#B04eSports: Penalty shoot-out, victory against club champions, semi-final exit - Top four in Showdown 4

With with three wins from the six matches in the online preliminary round, Leverkusen were one of the 16 teams with the highest number of points going into the offline knockout round. The clubs were then paired as usual - the team in first place met the one in 16th place, second place (Bochum) played 15th place (Bayer 04) and so on. The offline round took place in Berlin.

round of 16: Drama against Bochum

It started with the round of 16 tie against VfL Bochum. The in-form and unbeaten runners-up in the preliminary round with five wins and a draw - Bochum had never finished a preliminary round better - lived up to their billing in game one. Jamie ‘CHASER’ Bartel defeated 'MARC_LDW23' Landwehr 4-2, Sean 'SEAN_LDW07' Landwehr had a two-goal deficit to make up. But he managed to do so, albeit in a highly exciting manner. The 90 minutes ended with the score at 3-1 in favour of Bayer 04. The overall score was now level, so the game went into extra time. Sean Landwehr made it 4-1, but conceded at 4-2 in the last second of extra time - a penalty shoot-out was needed. And here Sean won 5-2. Victory in the last sixteen!

quarter-finals: Marc beats individual champion

The action continued against top eSports team RB Leipzig. The side from Saxony, current club champions, Showdown 3 winners and first in the overall table before the offline round (now second), had beaten FC Kaiserslautern in the round of 16. Bayer 04 faced Leipzig for the third time this season. In Showdown 1, the Landwehr cousins won the final in the clash between club champions RB and club runners-up Bayer 04 and secured victory in the first showdown. Meanwhile, Leipzig were ahead in the preliminary round of this fourth showdown. Now it was down to business in the quarter-finals. Marc Landwehr defeated the current German singles champion Levy Finn "RBL_LEVYFINN" Rieck 4-2 in game one, while Sean Landwehr then lost 3-2 to one of Germany's best eSports players and World Championship participant Umut ‘RBLZ_UMUT’ Gültekin, but the overall result of 6-5 in favour of the Black and Reds put the Leverkusen team through to the semi-finals!

semi-finals: exit against eventual Showdown winners

This was followed by the semi-final against Borussia Mönchengladbach, who beat the second showdown finalists Borussia Dortmund, among others, on their way to the top four. In the first duel between Bayer 04 and the Foals, Marc Landwehr narrowly lost 2-1 to Lukas ‘LUKAS_OFFICIAL11’ Wolff. Everything was still in play for a place in the final, but Sean Landwehr suffered a 4-1 defeat against Jannis ‘JISTENNSQ’ Pütz. End of the line in the semi-finals. Borussia Mönchengladbach, meanwhile, progressed to the final and won convincingly with a total score of 7-2.

A glance at the results:

coming up: Final Showdown awaits

The action continues in the middle of the month. In the final fifth showdown, the clubs can then fight one last time for a showdown victory and more valuable points for the overall standings. It starts on 12 February with the online preliminary round against, as usual, six previously drawn opponents. The 16 teams with the most points will go through to the offline round (22 February in Stuttgart). The clubs will then have one last chance to fight for a showdown victory and further important points in the overall standings. The points from all online preliminary rounds (3 per win) and offline rounds (2 per win) of the five showdowns will be added together in this table, and the overall table will then decide who advances to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 have moved up from eleventh to eighth place thanks to the valuable additional points from this offline round.

Similar to the structure in the UEFA Champions League, the clubs in first to eighth place qualify directly for the final round (7/8 March in Hamburg), while the clubs in ninth to 24th place play off in the play-offs on 25/26 February to determine the remaining eight teams for the big event. The club champions will then play off from the round of 16 to the final. For the teams in 25th to 35th place in the overall table, the season ends after the fifth and final showdown. Further information about the VBL CC can be found HERE.