
The matches against Borussia Mönchengladbach came first early on Tuesday evening. "We set ourselves the target of overtaking a direct rival in Gladbach at the end of the first half of the season," said Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr before the encounter. And the 18-year-old achieved the target together with his teammates: Thanks to the 5-2 overall win against the Foals eSports players, the Black and Reds went ahead of Mönchengladbach in the table at the end of the first of the season.
‘MARC_LDW23’ secured a 1-1 draw on PlayStation 5 at the start of the evening, Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ de Cae on Xbox Series S/X drew 2-2. As ‘MARC_LDW23’ and Paul ‘B04_PAUL’ Degner were able to come out with a 2-0 victory in the 2vs2 match, the #B04eSports players were able to go ahead of their Rhineland rivals in the VBL table.
The success on matchday 12 was incredibly important in two respects as the top six finish in the first half of the season puts the Black and Reds through to the main round of the DFB eCup.
Leverkusen went into the opening fixture of the second half of the season in confident mood – for them games against Holstein Kiel. In the 1vs1 match on PS 5, ‘MARC_LDW23’ picked up the first three points for the Werkself with a 2-1 win but ‘B04_DUBZJE’ was on the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline on Xbox. The overall result was a 4-4 draw as the final 2vs2 game ended all square at 2-2.
After 13 of 24 matchdays, the #B04eSports team are currently sixth in the North West Division, which would qualify them for the VBL play-offs at the end of the season. There is just a one-point gap to fourth place.
There are no games next week with the next VBL CC matches being played on 25 January against ninth-placed Schalke (18.00 CET) and VfL Bochum, who are currently eighth in the table (20.00 CET).

“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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