The announcement came almost out of nowhere. At the end of July, FC Bayern Munich announced in passing that they would take part in the Virtual Bundesliga Club Championship (VBLCC) starting next season. In order to determine the squad for the first season in EA SPORTS FC 24, the German record champions held open qualifying tournaments in which everyone could take part. There were four of them, the last one last weekend – which is why the eight participants for the decisive final event have now been determined.
Former Schalke shows up
One or the other well-known name will catch the eye of the inclined VBL fan. Above all that of Fabiano ‘Epixal’ Loos. In the last round, he was still working for FC Schalke 04 on the controller. With the Knappen, he advanced to the semi-finals of the VBLCC Grand Final, only to fail at the eventual defending champion RB Leipzig. The best result in the club’s history, after which the common path ended almost at the same time as the VBL announcement from Munich.
Now Loos could earn his place in the VBL, which is gaining immense relevance in the course of a controversial eSports restructuring by EA SPORTS, with the Bavarian competition. His performance in the qualifying tournaments makes him at least the top favorite going into the final, as he picked up the most points of the entire field by winning the first tournament.
‘xthomas_om’ from Regensburg to Munich?
A second experienced VBL player, Thomas ‘xthomas_om’ Ostermaier, finished just behind. With SSV Jahn Regensburg he landed in the lower third of the south-east division and has to look for a new employer because of real football. Because Jahn was relegated from the 2nd to the 3rd league, is therefore no longer part of the DFL and therefore not part of the participant pool for the VBL, which is anchored in the license requirements of the German Football League.
In addition to the sporting quality in the previous tournaments, the regional proximity also speaks for Ostermaier. When choosing their EAFC-24 representation, the Munich team want to pay attention to more than just the quality of the game. “Teamwork, identification with the club, media appearance” and other unnamed characteristics play a part in the decision-making process, along with a pleasant gameplay.
VBL experience and open surprise included
Also in the high-quality field of participants for the final on August 19: the two former players from Hoffenheim Lukas ‘Lukas_1004x’ Seilerwinner of the third qualifying tournament, and Ekrem ‘Sami-yen’ Dogan. Also play along Pascal ‘SVMtamp__bhv’ Guscicwho narrowly missed out on defending champion Dylan ‘DullenMIKE’ Neuhausen in the course of the VBL Open and won Bayern’s second ESPORTS CUP, and Pasqual ‘Pasqualneymar’ Iacona two up-and-coming FIFA talents for places in the Bayern squad. The squad is completed by the Mainz VBL professional Max ‘Kuchinter’ Winter and Enrique ‘MiroFiro00’ Kilicwho secured the fourth FCB event and is known from PHIRONIX.
