
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 Werkself face Manchester City for the very first time on Tuesday for Matchday 5 of the league phase in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League (kick-off: 21:00 CET). The hosts sit fourth in the standings and boast huge quality in attack, while Leverkusen are looking to improve their meagre record of just one win from the last 10 games away at English clubs. A key player in that regard could be Aleix Garcia, the former City midfielder who ranks highly in several passing metrics in the Champions League this season. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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The Werkself's next European trip takes them to the north-west of England as Kasper Hjulmand's side take on Manchester City on Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET) on Matchday 5 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. As usual, we'll take you along on the #aCROSSeurope journey and report from Manchester. All times listed are in CET.
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The annual Black and Red Week has started. Day one, Tuesday 25 November, includes a special ticket offer for Bayer 04 Club members and a special jersey offer for all Werkself fans...
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The dress rehearsal in the Premier League for the match against the Werkself did not go well at the weekend. However, Manchester City are still unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League, the competition they won in 2023. In the first encounter with Bayer 04 this Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Pep Guardiola will be able to field just about his best line-up. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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