128 eSports players took part in the VBL play-offs at the weekend. Their target: the VBL Grand Final. They had to go through five so-called Swiss Rounds with first and second legs. All participants with a maximum of two defeats went through to the Round of 32. After that there was only the one hurdle of the Round of 16 before qualifying for the finals.
Three Leverkusen eSports players started in the play-offs: ‘DETO’ and ‘MARC_LDW23’ on PlayStation 4, ‘B04_DUBZJE’ on Xbox. The latter went through to the knockout rounds with three wins in the five Swiss Rounds. His Black and Red teammates failed to qualify for the Round of 32 in the tournament.
In the Round of 32, the Leverkusen Xbox player De Cae went through against Justin ‘GODLY’ Kampmeier with a 4-2 win (2-2, 2-0). He just needed another victory on Sunday night to go through to the finals.
The opponent in the Round of 16 was Christoph ‘CHRISSI291’ Strietzel. The first match against the Hertha Berlin 20-year-old eSports player ended in a clear 4-1 defeat. ‘B04_DUBZJE’ refused to give up and fought hard in the second game. A 3-1 win was secured after 90 virtual minutes – the #B04eSports player only needed one more goal to force the tie into extra-time and another strike would have put him through to the VBL Grand Final.
This year’s VBL season is over for Leverkusen. The #B04eSports team will play friendlies and exhibition matches against other clubs in the coming weeks. That starts with a friendly on Friday, 21 May against Borussia Dortmund. From 20.00 CEST, the final Bundesliga match of the season will be simulated on on consoles. All matches will be broadcast live as usual on the Bayer 04 Twitch channel.
This summer there will also be a range of tournaments and formats for our fans on Twitch, with viewers able to demonstrate their own talent on the consoles, before preparations start for FIFA 22.
Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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Following on from the emotional last-minute win at Union Berlin, the Bayer 04 Women now face a promoted team: On Saturday, 31 January (12:00 CET), coach Roberto Pätzold's team welcome FC Nürnberg to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for their first home game of the new year. In their second season in the Bundesliga, the Franconians have impressed with 16 points from the first 15 games.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with Germany U19 international Montrell Culbreath. The attacking midfielder and right winger has penned a deal with the Bundesliga club that runs to 30 June 2030. Culbreath has played for the Werkself as a youth player since 2023. Last December, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for the Leverkusen first team in the Bayer 04 3-1 away win at RB Leipzig.
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