(Photo credit: Joe Brady)
And then there were four. Just a quartet of teams remain now in the FIFA 18 tournament at the Gfinity Elite Series after the playoffs took place in front of a rocking live audience.
AS Roma Fnatic produced the performance of the Elite Series so far, storming to a 12-1 aggregate win over Nordavind. Things were a lot tighter in the other quarterfinal between Vitality and Method, with the latter coming out on top 5-3 over the two legs.
In a big weekend at the Elite Series as well as in the FIFA esports world with the next round of the FUT Champions Cup taking place in Manchester, the players left nothing behind at the Gfinity Arena in London.
Making up for Manchester
(Photo credit: Joe Brady)
The second round of the FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team) Champions Cup takes place in Manchester this weekend, and it will surprise many to not see Fnatic stars Rannerz and Zimme at the event.
Rannerz, real name Conran Tobin, and Zimme (Simon Nystedt) felt they had a point to prove at the Elite Series playoffs. The Fnatic boys needed to show they are still among the best FIFA players in the world, and boy, didn’t they just.
Zimme took on Diogo Peixoto from Nordavind, and although Peixoto took an early lead, Zimme took him to the cleaners. The Swede smashed in goal after goal on route to a 6-1 victory on the PlayStation 4, giving his side a five-goal cushion at the halfway stage.
Zimme said: "These types of high-scoring games don’t happen a lot so it’s a wonderful feeling to score six goals in the quarterfinals of the Gfinity Elite Series.
"I tried to match up with Diogo’s playing style, keeping plenty of possession. It didn’t work out in the first couple of minutes after he scored, but I got that important equaliser and then I just scored and scored and scored."
Over on Xbox One, Irishman Rannerz saw how Fnatic's parent club Roma had defeated Barcelona in the Champions League overcoming a three-goal deficit, showing how resting on your laurels and just trying to protect a lead can be dangerous.
You could have forgiven the 20-year-old for playing cautiously against Nordavind’s Chnewar in the second leg, but in the end, it looked as if he was trying to out-do his teammate. Rannerz also managed to score six, but this time without reply, ensuring a 12-1 aggregate victory for Fnatic, sending them through to finals day.