At the start of the evening, Furkan ‘FURKY’ Kayacik earned a 1-1 draw in the 1v1 on PlayStation 5 against Paderborn’s Jannis ‘JISTENNSQ’ Pütz – the #B04eSports player was mainly on the mic rather than the controller last week as he commentated on proceedings for the viewers on the Bayer 04 Twitch channel.
In the following 1v1 on Xbox Series S/X, Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr – actually on PS5 at home – was on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline. The 2v2 involving Landwehr and Paul ‘B04_PAUL’ Degner finished with a 3-0 loss that meant the overall result was a 7-1 defeat.
The Werkself eSports players then went into the game against the runaway league leaders Werder Bremen. ‘FURKY’ lost 4-2 in his PlayStation 1v1 with Bremen’s Max ‘DIVINERS’ Gröne.
In the following 1v1 on Xbox, ‘MARC_LDW23’ showed his class as he dispatched Ali ‘PREDATORFIFA’ Oskoui Rad with an emphatic 5-1 victory. The 20-year-old and his teammate ‘B04_PAUL’ had to settle for 2-2 draw in the 2v2 due to a late equaliser.
The Black and Reds remain tenth in the North West division with a six-point gap to the top six.
Tuesday 22 February brings the match against Hansa Rostock (from 18.00 CET) plus the derby against FC Köln (from 21.30 CET).
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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