While the Black and Reds had to enter the play-offs in ninth place in the overall league table, where they defeated SV Darmstadt 98t 98, HSV bypassed the intermediate round with just one point more than Bayer 04 in eighth place.
In front of a large number of opposing fans Sean 'SEAN_LDW07' Landwehr went behind early on against Hamburg's ‘offline ace’ Henning ‘HHENNING23’ Wilmbusse (10’). After that, the game meandered along before the action picked up after half-time and Wilmbusse created several great chances. However, Sean Landwehr also continued to make occasional attacks - and Patrik Schick equalised in the 80th minute to make it 1-1, which was also the final score. An important comeback to avoid going into the second 1v1 game on the back of a defeat.
Marc 'MARC_LDW23' Landwehr came up against Hamburg's Brandon ‘HSV_PERKKIX’ Wüschem, who made a very aggressive start to the game. After just three minutes, there was a setback in the form of an early goal for HSV. But Marc Landwehr did not give up, remained composed and played his game mainly down the flanks. In the closing stages of the first half, the Leverkusen man then scored twice (34', 43'). In the second half, Marc Landwehr finally utilised his routine and vast experience, playing in a cool and collected manner - and thus secured his place in the quarter-finals!
The results at a glance:
Round of 16 VBL CC 2025/26:
Hamburger SV (L) vs Bayer 04 (W)
‘HHENNING23’ 1-1 ‘SEAN_LDW07’
‘HSV_PERKKIX’ 1-2 ‘MARC_LDW23’
Final score: 2-3
The Leverkusen eSports players are in the quarter-finals on Sunday 8 March. Marc and Sean Landwehr face SC Freiburg, who beat FC Kaiserslautern in the Round of 16, from 14:00 CET. Gianluca ‘SCF_GIANLUCA’ Mautone plays alongside Nassim ‘NASSADA-‘ Dahman, currently the best player in the league, FC Pro Open Top 8 and World Cup entrant.
SCF finished the league phase in first place in the overall table. The eSports team from Freiburg entered the offline round in all five showdowns and progressed to at least the semi-finals each time. They went out in the last four three times, lost in a final against RB Leipzig and earned a win against Borussia Dortmund in the final in the fifth showdown.
All quarter-final matches and all subsequent duels in the final round of the VBL CC will be broadcast live on the VBL Twitch channel. Fans of eSports can also watch the event free of charge on site at XPERION in Hamburg. A possible semi-final involving the Black and Reds would start at 16:30 CET. The final for the club title will kick-off at 19:00 CET.
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Plenty going on both on and off the pitch: The Bayer 04 fan support team has organised a number of highlights for fans visiting the Werkself 2026/27 summer training camp in Blankenhain, in the Weimarer Land region. Registration for the events is now open. All the details at a glance.
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