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
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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