Movistar Riders write history and secures playoffs at IEM Cologne

In the upper bracket of Group A, Team Vitality and Movistar Riders were facing each other for the second time in this year's tournament. At the Play-in event, Movistar Riders surprised everyone by winning 2-0 to continue their fantastic form.

On Mirage Movistar Riders repeated their 16-4 slaughter from the two teams' first rendezvous in the Play-in tournament, where the Spaniards also won Vitality’s map pick with the same exact score. Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Cano made life difficult for apEX and his men with an impressive 21-8 K-D score on the map.

But unlike last time, Vitality answered back. On Vertigo the French/Danish roster completely ran over Movistar Riders with ZywOo and dupreeh and the driver's seat. A 16-3 win for Vitality triggered Nuke as the last and final map to find the winner.

On the nuclear ground, we finally got to see a more even affair between the two teams. But in the end, Movistar Riders found a gap in the defense of Vitality on the lower bombsite, which caught their much more seasoned opponents by surprise. A stellar ending to the match secured Movistar a spot in the playoffs with a superb 16-12 win. A historical moment for the Spaniards, who have never reached the playoff stage at one of the big events on the tournament calendar. They will play for a direct spot in the Semi-Finals on Sunday against NAVI, while Vitality drops down in the lower bracket, where they will now have to win two times to secure a spot at Lanxess Arena on Thursday.

Movistar Riders – Team Vitality 2-1 | IEM Cologne