Brighton & Hove Albion esports player Marc Marley was knocked out at the semi-final stage of the eChampions League finals.
Eight players competed in the finals, which took place in Munich on Wednesday night. The tournament was held in the same city where Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan will meet in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday night.
Marley, who defied the odds to make the eChampions League finals, put on an impressive run to reach the last four.
The Scottish player was ranked 22nd out of the 36 competitors, with only eight advancing from the start of the competition, which took place in MediaCityUK, Salford, earlier this month.
He pulled off a major surprise in the quarter-finals, defeating defending champion Jonas ‘Jonny Wirth.
Marley’s incredible run came to an end in the semi-finals at the hands of RB Leipzig esports player Anders ‘Vejrgang’ Vejrgang.
The tournament was played on EA FC 25. After the defeat, Marley took to social media to comment on his experience.
He tweeted: “European Semi finalists, loved every minute up there on that stage. Small margins but that’s the way it goes.”
He added: “Love the support from everyone it means so much. This is not the end for this season.”
His reward for reaching the semi-finals was $30,000 (£22,200) out of the $281,000 (£208,600) prize pool.
Emre Yilmaz wins the eChampions League
Real Sociedad esports player Emre Yilmaz won the eChampions League for the second time, after beating Vejrang 2-1 in the final.
Yilmaz was the favourite going into the eight-person finals in Munich after going through the league phase and early knockout rounds unbeaten.
The Real Sociedad player took home a $75,000 (£55,700) for winning the tournament.
Tournament format
The EChampions League started with 36 players in Salford earlier this month.
They competed at dock10 studios in MediaCityUK, Salford, representing English Premier League sides Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as other European clubs, including Bayern Munich, Ajax, and AS Roma.
The tournament adopted UEFA’s updated Champions League structure, featuring a league-style phase followed by a knockout round, which narrowed 36 of Europe’s top EA FC players down to eight.
The eight eChampions League finalists were revealed in Salford, with those players then competing at the finals in Berlin on Wednesday night.
Both Manchester City players, Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt and Matias ‘Bonanno’ Bonanno, were eliminated in Salford. 2020 champion Tekkz exited during the league phase, while Bonanno lost 8-7 match against ‘ChrisdeBoer’ in the knockout stage.
The pair though did lead Man City to success by becoming the first-ever back-to-back ePremier League winners back in March.
They accomplished this feat by beating Brighton 6-5 on aggregate in the finals. Nevertheless, Brighton advanced further in the eChampions League, with Marley reaching the semi-finals.
Brighton’s Jayden ‘Jayden’ Groden placed in the top five of the league phase but was knocked out in the round of 16. His teammate Marley, however, advanced to the Munich finals after a 4-3 victory in the round of 16.
2025 eChampions League Finals Results
Quarter-finals
- EmreYilmaz 8-2 Alihan
- nicolas99fc 6-3 Ilian
- samugamer 1-4 Vejrang
- Jonny 4-8 Marley
Semi-finals
- EmreYilmaz 9-4 nicolas99fc
- Vejrang 4-2 Marley
Grand Final
- EmreYilmaz 2-1 Vejrang
Kieran Lynch is an esports journalist who writes about several games including EA Sports FC 25, Call of Duty, Rainbox Six Siege, and more. He previously worked as a sports journalist for MailOnline.
