In addition to the professional teams in the VBL Club Championship, amateur teams can also take part in the DFBePokal powered by ERGO. These teams must register in advance, provided they fulfil the necessary participation requirements and conditions on the DFB website.
In the DFBePokal, the 95-team mode is always used - unlike in the VBL CC, where the Ultimate Team mode is used. In the ePokal, players can choose any team from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 or Liga 3. However, VBL CC professional players must use their club team.
The DFBePokal is organised as follows: The amateur teams compete in community qualifiers from October to February. 256 teams can register for each qualifier, the ties are drawn and there is a winner at the end. There are a total of seven of these qualifiers and an additional qualifier exclusively for the winners of regional tournaments, the state association trophies.
Eight winners emerge there and play against each other online in a subsequent play-off round. Here too, the ties are drawn. Four teams remain.
These four teams qualify for the Pokal final event at the DFB Campus in Frankfurt, which will take place in 2026. Four teams from the VBL Club Championship will join them there, namely the winners of the first four showdowns that have been held since the 2025/26 season. The #B04eSports team have won the first showdown of the season and are therefore guaranteed a place in the DFBePokal.
The ties in the final event are drawn at random, and in the end one team can call themselves the Pokal winners!
The penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
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The third showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 kicks off for the Leverkusen eSports team this Thursday, 11 December (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Red will once again take on six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round, which will take place at this third showdown on 19 December in Cologne. Showdown One winners Bayer 04 will face FC St. Pauli, who won the second showdown last month, among others. The lowdown on first three opponents in this online preliminary round.
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Alejandro Grimaldo, of course! With his late equaliser (88') in the Champions League clash against Newcastle United, the Spaniard rescued a point for the Werkself, who took the lead through an own goal by Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (13') but went with two goals for the visitors scored by Anthony Gordon (51') and Lewis Miley (74'). It was the third draw for Bayer 04 in the current 2025/26 campaign on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase.
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The Werkself will be looking to continue their run in the Champions League against Newcastle United on Wednesday, 10 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET). The two victories without conceding a goal at Benfica (1:0) and Manchester City (2-0) will hopefully be followed by a win at home at the BayArena. Against the English side, who have a player with a Black and Red past in their ranks, the way to victory could be through efficiency in attack and quick transitional play. The latter in particular has recently caused the Magpies problems away from home on the European stage. Fans can also get the stylish matchday sticker for their Sound of Dreams tour pass at the Bayer 04 Fanwelt. The matchday news.
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For the first time ever, Bayer 04 have reached the knockout phase of the UEFA Youth League. At the end of the league phase, the Leverkusen U19s secured a 2-1 home win against Newcastle United on Wednesday, 10 December. Montrell Culbreath scored before half-time and Ferdinand Pohl doubled the lead after the restart in the clash with the English side. The UCL youth competition continues at the beginning of February with the Round of 32, which will be played away from home without a second leg.
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