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The Europe League 2024 is already underway as the first four matches were played yesterday. Here's everything you need to know about them!
Team Secret 7-2 ENCE
The Europe League 2024's first match day of the season saw the return of ENCE to the region's top flight. Unfortunately for the Finn organization, the roster couldn't get the win in their re-debut in Europe's first division.
Instead, Team Secret got their rematch against the former Team Valor squad that defeated them twice at the R6 South Breach. Following four successful attacks on Clubhouse, Marlon "Twister" Mello's boys went flawless on defense to close the match.
Although the final score looked one-sided, ENCE could have grabbed a couple more rounds if they had been more clinical, as three of Team Secret's seven rounds were clutches. More precisely, Adrian "Adrian" Tryka, who was making his professional debut, got a SiegeGG rating of 1.67 after finishing the match with a KD of 10-4 (+6) and a KOST of 78.
It's worth mentioning that the team's substitute Théo "AzoXx" Eudine would replace Baptiste "JaKs" Dedienne. Following the conclusion of the game, the coach Olivier "Azrod" Dalsace said on social media that "everyone will get his chance to play and show their talent."
Into the Breach 7-5 Wolves Esports
If you are a fan of well-executed attacks, you may want to look away. Into the Breach produced the first upset of the season in Europe with a 7-5 victory over the Six Invitational 2024-bound Wolves Esports.
The British's attacking win in the second round of the match was the difference between both sides as it was the only round (out of twelve) that was won by the offensive side. Heading to the second half of the match, Into the Breach were 1-5 behind on the scoreboard. Eventually, the roster would complete the comeback after winning the following six rounds of the match.
If that wasn't impressive enough, Into the Breach's roster included two Europe League debutants in Charlie "Creedz" Foote and Oscar "Oscr" Deacon. However, Callum "Azzr" Aitchison, who has only played one full stage as a professional, was the best-rated player in the team with a SiegeGG rating of 1.32.
Meanwhile, Yanis "Mowwwgli" Dahmani was Wolves' best player with a SiegeGG rating of 1.35 and a KD of 15-10 (+5).
G2 Esports 8-7 Fnatic
Fans had huge expectations around the match between G2 Esports and Fnatic, and we are glad to say the teams didn't disappoint them. None of the two rosters could create a solid gap between them and their opposition as the teams swapped roles with a draw on the scoreboard.
G2 Esports' attacks led by Deimos, who was mainly played by Jack "Doki" Robertson, saw the squad reaching match point first. However, Luke "Tyrant" Casey's 1v1 clutch in the final round saw Fnatic forcing the overtime. Eventually, the Six Invitational 2023 champions took the win.
Despite playing fifteen rounds, Benjamin "Benjamaster" Dereli finished with a SiegeGG rating of 1.55 thanks to his outstanding KD, a 19-10 (+9).
Team BDS 7-3 WYLDE
The match day finished with the game between the Malta Cyber Series VII champions Team BDS and WYLDE's new roster. It was a good chance to see how three of the five former MNM Gaming players are doing nowadays, as Faith "Solotov" Türker and Josh "Yuzus" Pritchard faced Leon "neLo" Pesić.
The difference between both sides was their effectiveness on attack, with Team BDS winning four of their six offensive rounds — including a Yuzus 1v2 clutch before swapping roles.
Eventually, the British player was the best on the server with a SiegeGG rating of 1.61. We must also highlight Stéphane "Shaiiko" Lebleu's performance as the Frenchman registered a SiegeGG rating of 1.33 and an entry balance of 3-0 (+3).