RBLZ Gaming conquered the top of the VBLCC South-East table for the first time this season on Wednesday. However, the Leipzig team missed out on big points on their way to the division title – in dramatic fashion
The Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) stylized the eSportsmen of 1. FSV Mainz 05 and RB Leipzig as gladiators on X. The title of the elaborate-looking graphic: “The battle for the top”. And nothing else happened in the Club Championship on Wednesday. The league leaders against the second-placed defending champions – a preliminary decision for the championship in the South-East Division was on the cards.
The team from Leipzig were the challengers: They were four points behind Mainz before the direct clash – with one match less to play. Accordingly, the RBLZ needed a win against FSV to finish the regular season in first place on their own thanks to the catch-up matchday. Umut Gültekin and Levy Finn Rieck made it clear in the opening 2vs2 that this was exactly what they had set out to do.
Despite a rather even match, the RB doubles team defeated Mainz’s Ditmir Alimi and Max Julius Gröne 4:1. As a result, FSV captain ‘Ditmir_4897’ was already under great pressure in the first singles match – another defeat would have meant defeat overall. At first, ‘RBLZ_Umut’ seemed to cope better with this starting position: The eFootballer of the Year 2023 took the lead in the eleventh in-game minute.
Gold keeper becomes Mainz’s last-minute hero
However, Gültekin failed to score any further goals, which is why Alimi’s directly converted corner shortly before the break (42′) gave Mainz a deciding match. The duel in the second 1vs1 was Rieck against Gröne – and turned into a gripping FC 24 thriller. The zero-five ‘Diviners’ made it 1:0 midway through the first half (25′), ‘levyfinn’ turned the game around with a double strike (31/35′). Just in time for the break, Gröne equalized to make it 2:2 (45′) and create maximum tension for the second half
A loss of possession in his own half put Rieck in trouble there: ‘Diviners’ combined strongly in the penalty area and scored to make it 3:2 (68′). The Mainz player thus equalized the match for the time being and consolidated his four-point lead over Leipzig in the live table. However, RB eSportsman ‘levyfinn’ stepped up a gear in the final minutes. In the 87th in-game minute, he failed to hit the post, and seconds later he headed against Gregor Kobel’s gold card in the FSV goal.
The virtual BVB keeper then took center stage once again: After a foul in the penalty area, Rieck was given a great opportunity to score the 3:3 after all – and give Leipzig the overall victory. However, the German international once again found Kobel his master. Gröne opted for a dive into the bottom left corner early on and ‘levyfinn’ did him the favor by aiming right there. In the aftermath of the last-minute miss, Rieck leaned far back in his chair and rubbed his face several times. He did not get any more chances to score.
Goal achieved: Division championship “in our own hands “
“Fate was kind to me today,” said ‘Diviners’ later in the VBL livestream. Thanks to the points split, Mainz still “have the regular season finale in first place in the table in their own hands. That was our goal.” The Nullfünfer did not play on Wednesday evening, as 1. FC Nürnberg had to withdraw due to illness. However, Gröne & Co. still have a few tasks ahead of them: “We want to win all three remaining matches and become champions of the division.”
Beyond Nuremberg, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and FC Bayern Munich await on the offline matchday. Incidentally, FSV did not finish Wednesday in first place: Because RBLZ won their subsequent duels against Frankfurt (4:1, 6:1) and Bayern (5:2, 2:1), they overtook the Rhineland-Palatinate side. Leipzig are therefore top of the table for the first time this season – and, like Mainz, have already qualified directly for the VBLCC final. However, the Saxons are now at a disadvantage in the battle for the division title.
