On Sunday, the Frankfurt Galaxy will host the Tirol Raiders in what is probably the biggest game of the European League of Football season so far in terms of playoff impact.
At 7-3, the Raiders currently hold the last playoff spot, but there are three teams at 6-4 that are trying to pass them, one of which is the Galaxy. A Raiders win would put them in a great spot going into the last week of the season and would eliminate the Galaxy, while a Galaxy win would make the wild card race even more interesting.
The Galaxy were tied with the Raiders going into last week but slipped up on the road against the Rhein Fire. After scoring a touchdown to take a one point lead with around 30 seconds left, Frankfurt allowed the Fire to move into field goal range (partially due to a 15 yard penalty on the head coach), where the Fire kicked a game winning field goal as time expired. Frankfurt had won their previous four games before last week, including a huge victory over the Vienna Vikings (which gave them their only loss of the season), so last week’s loss was definitely disappointing. As the winners of the first ever ELF championship game last year, Frankfurt is determined to make it back to the playoffs for another shot at the title.
On the other hand, the Raiders have had a great season in their first season in the ELF. They control their own destiny in the wild card race, so if they can win their remaining games, they’ll be able to clinch the playoffs without any help. Last week, they hosted the Cologne Centurions, a team that is at the bottom of the league standings and came away with a 45-20 victory. From here on out, though, their games are much more meaningful and challenging. After this game, they have a final matchup against the Berlin Thunder in a game that could potentially decide which team gets the last playoff spot. But first things first, this game against the Galaxy will have huge implications.
With so much on the line, we can expect a tightly contested, hard fought game. We will soon find out whether the defending champs can make another playoff push, or if the upstart team from Austria can take them down.