New signing 'Deto' qualified for the FUT Champions Cup, held last weekend in Bucharest from Friday to Sunday, via an online tournament prior to his move to Leverkusen. As the timetable was tight and the Virtual Bundesliga started on Thursday evening before, and both team members have to appear at the same venue, the two eSports players completed their opening matches in the Rumanian capital.
As is usually the case in the VBL, the Bayer 04 duo were in action twice straightaway – the competition started for De Cae and Wollin with a double matchday. It was hard going for both of them against the first opponents Armenia Bielefeld: 'Deto' on the PlayStation had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Timo 'Krapsi' Kraps: the encounter between 'B04_Dubzje' and Sebastien 'Whoot' Hallerbach ended in a goalless draw. De Cae and Wollin were unlucky to lose 1-0 in the two-versus-two mode. The final result on the first matchday was 5-2 to Armenia Bielefeld.
The Bayer 04 eSports players only had a short break to clear their heads before the next clash: The opponents on matchday two were VfL Bochum. Kai Wollin still had to wait for his first win for the Werkself – his match on the PS4 against 'VFLxander1848' Steinmetz ended in a two-one defeat. De Cae on the Xbox was more successful: He secured a 2-1 win against Justin 'VfL Trigga 1848' Höft to clock up his first victory of the season. The Black and Reds drew 2-2 in the two-versus-two match – that meant the second matchday ended in a 4-4 draw.
For Wollin, the next day brought the FUT Champions Cup – one of the six major tournaments where participants can qualify for the FIFA eWorld Cup. 64 international players – 32 on PlayStation and 32 on Xbox – took part in the tournament. To reach the knockout stage, players had to win three out of five matches in the qualifying round. 'Deto' was already through after the 04th game: A 3-1 win on penalties against 'Bundled Julian’ followed a 7-2 defeat against 'LostInThe Wavesz'. Wollin settled progress to the next round with victories against 'Jenner' (3-2) and 'FistAgitpower' (4-2). In the knockout rounds, the Leverkusen player had an exciting tussle in the Round of 16 with Ramazan Elmas from the German team Unterhaching eSports that ended with a 2-1 win in extra time. The end of the road came in the quarter-finals: The 31-year-old lost to 'LucasRep98' – but being one of the best eight PlayStation players in the world was a more than successful start to the new FIFA 20 season.
11 November is the time of carnival in the Rhineland – but the VBL came first for the eSports players from Bayer 04 and the neighbours from Cologne. In the derby against Rhine rivals FC Köln, 'Deto’ was brought back to earth after his successful weekend with a 2-1 reverse against Tim 'The strxnger' Katnawatos, 'B04_Dubzje' made amends after the defeat of his team-mate with a 3-0 victory on the Xbox against Michael 'Phenomeno' Gherman – after the two individual games it was three points apiece. The Bayer 04 lads came out on top in the two-versus-two mode with a 2-0 win against the Cologne team to secure a 6-3 derby win after all the matches.
There was no time to celebrate – the fourth championship game against SV Darmstadt 98 followed just two hours after kick-off on matchday three. And finally, Wollin was able to clock up his first individual win for the #B04eSports team. He won 2-0 against Luca 'LucaB3erna'. De Cae doubled his individual victories with a 1-0 win against Yannick 'Gotzery' De Groot – a very good situation for Bayer 04 with six points after the individual matches. The final double encounter also ended in a 1-0 win for the Black and Reds. All possible nine points were achieved and the matchday ended perfectly for Bayer 04 with a 9-0 win.
The Bayer 04 eSports team are back in action in the VBL on 18 November: De Cae and Wollin face St. Pauli (18.00 CET) on matchday five and the duo play VfB Stuttgart (20.30 CET) on matchday six. All VBL games can be seen live on the #B04eSports Twitch channel.
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