The 1st FSV Mainz 05 managed to topple favorites at the start of Carnival in the VBL Club Championship (VBLCC). This could lead to a dream finale and a big showdown for the division championship.
Mainz had dubbed their duel with league leaders RBLZ Gaming on Thursday “Altweiber-Matchday”. In keeping with the Altweiberfasching, which marked the start of Carnival. Whether this occasion gave FSV in Division South-East of the VBLCC additional motivation can only be speculated. The fact is: the Nullfünfer were in top form.
Against the favored Leipzig team, Mainz made a strong start in the 2v2: Ditmir Alimi and Joe Hellmann were already leading 2:0 after less than 25 in-game minutes. The RBLZ duo of Umut Gültekin and Anders Vejrgang managed to catch up, even going up 3:2 at one point – but the FSV had the last word: a bicycle kick after a corner saw them draw level at 3:3.
Next 3:3 and a spectacle in the decider
Similar genesis in the first 1v1 between Hellmann and Vejrgang: the Mainz player took an early lead, but the Leipzig player turned the game around – this time even scoring to make it 3:1. However, a double strike in the 64th and 71st in-game minutes gave Hellmann and the Nullfünfers the 3:3 again. So the winner had to be determined in the decisive third match.
The game between Alimi and Gültekin turned out to be a real spectacle: the FIFA 22 world champion quickly equalized after Mainz went 1-0 up, and the Leipzig player also equalized from 3-1 down before half-time. After the restart, Gültekin then went ahead himself for the first time – which only lasted six in-game minutes.
Alimi’s 5:4 was quickly countered by ‘RBLZ_Umut’, who then set the scene for an intense final phase. In this, the player from Mainz proved to be the more clinical – Gültekin was ultimately unable to prevent his winning goal, which made the score 6:5 with ten virtual minutes remaining.
Final summit meeting with Bayern?
RBLZ Gaming thus left three points in the fight for the division championship, which FC Bayern Munich took advantage of in the chase against VfB Stuttgart (4:1, 3:4, 6:4) to draw level on points.
With two matchdays remaining in the regular season, a dream final is on the horizon: if Leipzig and Munich win both of their matches next week, they will be in first and second place with 39 points each before their direct clash on March 12.
BVB crushes St. Pauli’s play-off hopes
FC St. Pauli has had no part in the battle for the top spot in the North-West Division – and has not had any part in it for the entire season. The 2022 VBLCC finalist was unable to build on its former glory days despite Mustafa Cankal’s return.
Never higher than eighth place, the Hamburg team conceded two 3-4 defeats in doubles and singles against Borussia Dortmund, which sealed the overall defeat.
A long way from the goals
St. Pauli can still get six points in the remaining duels with Wolfsburg and Paderborn. Seven is the gap to Bayer Leverkusen, who are in eighth place – the last to qualify for the play-offs.
“Best possible results” was what Kiez comeback player Cankal wanted to get. Currently, four matchday victories are offset by eight defeats. According to Christian Oberlies, Head of Gaming & Esports at FC St. Pauli, he “clearly showed that he comes to win titles”. The Hamburgers are miles away from that in the VBLCC. In the DFB-ePokal, too, they were knocked out in the round of the last 32 by FOKUS.
