The German Football League (DFL), as organisers of the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL), decided in the middle of December to postpone the remaining two-against two games in the VBL planned for 22 December due to the coronavirus pandemic. That meant the Leverkusen eSports players only completed their individual games against Werder Bremen and Hannover 96.
The outstanding virtual matches against the northern clubs have now been completed. Bayer 04 carried out comprehensive hygiene measures in the Elgato gaming room which included screens between the players for the two-against-two matches. If there are are individual matches then only the player involved stays in the room. And the main requirement still applies: maintain distancing.
Thanks to the measures taken, Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr and Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin were able to fully focus on the rearranged games – and that paid off. Against the reigning champions Bremen, there was an overall 7-1 win thanks to the 2-0 success in the doubles; after the 1-1 draw in the two-against-two game against Hannover, Bayer 04 also won against the team from Lower Saxony with a 5-2 victory.
The #B04eSports players went into the second session of the evening in confident mood. The opponents were again from the far north of the country and this time it was Holstein Kiel. The Black and Red console players were able to celebrate parallel to the 4-1 home win for the Werkself against Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Cup. First of all, ‘DETO’ drew 3-3 with his opponent Cihat ‘CIHAT6161’ Korkmaz and then Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ De Cae beat Kiel’s Benedict ‘B3NN1FIFA’ Ratzlaff 2-0 on Xbox.
As the following two-against-two ended all square at 1-1, Leverkusen earned the third overall winner of the evening. The #B04eSports players are now sixth in the North West division.
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
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While the majority of the Bayer 04 Women are enjoying their summer break, nine Werkself players will be on duty for their national teams in the coming days. Three of them are competing for a place at the World Cup, while six are involved in two friendlies with the Germany U23 team.
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