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:
Yes, I'd like to see videos dispalyed.
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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended Abdoulaye Faye’s contract by a further year to 30 June 2031. During the 2026/27 season, the talented defender will play for Celta Vigo on loan without an option to buy. The 21-year-old Senegalese is set to feature in La Liga and the UEFA Europa League with last season’s sixth-placed side in Spain.
Show more
The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme on day one (Sunday 2 August) includes a media round with managing director sport Simon Rolfes, free time for the team after the friendly against Rot-Weiss Essen and before an intensive week of training begins, as well as a coffee get-together where CEO Fernando Carro and Rolfes met around 100 fans in the afternoon.
Show more
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed Kerim Alajbegovic’s transfer to Italian record champions Juventus. The club brought the 18-year-old attacking player back to Leverkusen this summer via a buy-back option, following a season at Red Bull Salzburg. Until his move to Austria, the Bosnia international had been playing for Bayer 04’s Under-19s.
Show more
A warm welcome to the Weimarer Land, Bayer 04! The Werkself moved into their accommodation for this year’s training camp on Saturday evening. In Blankenhain, Thuringia, head coach Carles Martínez’s team have a programme of gruelling training sessions – several of which will be open to fans – and team-building activities lined up for the next six days. We’ll be following the Werkself up close and providing you with exclusive insights, quotes, photos and videos from the training camp.
Show more
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
Show more
