
As with last season, the VBL CC is again divided into two groups according to geography with the Werkself in the North West division. The #B04eSports players kick-off at 18.00 CET against Holstein Kiel who finished two places behind the Black and Reds in seventh place in 2020/21.
"We want to make a good start to the campaign and we have put in a lot of training over recent weeks," said Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ de Cae, who will start on Xbox as usual and is once again rated as one of the top players on that console.
After the end of the career for Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin, Bayer 04 have strengthened by bringing in Furkan ‘FURKY’ Kayacik. The 22-year-old impressed in the pre-season and has declared his target following his presentation in an interview with bayer04.de: "I'd like to achieve the maximum in all areas."
The squad is completed by the youngsters Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr and newcomer Paul ‘B04_PAUL’ Degner plus the Women's team goalkeeper Anna ‘B04_ANNA’ Klink.
As in previous years, a matchday evening in the VBL CC this term is a double matchday. That means de Cae and Co. will follow the matches against KSV Holstein from 20.00 CET with games against the Schalke 04 eSports players who finished eleventh in the North West division in 2020/21.
The clashes with the Royal Blues will also be streamed live on the Bayer 04 Twitch channel.

The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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