LIVESTREAM French Semifinal: La Courneuve Flash @ Marseilles Blue Stars, June 17, 20:00 CET (8 pm, 2 pm EDT)

The French D1 Elite Championship semifinals feature the defending champion La Courneuve Flash, who finished second in Conference A, and the Conference B winners, the Marseilles Blue Stars.

The last time these two teams faced each other was in the 2018 semifinals which the Flash won 19-9.

Despite having a worse record than their playoff opponent, the Marseille Blue Stars have home field advantage by virtue of winning Conference B. Marseille finished their regular season at 8-2, which was good enough for the top spot in their conference.  The Blue Stars hosted a semifinal game last season but lost 28-27 to the Black Panthers.  They are looking to avoid a repeat of that exit and make it to the championship game for the first time in team history.

After an 8-1-1 regular season that saw them win every game against teams not named the Black Panthers, La Courneuve found themselves in the wild card round this season, which is almost unfamiliar territory for a team that has been so dominant over the last decade.  They hosted the Grizzlys Catalans, who finished third in Conference B, and came away with a 41-31 victory last week.  The defending champions lost some talent to the Paris Musketeers of the ELF, but admirably have made it back to the postseason and are looking to repeat with a new-look squad.

La Courneuve Flash @ Marseilles Blue Stars, June 17, 20:00 CET (8 pm, 2 pm EDT)