
The meeting with Hamburg SV represented the start of the VBL campaign in 2023 for the Black and Red players – and it brought a win for Leverkusen. As usual, the fixture began with a 2 vs 2 game. Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr and Furkan ‘FURKY’ Kayacik were on the controllers against the Red Shorts duo of Daniel ‘HSV_DANIEL7’ Dwelk and Steffen ‘FUNINO’ Pöppe. The game ended in a 3-1 win for the #B04eSports players.
Landwehr was then beaten 2-1 by Pöppe in the 1 vs 1 encounter taking the match to a decider in the third game. Kayacik faced Dwelk and the Leverkusen player clocked up an impressive 3-0 win. That secured first points of the New Year.
The match against Holstein Kiel followed later in the evening with the meeting against the team bottom of the North West division ending in defeat. The 2 vs 2 for Landwehr and Kayacik ended all square at 2-2 and then Kayacik was on the wrong end of a 6-1 scoreline in the following 1 vs 1 against the Kiel player Colin ‘COOOLLIIIN’. In the third and final game of the evening, Landwehr was up against the Storks eSports player Florian ‘IROYALDYNASTY’ Wilhelm. That also ended all square at 1-1 bringing a defeat for the #B04eSports players.
The #B04eSports team are back in action on matchdays 18 and 19: VfL Bochum are the first opponents at 18.00 CET on Tuesday 17 January with Borussia Mönchengladbach providing the opposition at 19.30 CET.
Results on matchdays 16 and 17:
Bayer 04 vs Hamburg SV (3 points)
2 vs 2: 3-1
Landwehr vs Pöppe: 1-2
Kayacik vs Dwelk: 3-0
Bayer 04 vs Holstein Kiel (0 points)
2 vs 2: 2-2
Völter vs Kayacik: 6-1
Wilhelm vs Landwehr: 1-1

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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