#B04eSports: Offline kick-off vs. Bochum and what might come next

Bayer 04 had nine points on the board at the end of the preliminary round. Leverkusen won the first three of their six matches but failed to pick up any more points against strong opponents. Finishing 15th – only the 16 teams with the most points in each online preliminary round advance – Marc and Sean still just managed to make the leap to Berlin. As usual, the teams were paired up for the offline round, resulting in fixtures between 1st and 16th place, 2nd place (Bochum) and 15th place (Bayer 04), etc.

Second place and experienced players

They will therefore face Bochum in the round of 16, who have secured their place in the offline round twice in the last three showdowns. However, in both the first and third editions, their run came to an end at this stage. But Bochum are currently better than ever in this fourth showdown. With their best haul to date of five wins and one draw, VfL finished the preliminary round in second place, undefeated. Only Freiburg did better (six wins). Bayer 04 have already faced Bochum once this season, with the Black and Reds ultimately prevailing against experienced eSports players Jamie ‘CHASER’ Bartel and Timo ‘TIMOX’ Siep in the Showdown Two preliminary round.

Bochum stats:

Live on Twitch from 17:15 CET

The offline round starts at 16:00 CET. Bayer 04 kicks off at 17:15. The offline round matches can be viewed exclusively on the VBL's Twitch channel.

Possible rematch in the next round

If Leverkusen beat Bochum, their opponents in the quarter-finals (from 18:30) will be RB Leipzig or Kaiserslautern. The Landwehr cousins have already faced both clubs in the preliminary round. A match against Leipzig would be their third encounter this season. In the final of Showdown One, club champions RB and runners-up Bayer 04 faced off, with the Black and Reds coming out on top. In the preliminary round of this fourth showdown, Leipzig, themselves winners of Showdown Three, defeated Leverkusen.

You can see the full tournament bracket HERE.

What next after the Showdown?

After the offline round is complete, the final fifth showdown will begin in mid-February with the preliminary round. The clubs will then have one last chance to fight for a showdown victory and more important points in the overall table. The points from all online preliminary rounds (three per win) and offline rounds (two per win) of the five showdowns are added together in the table, which then determines who qualifies for the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 currently rank 11th there.

Similar to the structure of the UEFA Champions League, the clubs in positions one to eight qualify directly for the final round (7/8 March), while the clubs in positions nine to 24 play in cross-over play-offs on 25/26 February to determine the remaining eight teams for the big event. The club champion will then be decided in a series of matches from the round of 16 to the final. For the teams ranked 25th to 35th in the overall table, the season ends after the fifth and final showdown. All information about the VBL CC can also be found HERE.