#B04eSports: Leverkusen players compete for German individual title

As in the DFB-ePokal finals, the Landwehr cousins also qualified directly for the VBL Grand Final by WOW last October with the historic first showdown victory in German eFootball history. This spared the Leverkusen team having to play in the VBL Open by WOW qualifying tournament, where both players were eliminated last year.

big prize money and important chances to qualify

Instead of playing as a team as usual, the two Bayer 04 eSports players will now compete individually for the final trophy of the season. And that's not all: In addition to the biggest individual title in the German eFootball world, the participants also have the chance to win part of the prize money pool of €100,000 as well as important starting places in the EA FC Pro World Championship, the individual world championship, and the UEFA eChampions League, the best single-player competition in Europe.

However, the gamers from Leverkusen first have to get through the offline preliminary round where 32 participants compete against each other in two groups in what is known as Swiss-system format. Marc and Sean Landwehr's first opponents were drawn by lot, and in the following three matches they will face players with the same win/loss record. In each group, the five eSports players with a positive number of results will qualify directly for the offline knockout phase in Hamburg - a further six per group with even results will each play a deciding match in an intermediate round for the remaining six places at the event in the Hanseatic city. The German individual champion will be crowned there at the end of a classic knockout round. Further information on the competition can be found HERE.

Marc against 'jistennsq' – Sean plays 'Denis'

In the first game of the online preliminary round, the Landwehr cousins face two real heavyweights. Janis ‘jistennsq’ Pütz from Borussia Mönchengladbach will play Marc 'MARC_LDW23' Landwehr his friend and training partner, but the Leverkusen-born player also has a score to settle with him. At the fourth showdown in Berlin, #B04eSports lost out to Borussia Mönchengladbach and Pütz in the semi-finals - the Foals went on to win the tournament, as well as the DFB ePokal, where they beat Bayer 04 conquerors RB Leipzig in the final. Now Marc could prevent his team-mate from winning a third title in a very short space of time. The first game kicks off at 18:00 CEST on Tuesday, 7 April, with the other matches at 18:50 CEST, 19:40 CEST and 20:30 CEST. The preliminary results in Group 1 can be found HERE.

Sean 'SEAN_LDW07' Landwehr may not be friends with his first opponent Denis ‘Denis’ Müller, but the eSports player at VfB Stuttgart can also look back on a respectable career at the age of 23, including at FC Köln, Karlsruher SC and FC Heidenheim. Müller won the 2020/21 VBL Club Championship with the team from the Eastern Alps. Sean will start the tournament the day after his cousin, with the second Leverkusen title contender kicking off at 18:00 CEST on Wednesday, 8 April, with the other games also starting at 18:50 CEST, 19:40 CEST and 20:30 CEST. You can see how Group 2 looks HERE.

With an even win/loss record, the Bayer 04 gamers would play a fifth deciding match in the intermediate round, which will take place on Thursday, 9 April, from 18:00 CEST. All matches involving the Black and Red eSports players will be streamed live on the Twitch channels of VBL Grand Final commentators Tim Latka and MoAuba, along with all other preliminary round matches.