Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin got off to a flying start against the Foals on PlayStation 4 on early Tuesday evening: In the clash with Borussia's Yannick ‘BMG_JEFFRYY’ Reiners, the two-time world champion in the services of Bayer 04 took an early lead (16'). Mönchengladbach equalised shortly after that (24') but Leverkusen demonstrated their mentality to restore the lead (51'). As ‘DETO’ was able to hold onto the 2-1 lead to the end of the game, that brought the first three points of the night.
In the 1 v 1 on Xbox, this time it was the turn of Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr as he replaced his teammate Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ De Cae – with success! The youngster beat Mönchengladbach's Eleftherios ‘BMG_LEFTI’ Ilias 4-1. A hat-trick from the virtual Samed Onur (18', 45', 60') plus Moussa Diaby in the closing stages (79') secured the next three points for the Black and Reds.
As the Leverkusen duo shone in the 2 v 2 against the Foals with a 2-1 victory, that brought nine out of a possible nine points on matchday 23. Where ‘DETO’ and Co. have shown the way, the Werkself will be looking to follow in a few days: The team under head coach Peter Bosz are also playing the Foals on Saturday, 6 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET).
Shortly after the clashes with the Rhine rivals, the next opponents were ready – and it was also worth the wait. The #B04eSports players were up against Werder Bremen, last year's champions of Germany. And although the North Germans have been in the lower half of the table in the current VBL season, their qualities are still evident. ‘MARC_LDW23’ got a taste of that in the 1 v 1 on PlayStation 4. He suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat through an early goal on seven minutes from Bremen's Fabio ‘FIFABIO97’ Sabbagh.
That was followed by an absolute highlight on Xbox: Michael ‘MEGABIT’ Bittner was the opponent for ‘B04_DUBZJE’. The German 1 v 1 champion of 2019 has dominated all individual statistics in the current VBL season across all formats. But the Leverkusen player did not give 'MEGABIT' a chance in the 1 v 1 encounter as he earned a deserved 5-2 win. As the the pairing of 'DETO' and MARC_'LDW23 drew 0-0 in the following 2 v 2 match, the overall result was a fair 4-4 draw.
A look at the table in the North West division of the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) is worth a look through black and red glasses at the moment. After 23 matchdays, Bayer 04 are third – with exactly 100 points. Although, the competition have two or even three games in hand.
It remains to be seen where the #B04eSports players will end up. ‘DETO’ and Co. do have another chance to exert a positive influence on the outcome: The final matchday is next Tuesday, 9 March. The matches against next-to-bottom Hannover 96 start at 18.00 CET.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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