Hannover 96 have dropped to the top of the table in the North-West Division on the ninth double-header of the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) Club Championship by bevestor.
Only two points: Hanover out of form
For a half-season Hannover 96 had dominated the North-West Division, but in the second round of the VBL Club Championship the Lower Saxons have not quite arrived. After bagging seven points on the eighth day of the double-header, 96 had to settle for just two points this time.
Against Leverkusen as well as against Bochum, the Hanoverians lost 1:7 – once the double of Riad ‘H96_Riad’ Fazlija and Jannik ‘H96_Jannik’ Berg scored, once ‘H96_Jannik’ on the Xbox. ‘H96_Riad’, one of the most dominant players so far this season, was thus hoping in vain for his 17th win of the season.
Bremen snatch top spot from 96
The beneficiary of the 96 slip-up was SV Werder Bremen. With nine of the 18 possible points, the Hanseatic team’s haul was anything but optimal, but thanks to Hannover’s weakness, it was enough to vault them to the top of the table. A singles win by Michael ‘MegaBit’ Bittner led Werder to a 5:2 victory over Kiel.
Before that, there had been a 4:4 against Schalke, in which Ali ‘PredatorFIFA’ Oskoui Rad and Fabio ‘Fifabio97’ Sabbagh clinched the treble in the doubles. With 85 points, Bremen are now two points ahead of Hannover and also remain on top of the league in various individual stats: 98 goals are top of the league, as is the goal difference of +26.
13 points: St. Pauli puts exclamation mark
There is still a close battle behind the top duo, with only six points separating VfL Bochum and tenth-placed FC Schalke 04 in third place. The battle for a place in the final round should still hold some suspense. FC St. Pauli, who finished the matchday as one of the most successful teams with 13 points and climbed to sixth place, have again improved their starting position.
Kamal ‘fcsp_kamal’ Kamboj’s team did not manage more than a 4-4 draw against Paderborn, but then let it rip in a 9-0 win over Cologne. The success factor in both matches was the doubles team of ‘fcsp_kamal’ and Mustafa ‘fcsp_musti’ Cankal, both players also won a singles match each.
Wolfsburg’s Basti plays big
VfL Wolfsburg’s bang for the buck has stopped their slide for the time being. After only managing a total of five points on the previous four matchdays, the “Wolves” took 14 of the 18 possible points this time.
The 7:1 victories against Leverkusen and Kiel were not enough to return to a play-off place – the last time the VfL occupied such a place was on the third matchday. The Wolfsburg team is still nine points behind the Top 6. Bastian Rupsch of the PIPE CREW was in a flurry of victories: He won both his singles on the Xbox and both doubles alongside Khalid ‘khalidgrl03’ Gürel.
‘bmg_jeffryy’ and ‘bmg_lefti’ pick up five points
Meanwhile, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s lurch from previous months continues, with Eleftherios ‘bmg_lefti’ Ilias & Co. hoping in vain for their eighth win of the season on Tuesday. The Gladbach side lost against Rostock (3:6) as well as against Schalke (2:5) and thus missed the desired return to the top 6.
The good news for Borussia is that the team is currently only one point behind sixth-placed FC St. Pauli. While Yannick ‘bmg_jeffryy’ Reiners and ‘bmg_lefti’ each drew against Schalke, the duo combined for the points against Rostock in the doubles.
Leipzig stumble but stay in front
RB Leipzig might have hoped for more, but ultimately had to settle for seven points. While the 4:4 against Heidenheim was still satisfactory, the subsequent 3:6 against last-place Regensburg was quite disappointing for the Saxons. The 1:3 defeat of Umut ‘RBLZ_UMUT’ Gültekin against Leon ‘leonk_twitchtv’ Kipry was a particular surprise.
However, the Leipzig team did not have to relinquish the top spot in the table because they still have a four-point lead over FC Augsburg. The Swabians around Yannic ‘Yannic0109’ Bederke took a total of eight points: A 3:3 against Hoffenheim was followed by a 5:2 against Sandhausen.
‘TimoX’ & Co. remain in waiting
In addition to Augsburg, FC Ingolstadt 04 also had the chance to return to the top of the table thanks to Leipzig’s slip-up. However, the Schanzers would have needed at least twelve points to do so – in the end, they also finished with seven, so that the gap to RB remains at five points.
Against Hertha BSC Ingolstadt was caught cold and lost 0:9, against Nuremberg the eleventh win of the season followed with 7:1, in which Philipp ‘Eisvogel’ Schermer won in singles and doubles with Timo ‘TimoX’ Siep. Advantage Ingolstadt: FC are still one game behind Leipzig and Augsburg, so they still have a good chance of finishing first.
‘leonk_twitchtv’ shoots the year to two wins
Far away from the top 6 is still SSV Jahn Regensburg again, who, however, did not only attract attention with their triumph against Leipzig on Wednesday. Before that, the Upper Palatinate side had already beaten Darmstadt 6:3, so that they now stand at three team victories.
And a better ranking is slowly coming within reach again: Mainz in twelfth place are still four points away, Sandhausen and tenth place are ten points away. Just like against RB, ‘leonk_twitchtv’ played great against the South Hessians, winning first in the singles against Arti ‘artyis’ Zeqiri and finally also in the doubles with Leon ‘xLeon1903x’ Lödel.
Greuther Fürth remain unblemished
Makellos remained this time the SpVgg Greuther Fürth: The Middle Franconians were challenged only once and therefore threatened to fall out of the top 6, but defended their position brilliantly. Christian ‘xImpact10’ Judt and Ramazan ‘El17rambo’ Elmas scored 9:0 against Heidenheim and are still in fifth place after the ninth double matchday.
They are only two points behind seventh-placed Hoffenheim, but the Fürth side still have a game in hand. Defending champions Heidenheim, on the other hand, dropped to ninth place and are now listed as badly as they were last on matchday six.
Hoffenheim and Hertha on the up
The TSG Hoffenheim and Hertha BSC remain on the rise. After both teams had already shown top performances in the previous week, they were now once again among the most point-hungry teams of the day. Hoffenheim followed up their draw against Augsburg with a 7-1 win over Mainz, Lukas ‘Lukas_1004’ Seiler was the decisive man in singles and doubles.
The Berliners collected a total of twelve points, even though they lost 3:6 against Darmstadt after the brilliant victory against Ingolstadt. Eren ‘ErenPyrz030’ Poyraz provided the points for his team on the Xbox, which is currently still four points behind sixth place.