#B04eSports: Leverkusen advance to offline round in fourth showdown

defeat follows win in game one

The evening started with the games against FC Kaiserslautern. Sean 'SEAN_LDW07' Landwehr faced Lauryn ‘LAURYNLIUTKUS’ Liutkus, who ranked first in this statistic before the matchday with an average of 5.5 goals per individual game (now 4.3/ranked sixth). Sean initially fell behind against FCK, but then turned the game around and won 2-1. Marc 'MARC_LDW23' Landwehr was beaten 5-1 by Omeed ‘OMEED’ Hakimi in the second game and the three points went to Kaiserslautern.

thriller against Freiburg

Next up was top team SC Freiburg, who had reached the semi-finals twice and the final once in the previous three showdowns. The team from Freiburg were still unbeaten in the online preliminary round of this fourth showdown - and would remain so until the end of the preliminary round, which they finished in first place. Sean Landwehr lost 5-2 in the first game against top eSports player Nassim ‘NASSADA-‘ Dahman, who recently secured his ticket for the World Championship at the FC Pro Open and is currently one of the top eight players in the world. Marc Landwehr then faced Gianluca ‘SCF_GIANLUCA’ Mautone and played one of the most exciting matches of the VBL-CC season so far. Marc took a 3-0 lead to level Sean's deficit. Further goals on both sides made it 4-3 in favour of the Black and Reds. Marc scored two more goals to make it 6-3, which would have been a draw. But shortly before the end, the Freiburg player scored another goal to give his team victory with a final score of 9-8.

decider against Leipzig

The online preliminary round concluded with matches against the current club champions, Showdown Three winners and overall table-toppers RB Leipzig. It was the second encounter of the season with the team from Saxony; in Showdown One, runners-up Bayer 04 had famously prevailed in the final to become the first showdown winner in VBL CC history. Leipzig did not make the best of starts in this fourth showdown, with three points from three matches meaning only a mid-table finish and fears of not progressing. So the encounter with RB was highly exciting, with both teams having nine points before these final preliminary round matches. Sean Landwehr was unlucky to lose 2-1 in the first game against Umut ‘RBLZ_UMUT’ Gültekin, who, like Freiburg's Nassim Dahman, is in the World Championship in the FC Pro Open and is currently one of the top eight players in the world. Then the current German individual champion Levy Finn ‘RBL_LEVYFINN’ gave Marc Landwehr no chance as he won 5-1. The three points went to Leipzig.

A glance at the reults:

coming up: Bochum on monday

Bayer 04 finished the online preliminary round of this fourth showdown in 15th place and thus made it through to the offline round despite the defeats. As usual, only the 16 teams with the best points from each online preliminary round qualify for the offline round. This time, the offline round will take place on Monday, 2 February, in Berlin and, as always, will be in a knockout format.

In the offline round, the clubs can then play from the Round of 16 to the final for the showdown victory and further important points for the overall standings (Bayer 04 are currently eleventh). The points from all online preliminary rounds (3 per win) and offline rounds (2 per win) of the five showdowns are added together in this table, which will decide who advances to the final round of the German Club Championship next year.

For Bayer 04, the offline round starts with the Round of 16 tie against VfL Bochum 1848, who finished the preliminary round in second place behind SC Freiburg. The teams are paired in the offline round, resulting in the duels between the teams in first and 16th place, second place (Bochum) and 15th place (Bayer 04), etc. Should the Leverkusen team prevail against the Bochum eSports team, they will then have a quick reunion with either Leipzig (seventh in the preliminary round) or Kaiserslautern (tenth in the preliminary round), who are paired in the Round of 16. Strong opponents would also be waiting for them afterwards. More on this in the detailed preview on Monday.

The offline round starts at 16:00 CET, with Leverkusen's first game at 17:15 CET. As usual, the matches in the offline round will only be broadcast live on the VBL Twitch channel.