Defending Austrian champions, the Danube Dragons, enter the Central European Football League at the quarterfinal stage Saturday, May 11 when they play host to 2023 Italian runner up, the Guelfi Firenze.
Danube had a first-round bye as they came were the champions of the Austrian Football League. Although Austrian squads did not make an appearance last year, the Dragons are not unfamiliar with the CEFL as they entered the champions league in 2022 where they were knocked out by the Italian side, the Parma Panthers.
Watch live. Firenze Guelfi @ Danube Dragons, May 11, 15:00 CET (3 pm, 9 am EDT).
In their 2022 season, Danube went undefeated the whole season long winning the championship. Then in 2023, the Dragons went 8-2 in the regular season, coming second in the league but making the playoffs and outlasting the Vienna Vikings by a single point in the final winning 14-13
In 2024, Danube sits in third place currently behind Vienna and the other side representing Austria in the CEFL, the Graz Giants.
Now onto the Italian side in the Guelfi Firenze, who had to outlast Belgrade SBB Vulkovi in the first round where they won 37-27 back in April.
The Italian “vice” champions have had a great season so far in the Italian Football League, going 5-1 and punching their ticket to the playoffs with a 5-1 record. They have only two games left to play and they’d love to enter the Italian playoffs after knocking off the 2-time Austrian National Champions.
With receiver Ryan Deluca and quarterback Andrea Fimiani, their offensive duo, on a roll after combining for six touchdowns in their game with Belgrade, Firenze will be a dangerous foe for the Dragons to face.
Can the Dragons outlast an Italian side or will Firenze punch their ticket to the next round of the CEFL?