#B04eSports: Six points and a debut to start second showdown

After their victory in Leipzig in the first showdown, Leverkusen eSports duo Marc and Sean Landwehr went into the start of the online preliminary round of the second showdown in confident mood. As with round one, all 35 teams meet six previously drawn opponents across two matchdays. The 16 best teams on points in the online round advance to the offline knockout round, which will take place in Frankfurt this time (more on the format of the competition HERE).

The second showdown started on Thursday with the first four of the six fixtures. Commentary on the games against Darmstadt, Hoffenheim, Bochum and Hertha came from Niklas Schmitz aka 'NickMan' and Angelo 'aesports_fifa' Esposito, amateur eSports player and content creator.

narrow loss to Darmstadt

Darmstadt, who only managed one win in six games in the first showdown, clearly went into this assignment with purpose. That didn't unsettle Marc 'MARC_LDW23' Landwehr, though, who twice took the lead against Piotr 'POL_BEAST4' Wrona but was pegged back both times. Marc kept his focus and netted the winning goal with Zé Roberto in the closing stages to clinch a 3-2 win. Sean 'SEAN_LDW07' Landwehr trailed early against Kaan 'XKAAN61_' Tuncer and despite creating a host of chances, couldn't take advantage of them. It ended in a 4-1 defeat, making it 6-4 to the Hessians on aggregate.

high-scoring comeback against hoffenheim

Marc Landwehr got off to a slow start against Hoffenheim's eSports player and content creator Aymane ‘AYMANE’ Mokallik, but then found his rhythm and dominated the game. However, Mokallik proved to be extremely effective, with Leverkusen ultimately losing 3-1. Sean Landwehr, on the other hand, didn't give VBL CC debutant Mohamed ‘MOMO_JT06’ Jaatit a chance. The Leverkusen player quickly scored four times and showed impressive control throughout the match. With a 6-1 victory, including three goals from Zé Roberto and a brace from ‘Power Item’ Christian Kofane, he overturned the defeat from game one and secured Leverkusen's first three points of the matchday.

Bayer 04 impress against bochum's ex-champion

Bochum were the only opponents of the day who had made it into the offline round in showdown one. Against Timo ‘TIMOX’ Siep, a true veteran of the VBL and semi-finalist last season with SC Paderborn 07, Marc Landwehr – unimpressed by his opponent's CV – immediately took control of the game. Despite a 2-0 lead, he conceded the equaliser in the second half. In a thrilling final phase, Marc then had a great chance to secure a deserved victory but missed. Sean Landwehr also faced a top-class opponent in Jamie ‘CHASER’ Bartel, the 2024 VBL CC winner. However, the Bayer 04 professional showed his class and gave the Bochum player no chance. In the next 6-1 win, the ‘power items’ Christian Kofane (two goals) and Patrik Schick (three goals) once again excelled. The 8-3 aggregate win was the second success of the day for the Black and Reds.

Senkbeil debut against HERTHA BSC

Keanu ‘KEANUS21_’ Senkbeil took Marc Landwehr's place on the Leverkusen gaming chair against the capital club. Senkbeil joined the team before the season and impressed against Bastian ‘BXSTIP7’ Puskas, especially in attack. However, Puskas exploited every gap defensively and despite Bayer 04 pulling one back, the final score was 4-1. The fact that Berlin have conceded the fewest goals in the VBL CC was evident in the second game. After conceding an early goal, Sean Landwehr struggled to break down Hertha's compact defence led by Noah Finn ‘NOKZYY23’ Klitzing and left himself open at the back, going down to a 3-0 reverse. This left the Leverkusen console pros with six points on matchday one.

The results at a glance:

coming up: Karlsruhe and M'gladbach

With six points from four matches, Leverkusen's console pros are currently ranked 17th in the showdown two standings. In this closely contested ranking, Bayer 04's eSports players are only one point behind seventh place and thus still have qualification for the offline round in their own hands.

In the overall table, which adds up the points from all online preliminary rounds (3 per win) and offline rounds (2 per knockout match won) of the five showdowns, Bayer 04 are in third place. 

The #B04eSports team play the remaining two fixtures of the online preliminary round of this second showdown next Tuesday, 18 November. Their opponents are Karlsruher SC (18:00 CET) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (19:00 CET). Stay tuned for a closer look at the opponents. As usual, both meetings on Tuesday will be streamed in the Bayer 04 app and on the club's Twitch channel.