Leverkusen’s eSports pro ‘deto’ has recently been taking part in tournaments at regular intervals. This week there was an international online event that included games against eSports players from Djurgardens IF (Norway) and VfL Wolfsburg. The three-time world champion meets VfB eSports player Niklas ‘Nik_Lugi’ Luginsland on Saturday in the ‘Bundesliga Home Challenge’.
Wollin’s partner Nadiem Amiri is looking forward to the clash with Stuttgart’s second division player Atakan Karazor. He has picked up the controller a lot over the past couple of weeks. “I think I’m pretty good,” said the 23-year-old who is backing his virtual self in holding midfield in his favoured formation of 4-4-2 and he is more of a quiet type of player in front of the computer screen – with one exception as he revealed with a wink: “Except when I’m playing against my friends. It can get a bit louder.”
The Bundesliga Home Challenge:
As a result of the suspension of fixtures in German professional football and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the DFL has set up the Bundesliga Home Challenge. 29 of the 36 Bundesliga clubs are represented on matchday two. The teams are made up of one first-team player per club plus "one person from the relevant club or associated with it." In addition, Deniz Aytekin and Daniel Schlager make up the Bundesliga referees team.
The challenge is played in the so-called 85 mode on PlayStation 4 without an official ranking. The virtual players therefore have the same overall strength. On matchday one, 'deto' and Adrian Stanilewicz played Darmstadt 98, ‘deto’ and Wendell took on a Dynamo Dresden team on matchday two.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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