There are big changes for the new season with no more divisions, no more 2v2 games. Instead, showdowns, divided into online preliminary rounds with six matches and subsequent offline knockout phases in a different German city for the best 16 teams in the preliminary round. Details of the new format can be found HERE.
In Leipzig, where the first offline phase of the first showdown starts tomorrow, the #B04eSports team of Marc 'MARC_LDW23' Landwehr, Sean 'SEAN_LDW07' Landwehr, Markus 'B04_MARKUS' Hüttemann and Keanu 'KEANUS21_' Senkbeil will face the following opponents. An overview of the fixtures dates can be found below.
It starts with a strong opening opponent. SC Paderborn reached the semi-finals of the VBL CC last season, where they faced Bayer 04 and lost. SCP won the double the season before. There are two new eSports players in the SC Paderborn team this season, one of them is 21-year-old Israeli Yuval ‘YUVAL’ Blizovsky, who was runner-up at the FC Pro 24 World Championship in 2024. The other addition is 16-year-old Dutchman Morris ‘MORRIS’ van de Pol. The team also includes 30-year-old Daniel ‘COACH_POMMES’ Elit.
Arminia Bielefeld suspended their eSports operations in 2020 but are now back on the virtual football pitch. The squad consists of 21-year-old Hisham ‘LIBOO7_’ Badreddine, 23-year-old Laurin-Noah ‘SNAKEZ’ Bartsch and 21-year-old Marius ‘MARIUS114’ Grundmann. Badreddine most recently played for SC Preußen Münster, Bartsch for 1. FC Heidenheim 1846. For Grundmann, this is his first professional VBL-CC season.
Another top opponent awaits in the third match. Last season, Mainz finished level on points with champions Bayern Munich in second place in the South-East Division in the final round of the VBL CC. FSV then had to call it a day before the semi-finals. The squad includes Ditmir ‘DITMIR_4897’ Alimi, Georgios ‘PGEORGE7’ Papatolis and Joe ‘JH7’ Hellmann. Last season, 28-year-old Alimi reached the VBL Grand Final, the individual competition played after the club title is decided, where he reached the Round of 16. Georgios Papatolis has been a stalwart in the Mainz squad for several years, and this is Hellmann's second season with the 05s.
Werder will start with a revamped squad: Max Julius ‘DIVINERS’ Gröne is nevertheless a familiar face in the line-up. Once trained in Bremen, the 22-year-old led SC Paderborn to the semi-finals of the VBL CC last season. At his side: Jannik ‘KYNURU’ Schüßler, who showed what he can do with impressive performances in the VBL Open and the DFB ePokal and is now playing for Werder Bremen. Together with player-coach Fabio ‘FIFABIO’ Sabbagh, the team wants to build on previous successes. Last season, they finished second in the North-West Division. In the final round, the team was eliminated before the semi-finals.
Last season, Borussia Dortmund finished behind Werder Bremen in the North-West Division. There was then a major shake-up for this new campaign: Roee ‘FELDMANN’ Feldman left the club in the summer and was replaced by Luca ‘LUCAFIFA72’ Weber, a young player from FC Köln. Together with Dennis ‘DENNINHO’ Malcherczyk, Francesco ‘VIRGIL’ Allocco and Lucas ‘LUCAS’ Geerken, BVB has one of the biggest squads in the league.
Promoted Dynamo Dresden are a completely new team in the VBL Club Championship. The debutants start the season with Marcel ‘MINUSMACHER31’ Gramann as player-coach, Nils ‘TROLFARY’ Coenen and Justin ‘JUSTINIOO’ Weißflog.
The fixtures and dates at a glance:
Thursday, 16 October
Tuesday, 21 October
For anyone who wants to follow the matches of the Leverkusen eSports team live: All this season's games can again be watched live on the Bayer 04 app. Fans can also watch the games on the Bayer 04 Twitch channel HERE.
A special afternoon at the Bayer 04 Football Academy autumn camp: At the Liga 20 indoor football centre, in the shadow of the BayArena, two Werkself women’s team players led a training session. Loreen Bender and Selina Ostermeier not only offered the young players advice and support, but also got stuck in themselves.
Show more
The Werkself have reached at least the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal in each of the last three years. The Black-and-Reds would like to make it to the final four of the competition again this season, but to do that they'll need to overcome 1. FC Nürnberg in round two, who travel to the BayArena with momentum following a successful league campaign so far. However, Bayer have a 100 percent record at home in all competitions this season - and have also won six of their last seven home matches in the Pokal. The Matchday News.
Show more
Back at home in the second round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal, Bayer 04 host FC Nürnberg at the BayArena. The match against the current second-placed side in Bundesliga 2 is on Wednesday 28 October at 20:45 CET. Ahead of the game, head coach Carles Martínez spoke, amongst other things, about his anticipation of the clash in front of a home crowd. The Spaniard also commented on a number of personnel matters, including Ibrahim Maza and Montrell Culbreath, plus the visitors’ coach, Miroslav Klose.
Show more
Now in their third season under head coach Miroslav Klose, FC Nürnberg are among the promotion contenders in Bundesliga 2. On Wednesday 28 October (kick-off: 20:45 CET), the team currently second in the table are away to Bayer 04 in the second round of the DFB Pokal. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
Werkself player Ibrahim Maza has been named in the top ten in the ‘Men’s Young Talent of the Year’ category for 2026. The 20-year-old was at the London Palladium on Monday evening for the 2026 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony. Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, also attended the ceremony. Lamine Yamal of Barcelona was named the winner in the ‘Men’s Young Talent of the Year’ category.
Show more
