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.
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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The Werkself began 2026 with defeat, losing 4-1 at home to VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 16 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga. Jamie Leweling opened the scoring early, with Maximilian Mittelstädt making it 2-0 from a penalty before Leweling again and Deniz Undav increased the lead to 4-0 just before half-time. Alejandro Grimaldo's penalty reduced the deficit midway through the second period.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen has gained a new partner in digital gaming platform Crown Coins, which joins the Bundesliga runners-up's Sponsors Club with immediate effect. The one-and-a-half-year contract runs until 30 June 2027.
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The Werkself host VfB Stuttgart this evening (10 January, 18:30 CET), a side whose recent Bundesliga form has been indifferent but who have regularly produced top performances in the DFB Pokal and UEFA Europa League, and who have a key player back in the squad in striker Ermedin Demirovic. Off the pitch, the BayArena faithful will be able to see the remaining stoppage time live on the video screens. The Matchday News.
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