At the start of the online preliminary round in this third showdown, Leverkusen picked up six points from the first three games to create a reasonable position for the final three matches. However, more points were needed to finish in the top 16 out of 35 teams in the Showdown Three table to advance to the offline knockout round.
The evening started with the match against SV 07 Elversberg. Marc 'MARC_LDW23' Landwehr faced Rick ‘RICK_LIEBSCHER’ Mietzsch, but lost 4-2. Sean 'SEAN_LDW07' Landwehr won 3-2 against Felix ‘IFELIIX23’ Breitkopf, the eSports player man with the best defence so far this term, but the final result was 5-6 - and the three points went to the Saarland team.
The games against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 followed, with Marc Landwehr coming up against Arda ‘XARDA08_’ Gümüs and he took the lead but ended up losing 2-1. It was down to Sean again. A narrow 1-0 win against Thomas ‘XTHOMAS_OM’ Ostermaier ultimately meant that the final score was 2-2 - and one point for both teams. Three points were needed in the final match to advance to the offline round.
Fortuna Düsseldorf awaited at the end of the preliminary round. Unfortunately, the Black and Reds failed to win. Sean Landwehr was beaten 4-1 by Antonio ‘ANTONIORADELJA’ Radelja in the first game, and Marc Landwehr's 3-2 victory over Fabio ‘F95_FABIO’ Immerthal afterwards was not enough for three points for the #B04eSports team.
Results at a glance:
Showdown 3 (online preliminary round) - Match 1
SV 07 Elversberg (W) vs Bayer 04 (L)
‘RICK_LIEBSCHER’ 4-2 ‘MARC_LDW23’
‘IFELIIX23’ 2-3 ‘SEAN_LDW07’
Result: 6-5
Showdown 3 (online preliminary round) - Match 2
Bayer 04 (D) vs 1. FC Heidenheim (D)
‘MARC_LDW23’ 1-2 ‘XARDA08_’
‘SEAN_LDW07’ 1-0 ‘XTHOMAS_OM’
Result: 2-2
Showdown 3 (online preliminary round) - Match 3
Bayer 04 (L) vs Fortuna Düsseldorf (W)
‘SEAN_LDW07’ 1-4 ‘ANTONIORADELJA’
‘MARC_LDW23’ 3-2 ‘F95_FABIO’
Result: 4-6
TV Highlights:
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With just one more point in the final three matches of the online preliminary round in Showdown Three, Leverkusen missed out on a place in the offline round to played in Cologne on Friday, 19 December. The Showdown One winners Bayer 04 already missed out on the offline round in Showdown Two last month. The Black and Reds are (still) in seventh place in the overall table but they are set to drop down after the end of this offline round.
The points from all online preliminary rounds (3 per win) and offline rounds (2 per win) of the five showdowns will be added together in the overall table, which will decide who advances to the final round of the German Club Championship next year. Places 1 to 8 will go straight through to the final event, while the teams in places 9 to 24 will play off in a play-off round to determine the remaining eight teams.
The Landwehr cousins will not be in action again until the new year. The fourth and penultimate showdown will start with the online preliminary round on Thursday, 22 January 2026. The offline round in this showdown is in Berlin.
A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have extended their winning run with a fifth consecutive victory on Matchday 5 of the DFB Youth League’s preliminary round. Coach Patrick Greveraars’ side secured a 3–2 (2–1) win in their match against second-placed FC Viktoria Köln, with Burak Kir and Nebe Domnic scoring for the hosts in the first half before captain Ben Hawighorst found the net after the break.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Guéla Doué for the time being. The Ivory Coast international sustained a muscle injury to his right calf during the final Werkself training session yesterday ahead of the Europa League clash with Slovenian champions NK Celje.
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For the first time since reaching the final against AS Roma (2–2, first leg 2–0) in May 2024, Bayer 04 are playing another home match in the UEFA Europa League – and they will be wearing their new European kit. On Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), the BayArena will welcome Slovenian champions NK Celje, who appointed a new coach this week following a mixed start to the season. Under the slogan “40 Years Across Europe. Still Creating History.”, the Black and Reds now aim to add the next chapter to their European history, which has seen so much success in recent years. Bayer 04 fans can follow the match on free-to-air TV on RTL, as well as on Sky and Werkself Radio. The matchday news.
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European football returns to the BayArena: Bayer 04 host Slovenian champions NK Celje on matchday 1 in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. Ahead of the match on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez and midfielder Aleix Garcia spoke at the pre-match press conference. The focus was primarily on the great anticipation surrounding the competition and the clear objectives for it – and, given the circumstances, on a last-minute change to the opposition line-up.
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