Juventus earns the championship title after emerging from the Knockout Stage stage victorious

The Knockout Stage of eFootball.Pro IQONIQ’s 2020-21 season streamed live on Saturday, June 5th. Juventus dethroned AS Monaco as the reigning league champions with an iconic victory in extra time. FC Schalke 04 entered the competition from 6th place on the Regular Season league table, and earned themselves 3rd place after winning the first Quarterfinal, and AS Roma in the game to decide the remaining rankings. Arsenal FC and FC Barcelona concluded the Knockout Stage with their performances in the Quarterfinals.

FC Barcelona and FC Schalke 04 kicked off the Knockout Stage in Quarterfinal 1. The German club made their intentions of advancing clear immediately with EL_Matador’s shot in minute 4’, putting FC Schalke 04 on the board right as the matchday commenced. He continued with an additional successful shot in minute 22’, and captain MeroMen guaranteed the shutout victory for his team in minute 66’ by creating the final 0-3 result. Although ALEXR brought Barcelona ahead first, just before halftime, Urma was the third Schalke representative of the day to score afterwards, creating a draw and the overall 1-4 aggregate result. This score sent the Regular Season sixth place club FC Schalke 04 to the Semifinals, and ended FC Barcelona’s run for the season. 

AS Monaco and Arsenal FC went head-to-head in the second Quarterfinal to decide which club would advance to the Semifinal against AS Roma. Lotfi was given a penalty kick before the game reached its fifth minute, however INDOMINATOR successfully defended the Gunners’ goal. Kilzyou established a lead for his club first, however Arsenal FC managed to equalize the result on two occasions, bringing a tied score into the second game. A shutout win on Monaco’s behalf following goals by Usmakabyle and Lotfi led to a 4-2 aggregate score in the Monegasque squad’s favor, sending them forward to the next phase of the Knockout Stage.

The first Semifinal featured Regular Season first place Juventus and FC Schalke 04, who already stunned the league with their advancement. LoScandalo and IL DISTRUTTORE44’s three goals gave the Italian squad a comfortable lead, until their German opponents stepped up with goals back-to-back by Urma and EL_Matador. This led to the 3-2 score that the game concluded with, keeping the dream of a favorable aggregate score alive for Schalke. Urma and MeroMen put FC Schalke 04 back in the lead, however the Italian club captain managed the aggregate score equalizer when they needed it most. The 4-4 draw forced a third match. Stepping up once more, ETTORITO97 created a lead, which was equalized by Urma and ultimately resulted in a dramatic finish featuring Ettore’s minute 90+6’ goal that narrowly advanced Juventus to the Final.

Semifinal 2 between AS Roma and AS Monaco was off to a quiet start with a single goal determining the victor of the first game. Usmakabyle’s shot in minute 45+1’ gave the Monegasque club a lead as they entered the next game hoping to maintain the aggregate score in their favor. While it wasn’t the goal show of the previous Semifinal, the 1-0 result worked well for AS Monaco so Usmakabyle repeated the feat, this time in minute 7’. The two goals throughout the Semifinal were all Monaco needed to secure their advancement to the Final, where they were set to face Juventus.  

Before the Final could be played, FC Schalke 04 and AS Roma went head-to-head in a single game to determine which club would place 3rd and 4th. The official results are from a rematch that was held after latency issues were experienced in the first attempt. Urma started off the competition with his third goal of the day in minute 12’, followed by EL_Matador’s to double FC Schalke 04’s lead. KEPA helped AS Roma avoid a shutout loss with his shot in minute 40’, but it wasn’t enough to stop the German club from eventually earning 3rd place.

In the most anticipated matchup of the day, Juventus and AS Monaco faced off in a single game to compete for the championship title. ETTORITO97 continued showcasing his skill by granting Juventus the lead in minute 12’, which the Italian club maintained through halftime. Kilzyou then evened out the competition with a successful penalty kick in minute 57’. The score remained tied until minute 90’, leading the game’s fate to be decided in extra time. LoScandalo emerged as the player Juventus needed to lock in their championship title, achieving back-to-back goals in minutes 92’ and 102’, earning them the most important victory in eFootball.Pro IQONIQ. 

The individual awards of the Regular Season were presented to the winners at the beginning of the day. AS Monaco’s Kilzyou took home the title of Top Scorer, along with the 50,000€ prize. Lotfi was named the Top Assists Provider, and the Best Defensive Player award went to Mucahit21 of Galatasaray SK, along with 30,000€ for each of the titles. 

The 2020-21 season of eFootball.Pro IQONIQ has come to an end, however fans can look forward to the eFootball.Open World Finals, set to stream this summer. More details will be announced on Official PES channels in the coming weeks. 

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