[tps_title]IFAF Europe Champions League[/tps_title]
Eight clubs from seven nations met across the continent this past weekend in the second round of the 2015 IFAF Europe Champions League. With one round left in round robin group play, only one of the four groups has been decided.
Three matches took place this weekend across the continent. Teams from Serbia, Turkey, Great Britain, France, Italy, Finland, and Denmark all met in Europe’s largest international tournament.
Let’s take a look at the match-ups.
Champions League East
Vukovi Belgrade (Serbia) v. Bogazici Sultans (Turkey)
In the Champions League East division, Serbian champion Vukovi Belgrade, 2014 Champions League finalists, fell behind 13-7 after two quarters, but went on to beat Turkish title holders the Istanbul Bogazici Sultans by a score of 34-19.
With the win, Vukovi took an insurmountable lead in the CL East standings and will move on to the semi-finals. They had beaten the Ljubjana Silverhawks from Slovenia by a 26-24 score two weeks ago.
[tps_title]Champions League North[/tps_title]
[tps_header]Helsinki Roosters (Finland) v. Copenhagen Towers (Denmark)[/tps_header]
Helsinki Roosters v. Copenhagen Towers
In Champions League North action, current CL and Finnish title holders, the Helsinki Roosters, played host to the Denmark’s Copenhagen Towers. The Towers had lost their opening game on April 18 34-9 to Sweden’s Carlstad Crusaders and desperately needed to win this game to stay alive. But their Finnish hosts had other ideas and took a 13-0 lead in the second quarter and then held on to beat Copenhagen 13-0 in Helsinki.
As a result, when the Roosters travel to Carlstad, Sweden on May 16 for the final game of the round robin, it will decide which of the two moves on to the semi-finals.
[tps_title]Champions League West[/tps_title]
[tps_header]London Blitz (Great Britain) v. Aix-en-Provence Argonautes (France)[/tps_header]
The Champions League West group produced a surprise of sorts as France’s current number two team, the Aix-Argonautes, traveled to London to play the Blitz, British finalists the past two years. The Blitz, playing without imports, scored 10 points in the first quarter and 10 in the fourth to down the visitors 27-21.
The Blitz now head to Madrid to face Osos Rivas, who lost to the Argonautes two weeks ago by a lopsided 47-14 score. Should London win that game they would qualify for the semi-finals.
[tps_title]Champions League Central[/tps_title]
[tps_header]Thonon-les-bains Black Panthers (France) v. Milano Seamen (Italy)[/tps_header]
Thonon Black Panthers vs Milano Seamen
Italy’s defending champion Milano Seamen paid a visit to France’s top team in 2014, the Thonon Black Panthers, and came away empty handed as the Black Panthers, playing a full 60 minutes of football, turned the Seamen away 32-23.
Thonon will travel to Spain to face L’hospitalet Pioners in two weeks. The Pioners dropped a 37-14 decision to the Seamen two weeks ago. A win there will put Thonon into the semi-finals.
The final round of the Group competition in the 2015 IFAF Europe Champions League will be played May 16-17.