This is just another one of those pieces that we could title as Movistar Riders makes history, but we have reached a point where we don’t know if we should call it news. The most basic manuals of journalism say that dog bites man is not something worth highlighting and what the Spanish team is doing in the great Counter-Strike competitions is not very different from the statement taught in universities. The change is already confirmed for a competitive national that now lives on present joys and not memories of the past.

Movistar Riders continues to dream of the IEM

After a week in which Movistar Riders was able to triumph at home and win the ESL Challenger corresponding to the DreamHack Valencia, the team immediately left for Cologne to play the Play-In of an entire Intel Extreme Masters. An event prior to which we arrived with the highest expectations that have never surrounded the riders and in which the boys trained by Galder Barcena fulfilled the objective. Advance directly to the group stage after a resounding victory against Team Vitality to enter the fight to lift one of the most important trophies on the competitive calendar.

So far we were all happy, but we could also express our zero units of surprise regarding what Riders had achieved. It is true that the victory against the Franco-Danish team was not in the script, but the draw already invited us to be optimistic at that time. The true feat of the team was in an already mentioned group stage that they have overcome in a very convincing way and with a single setback that came against Natus Vincere. Compulsory mention to the second world position occupied by the Ukrainian organization in the most prestigious rankings.

In any case, Movistar Riders came to the match against the s1mple team with the calm of knowing that they qualified for the next round. Wins against G2 Esports and Team Vitality – for the second time in a row – during their opening group stage matches secured them a place in the quarterfinals. In this context, the Spanish team wanted to get bigger and even won the first map against the Ukrainians. It was time, yes, to receive a double portion of reality in the last games of a best of three from which the riders were able to leave with their heads held high.

The defeat leaves Movistar Riders one more game away from a title that, there would be no doubt, would be historic for the competitive Spanish Counter-Strike. To avoid it, the best teams in the world will be there and the first confrontation will be against Team Liquid. The North American organization has resurfaced over the last few months and has put the tournament on the right track after defeating Furia. The confrontation will take place the next day July 15 at 7:00 p.m. and at stake are some semifinals in which a very powerful FaZe Clan is already waiting.