Chambery's young gun, Xavier Barachet.
The Champions League is back in a big way as Group Play is over and the Knock Out rounds are here. For newbies, the Champions League knock out phase involves paired teams playing a home and away, 2 game series with the overall aggregate goal differential deciding who advances. 16 teams advanced out of the group phase and clubs were drawn based on their ranking in their Groups. Below are the match ups for the first leg. The lower seeded teams host the first leg and the higher seeds will host the second leg next week. The handicap (point spread) betting line is in parentheses.
1 vs. 4 Seeds
Montpellier (-4) at Kadetten Schaffhausen (Thursday)
Ciudad Real (-3.5) at Chambery (ehfTV: Sunday, 5:00 PM CET)
Kiel (-4) at KIF Kolding (Saturday)
Chekhov (-4.5) at Sarajevo (Sunday)
Based on these betting lines each of the #1 seeds are expected to cruise to victory even though they are playing on the road. The EHF Match of the Week with live English Language commentary has French side Chambery hosting Ciudad Real. Chambery beat Barca at home during the Group Phase and surely will feel that it can do the same against Ciudad Real.
The match is at 5:00 PM (Central European Time), 11:00 AM (U.S. East Coast) on Sunday, 27 March.
Live Broadcast link: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2010-11/live/high/001553
On Demand broadcast at ehfTV: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2010-11/video/001553
There is also a televised tape delayed broadcast on the MHz Network in the U.S. at 4:00 PM (U.S. East Coast) on Sunday 27 March. For information on how you can watch MHZ see this link: http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/carriage/
2 vs. 3 Seeds
Valladolid at Hamburg (-5.5) (ehfTV: Thursday, 7:30 PM CET)
Flensburg (-1.5) at Pick Szeged (ehfTV:Saturday, 2:30 PM CET)
Rhein-Neckar Lowen at Zagreb (-1.5) (ehfTV: Sunday, 6:00 PM CET)
Veszprem at Barcelona (-5.5) (Sunday)
These matches should prove more interesting, with the marquee matchup being R-N L’s visit to Zagreb. And remember with the 2 game aggregate scoring there is no such thing as “garbage time” at the end of the first game. The home teams know they will have to travel next week and will want as big as cushion as possible.
(Important Daylight Savings Time note: While North America is already enjoying an extra hour in the evening, Europe doesn’t start Daylight Savings Time until Sunday; This means that there is currently only a 5 hour time difference between the U.S. East Coast and Central European Time. So, for games on Thursday and Saturday, remember to subtract one less hour than you’re use to.
EHF Preview of Round of 16: http://www.ehfcl.com/men/2010-11/article/13787/Back+to+square+one