Sportklub CEFL Championship continues this Saturday with one game in the Eastern Conference. Istanbul Koç Rams welcome Wrocław Panthers in a much anticipated duel. Both teams have suffered defeats in their CEFL Championship openers. Now they’ll be looking for a chance to get back in the run for the top position which leads to Xenith CEFL Bowl XIV. The game starts at 18:30 local time (17:30 CET) and live stream will be available on Rams’ Facebook page.

This will be the first time these two teams meet. They nearly played each other in Wroclaw during the 2016 IFAF Europe Champions League Final Four tournament. Still, it wasn’t to be. The Rams lost 17-14 to Milano Seamen in the semifinals, and the Panthers won against Danube Dragons 49-34 and went on to win the whole thing.

CEFL Championship has started roughly for both these rivals. The Rams have traveled to Kragujevac to play the Wild Boars for the third straight season. With the series tied after the first two encounters, Turkish team now has a negative score against their Serbian opponents. Pushed by the crowd at the home field, they will look for a rebound in this one. Their second year QB, David Whipple is a dual threat, as he demonstrated in the first outing. Another fear factor for the visitors will be either impressive RB Joshua Quezada, or DB Darius Lewis, who hasn’t played yet.

The Panthers have gone the same route in the first week of play. They’ve greeted Calanda Broncos in a game football fans were impatient to see. Their enthusiasm took a downturn in the very first quarter as the Panthers’ starting quarterback suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. In the meantime, the Panthers have signed Tony Dawson, who will be their new game organizer. It remains to be seen if there was time for him to develop some chemistry with his receiving core during those short few weeks. They will be helped on the defensive side of the ball by DB Deante Battle.

Neither of these teams have expected to be in this position so early in the season. A loss in this game will force them to abandon all hope of playing the finals. With a win, they will have a shot at it if they defeat their next opponent. The Panthers have yet to play a home game against the Wild Boars in their last display, and the Rams travel to meet the Broncos. Both games are played in two weeks, but first this one is do or die.