
The #B04eSports players reward for an impressive season is a place in the VBL finals. After last season (position 18, 73 points) new signing Kai 'Deto' Wollin and Fabian 'B04_DUBZJE' da Cae have moved up 15 places and then the season on 110 points in third place. That means the #B04eSports players have qualified for the Grand Final to be played at 'Dock.One' in Cologne on 28 and 29 March.
The format is as follows: The first six teams (6 players per console) in the VBL automatically qualify for the final. Positions 7 to 16 (10 players per console) of the VBL and a total of 108 qualifiers from the open FIFA 20 tournament (54 players per console) can now qualify for 12 places in the Grand Final in the forthcoming play-offs. The winner of the final can look forward to the title of Champion of Germany and prize-money to the value of €45,000.
Florian Dederichs, head of internationalisation & eSports at Bayer 04, is delighted with the achievement of the #B04eSports players: "The lads have had a great season. We have improved enormously in comparison to last season and the reward is qualifying for the Grand Final. We congratulate Werder Bremen on winning the Germany Championships once again." And the #B04eSports players are satisfied with their displays. "My one-on-one performances this season were much more impressive than last season," said a happy ‘B04_DUBZJE’. ‘Deto’ added: "We're happy we have improved so much and been able to finish in a great third place. That makes us want more!"
The final VBL match of the season on Wednesday night against Eintracht Frankfurt ended 4-4. First game for the third-placed Black and Reds was played by Kai 'Deto' Wollin on the PS4 against his Frankfurt opponents Andreas 'Andy' Gube. 'Deto' made the better start and took the lead through Kevin Volland on 13 minutes with Bas Dost, controlled by 'Andy', equalising on 76 minutes. There were no more goals and both players secured the first point of the night.
In the second game, ‘B04_DUBZJE’ de Cae again showed what he could do on the XBOX. Against Maik 'Sn0wGoogles' Kubitzki, the #B04eSports player did not give anything away and ended up on top with a 3-0 victory with a goal from Kevin Volland and a brace from Paulinho. "If you look at the 90 minutes then it was a deserved victory. My opponent did have the chance of scoring one or two goals but was then too hasty finishing," said 'B04_DUBZJE' after the game.
The final two-on-two clash ended in a 3-1 defeat for the #B04eSports players with Kai Havertz controlled by ‘B04-DUBZJE’ netting the consolation goal. 'Deto' complained about the outcome of the match at the end of the game: "Fabi and I communicated well, got into the game and created some dangerous situations. Then we either made the wrong decision or had no luck in the typical 50/50 situations. Overall, we were very unlucky to lose the game."
The #B04eSports players are back in action on Saturday albeit in a different tournament: In a two-day qualifying tournament, was all about taking part in the FUT Champions Cup Stage V, which is to be played from 3 to 5 April.


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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