The previously strong leaders of the VBLCC South-East Division, Mainz 05, have been eliminated from the DFB-ePokal. The Rheinhessen side lost dramatically to third-division side Viktoria Köln, while the RBLZ narrowly prevailed
The RBLZ needed all three games against Hannover 96. After Hannover’s Riad Fazlija had beaten Leipzig’s Umut Gültekin 3:2, Anders Vejrgang managed to force the decisive third game by beating Tugrulhan Efe ‘Yaronaldo’ Yar 2:1. The Dane stayed on the pad and took revenge on ‘ItsRiaad’ on behalf of his teammate. The youngster secured victory for the Saxons with 5:2.
Cologne wins carnival thriller against Mainz
Meanwhile, Mainz 05, Leipzig’s great rivals in the battle for the division championship and leaders in the south-east of the VBLCC, were defeated by third-division side Viktoria Köln in a clash of carnival strongholds. Cologne’s Onur Polat and Mainz’s Max Julius ‘Diviners’ Gröne played out a real cup thriller in the decisive third match.
While the VBL professional had clearly won the first duel 4:0, an intense exchange of blows developed in the second match of the evening. After just over 30 in-game minutes, the score was 2:2 thanks to four extremely impressive goals, before ‘Onur_38P’ pulled 4:2 ahead within a few moments in the second round. As a result, ‘Diviners’ had to increase the risk – which Polat exploited to the full and made it 5:2 in the 71st minute.
A supposedly safe lead, but one that was to melt away in the final meters. Six in-game minutes before the end of normal time, the Mainz player reduced the deficit to 3:5 before adding a fourth goal in stoppage time. However, this ultimately came too late, after the subsequent kick-off it was over and the cup surprise was perfect
KSV beat Bayern – FOKUS women fail to beat Karlsruhe
History had already repeated itself at the weekend – at least in some respects. Back in the 2020/21 season, Holstein Kiel had already knocked out FC Bayern Munich in the 2nd round of the cup. Successful on the real pitch in a penalty shoot-out back then, the eStorks made it less exciting in the current DFB ePokal. KSV sent Munich home 2:0 after matches and advanced to the round of 16
PHIRONIX, which plays for Karlsruher SC in the DFB ePokal and the Virtual Bundesliga, is also in the last 16. The team from Baden had been drawn against the joint women’s team of FOKUS and Hertha BSC, which had made history in the first main round against TSG Hoffenheim. However, Fabienne Morlok and Jennifer Kouchmeshki were unable to build on their first-round success against KSC. ‘FabienneXIII’ was beaten 4:6 by Justin ‘milkalove’ Springer, while ‘Jennii_Official’ was defeated 1:2 by Khalid Gürel.
Badish-Swabian duel in the round of 16
Directly after the 2nd main round, the round of 16 of the DFB-ePokal was drawn, which is scheduled for March 26. The following matches await:
RBLZ Gaming – SV Elversberg
Werder Bremen – FC Augsburg
1. FC Kaiserslautern – Borussia Dortmund
FC St. Pauli – VfL Wolfsburg
1. FC Magdeburg – Hamburger SV
Viktoria Köln – Holstein Kiel
Greek eSports X SSV Lobeda 77 – VfB Stuttgart
PHIRONIX X Karlsruher SC – Blue Dragons XDJK Heuweiler