Black and Red supporters were able to hear a new voice on the live stream on the Bayer 04 Twitch channel: Furkan ‘FURKY’ Kayacik led the viewers as presenter and commentator through the evening broadcasting live from the TV studio at the BayArena with a view of the pitch. The 22-year-old joined Leverkusen before the start of the new season in the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) and is now also working as a content creator.
Kayacik’s teammate Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr had the controller in his hands for the first clash in the new VBL campaign Controller. The Leverkusen youngster registered a 1-1 draw on PlayStation 5 against Kiel's Cihat ‘CIHAT_6161’ Korkmaz. As Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ de Cae beat the Holstein eSports player Nils ‘SAMSTAG_11’ Mohr 3-1 in a head-to-head clash on Xbox Series S/X, a lead was taken into the doubles match.
The two youth eSports players Landwehr (19) and new signing Paul ‘B04_PAUL’ Degner (18) started for the Black and Reds. With almost two thirds possession, Leverkusen had control of the game and ended with a 1-1 draw – and an overall 5-2 win for starters.
The late evening brought the encounters with the Schalke 04 eSports players. The Royal Blues beat VfL Bochum 6-3 on matchday one – but then stood no chance against the #B04eSports team.
Landwehr secured a 3-0 win on PS 5 against Hasan ‘HASOO’ Eker, de Cae beat Schalke’s Serhat ‘SERHATINHO’ Öztürk 2-0 on Xbox. The youngsters again played in the doubles for Bayer 04. They were also winners (2-1) as they concluded a perfect matchday against the Royal Blues.
It was a successful first night for the Black and Reds. "A great snapshot. But we’ve only completed the first two matchdays and we've got lots of work ahead of us," said Florian Dederichs, head of internationalisation and eSports at Bayer 04.
Leverkusen are top of the table in the North West division with 14 points. Equal second on 10 points are FC St. Pauli, Hansa Rostock and Hamburg SV.
Next Tuesday night, de Cae and Co. play seventh-placed VfL Bochum (18.00 CET) and eighth-placed Hannover 96 (20.00 CET).
Bayer 04 vs Holstein Kiel 5:2
PlayStation 5: 1-1
Xbox Series S/X: 3-0
Doubles (PlayStation 5): 1-1
Bayer 04 vs FC Schalke 04
PlayStation 5: 3-0
Xbox Series S/X: 2-0
Doubles (PlayStation 5): 2-1
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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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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