Hard luck! FC Bayern Esports finished the eFootball Championship Pro in second place. The team, coached by Matthias Luttenberger and consisting of José Carlos Sánchez, Miguel Mestre, Mücahit Sevimli and João Victor Ferreira Lopes, lost to Manchester United in Saturday's final. It was their second successive appearance in the final after 2022.
Victory over Roma in quarter-finals
The Munich side kicked off the knockout rounds with a spectacular win over AS Roma. Mestre got off to a dream start against Andrea "ASR_STIFFLER" Galimberti and took the lead after just three minutes. It finished 5-1 as Mestre put FC Bayern in a good position for the best-of-three contest.
Then it was down to Sevimli to convert the first 'match point'. And the Turk did so in the most thrilling fashion. He took the lead in first-half added time before his opponent Adrian Constantin "ASR_URMA43" Urmă equalised shortly after the restart. With chances at both ends but no goals, it went into extra time and it looked to be heading for penalties until Sevimli struck in the 121st minute to fire Bayern into the next round.
Semi decided over three games
Next up in the semi-finals were FC Barcelona, who had automatically progressed. Sevimli took on Ettore "Ettorito" Giannuzzi, who had been named most valuable player of the regular league, in the first game. The Turk made a strong start but wasted several good chances, meaning the first half ended goalless. His counterpart came out of the blocks quicker after the break and scored three goals within 11 minutes to earn a 3-0 win. In the second encounter, Bayern were on the verge of being knocked with Alejandro "Alex" Alguacil Segura leading 2-1, but Sánchez managed to equalise late on with a free kick.
The Bayern man triumphed 3-2 in the subsequent extra time, leaving Miguel Mestre and Saúl Adrián "The Palma" Chávez Saucedo to decide the contest. On a high from his success against Roma, Mestre took the lead in the 26th minute and doubled it in the 51st. Saucedo pulled one back near the end but couldn't find an equaliser, and so FC Bayern Esports went through to the final.
Penalties against Manchester United
Their opponents were Manchester United, who Bayern already lost to in the regular league. And that was the outcome again, with Sevimli losing 2-0 to Lucas "Nekza" Lorge in the first game despite having the better opportunities. In the second match, Sánchez had his back against the wall against Kilyan "Kilzyou" Faucheux but withstood the pressure, even with a man down, for 120 minutes. However, the Spaniard missed twice in the penalty shootout and eventually lost 4-2.
Luttenberger: Have to take a look at ourselves
"We saw that the level in such a knockout round is very high and close," analysed coach Luttenberger afterwards. "In both games in the final we were actually the better team, but unfortunately we failed because of the goalkeeper and our chance conversion. We have to take a look at ourselves there."
Here you can watch FC Bayern Esports' games in the knockout round again.
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