The full lineup for the EMEA Masters Spring 2025
quarterfinals is now confirmed. Saturday marked the end of the first round of playoffs, with two matchups that appeared quite distinct on paper. While the showdown between Gentle Mates (LFL #3) and GIANTX Pride (SL #2)
seemed evenly matched, Barça eSports (SL #1) entered as the clear favorite against ZennIT (RoL #1), the only surprise contender in the knockout stage. Ultimately, only one of the two Spanish teams advanced to the top eight. Although the Catalan club lived up to expectations with a 3–1 victory over the Belgian team, GXP fell by the same scoreline to M8.
GIANTX Pride initially took the lead, largely thanks to a strong early performance from Berat "Aetinoth" Tıknazoğlu on Varus. The Turkish AD Carry secured two kills before the fourth minute and continued to capitalize on early skirmishes, finishing the game with a 10/1/1 scoreline. GXP appeared poised to move within reach of match point, having built a 5.6k gold advantage in Game 2, driven by the proactive synergy between mid-jungle duo Jeong "Feisty" Seong-hoon and Hakan "Ferret" Çakmak. However, a poorly timed and overambitious incursion near the enemy red buff allowed M8 to turn the tide, opening the door for Markos "Comp" Stamkopoulos to make his impact felt. With a scaling composition anchored by Jax, Azir, and Corki, M8 clawed back control and leveled the series.
Despite establishing similar early gold leads in the following games (+3.4k in Game 3 and +3k in Game 4), the Superliga finalists failed to close them out. Both games featured "rare" toplane picks from Panagiotis "Empyros" Tantis—Nidalee in Game 4 and Fiora in Game 5—each proving successful. Nidalee, in particular, stood out as the Greek toplaner closed out Game 3 with a 4/1/4 KDA and the highest damage share on his team (29.6%). Nonetheless, it was Comp who finished the series with the most impressive stats, racking up 21 kills and a 7.4 KDA. With this win, the LFL becomes the only ERL to see all of its representatives reach the quarterfinals.
Two Franco-Spanish Clashes Scheduled for Tuesday
Barça eSports wasted no time setting the tone in their own series, dismantling ZNT in 26 minutes in the opening game, led by an uncontainable Francisco "Thayger" Mazo on Naafiri. However, Game 2 was far messier, partly due to the early kills secured by Atis "Afriibi" Fridensteins-Bridins’ Miss Fortune, who reached a 5/0 scoreline within 17 minutes. Though never entirely outmatched, Barça eSports needed 45 minutes and three Baron Nashors to finally secure the win in a drawn-out second game.
ZennIT’s ADC continued to shine in Game 3, playing a pivotal role in keeping his team’s hopes alive and momentarily rekindling the ambition of the Road of Legends champions. But Barça managed to close out the series on their second attempt, once again propelled by a decisive Thayger performance on Viego and a strong showing from Matti Antero "WhiteKnight" Sormunen on Gnar.
The Blaugranas will now face Gentle Mates in the quarterfinals, set for Tuesday at 5 PM, coinciding with
the other Franco-Spanish matchup between Karmine Corp Blue and Los Heretics. The
BK ROG–Misa Esports and
Los Ratones–BoostGate Esports matches will be played the previous day at the same time.
Header Photo Credit: Elliot Le Corre/LFL
