TV. Lucas Vázquez, for his part, spoke about his role on and off the pitch as well as tomorrow’s opponents, who he often faced in Spain with Real Madrid.
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For Villarreal CF, the match at Bayer 04 on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), will be their last appearance on the European stage this season. The Spanish side, currently fourth in La Liga, are still without a win in the UEFA Champions League and, with just one point from their seven games so far, have no chance of making the play-offs. The 2021 Europa League winners can therefore play without any pressure at the BayArena and will be looking to bow out of the competition with a good performance. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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