#B04eSports: Participants in offline round of first showdown

In die Offline-Runde ziehen bekanntlich die nach Punkten besten 16 Teams der Online-Vorrunde ein. Unter den Teams stehen mit dem 1. FSV Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund, dem SC Paderborn 07, dem SV Werder Bremen und der SG Dynamo Dresden auch fünf der sechs Gegner, auf die das #B04eSports-Team bereits in der Online-Vorrunde dieses ersten Showdowns traf. Starke Gegner also, die das #B04eSports-Team zum Saisonstart vor der Brust hatte.

round of 16 tie against Schalke 04

The Bayer 04 eSports players now move on to the offline knockout round with the required levels of confidence. For this round, the first-placed team in the preliminary round has been paired with the 16th-placed team, the runners-up with the 15th-placed team and so on. Eleventh-placed Bayer 04 will therefore face FC Schalke 04 (sixth place) in the Round of 16.

The Royal Blues won four of their six online preliminary round matches. Their strengths primarily lie in their efficiency, where they rank fourth out of the 35 clubs. Accordingly, the most efficient individual player so far is Schalke eSports player Ali Oskoui ‘PredatorFIFA’ Rad. Schalke do have problems in defence: They have already conceded 43 goals and their goal difference is plus five (48/43). By comparison: with the exception of seventh-placed Hannover 96, five teams behind Schalke - including Bayer 04 (33/34) - have a better defensive record.

Bayer 04 play the Round of 16 on Sunday, 26 October, starting at 15:15 CET. It can be watched live on the VBL Twitch  channel.

potential opponents

Should Leverkusen beat Schalke, either FC St. Pauli or Borussia Mönchengladbach await in the quarter-finals. While the BMG eSports team finished the preliminary round in 14th place with ten points, third-placed Hamburg picked up 15 points. Against St. Pauli, the Leverkusen side would be up against one of the highest goalscorers: Only one Hannover player has scored more goals than FCSP eSports player Berkay ‘BerkayLion’ Demirci (36). However, the 21-year-old, who won all of his games in the preliminary round (points average: 3), also ranks third in the category of most goals conceded per game (2.2).

A meeting with the preliminary round winners and current VBL-CC champions RB Leipzig would only be possible in the final. It would be the first reunion with the Leipzig eSports team since last season’s VBL-CC final in March. Back then, Bayer 04 were narrowly defeated and finished runners-up. The top eSports team finished the online preliminary round with 18 points from six matches. RBL currently have the best defence in the league (31 goals conceded) and the second-best attack (64 goals, 5.3/game) behind SC Freiburg (67 goals, 5.6/game).

what happens after the SHowdown 

Once this showdown is over, the focus turns to the second showdown. A new, separate table will then start and the clubs will once again face opponents drawn out in an online preliminary round. The procedure is then the same: After the six matches in the preliminary round - split over two days - the 16 best teams move on to the offline round. This will take place on Sunday 23 November in Frankfurt. The points from the online and offline rounds will then be added up in an overall table with the addition of all the points from this first showdown.

This principle will continue until the fifth and final showdown. The overall standings will then determine which teams advance to the final round of the Club Championship (7/8 March 2026). The clubs in places 1 to 8 will qualify directly, while the clubs in places 9 to 24 will play out the remaining eight teams for the final in the play-offs on 25/26 February 2026. For the clubs in 25th to 35th place in the overall table, the season ends after the final showdown in February.