The evening started with a setback for Bayer 04: Fabian ‘B04_Dubzje’ de Cae was 3-0 down after 25 minutes against the Mainz player Deniel ‘Denii_10’ Mutic on XBOX; and the final score was 4-0. “I lost the game by a country mile,” said a disappointed de Cae. “I was unlucky at times but the defeat was obviously deserved.”
All the more important was the victory for Kai ‘Deto’ Wollin in the following one-on-one on PlayStation. Up against the Mainz 05 player Francesco ‘Bajazzo_7’ Mazzei, the two-time world champion in Black and Red spent “ten minutes where I was just chasing the game.” However, thanks to an improved performance, ‘Deto’ ended up winning the clash 2-0. There was a change of formation to 4-4-2 in the two-on-two game – and that brought the next three points. “I’d like to thank ‘Deto’ for “helping me bounce back after my defeat. The six points against direct rivals are very important,” was de Cae’s assessment of the first part of the double matchday.
In contrast to the Mainz game, ‘Deto’ was more successful in the opener against HSV. The B04 eSports player controlled the clash with Hamburg’s Leon ‘HSV__Leon’ Krasniqi and he earned a deserved 3-0 win on PlayStation. And de Cae also performed better than against Mainz, earning a 2-1 win against Christoph ‘HSV Chrissi’ Strietzel “thanks to an improved performance” (SOT de Cae).
Bayer 04 only failed to win maximum points in the two-on-two against the Hamburg players Niklas ‘HSV NHeisen’ Heisen and Quinten ‘HSV Quinten’ van der Most – the final score 1-1. “We could have got three points here too,” declared Leverkusen’s de Cae. His partner ‘Deto’ summed up proceedings as follows: “13 out of 18 points against direct rivals – that’s a good result!”
‘B04_Dubzje’ and ‘Deto’ are back in action on Wednesday, 22 January with games against VfL Wolfsburg (18.00 CET) and Schalke 04 (20.30 CET). In a change from Monday games in the first half of the season, the regular VBL matchdays will now be on Wednesdays.
Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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