Can Siarhei Rutenka and Barcelona hold off Kiel?
Last weekend’s first leg had two great matches and two duds. The two duds were Hamburg-Chekov and Flensburg-Ciudad Real. Hamburg and Ciudad Real both won by 14 goals, so barring turnarounds of epic proportions those two sides will formally punch their tickets for the Final Four in Cologne this weekend.
The two great matches were Montpellier’s 29-27 victory over Rhein-Neckar in Germany and Barcelona’s 27-25 victory over Kiel in Spain. Montpellier’s victory in Germany was a mild surprise, so they will have the luxury of a two goal cushion at home. This, of course, means they will still advance if there’s a draw or they lose by 1 goal. If they should lose by 3 or more Rhein-Neckar will advance and in the event of a two goal loss the tiebreaker will be away goals. While the 2 extra goals provide comfort anyone who’s seen Rhein-Neckar play this year knows they are more than capable of a road win in France.
The other matchup, Kiel hosting Barcelona is also a 2 goal margin, but this time the away team has the cushion. The oddsmakers think it will go down to the wire as they’ve made Kiel a 2.5 goal favorite.
ehfTV will be broadcasting each of the matches live and will have English commentary with Tom O’Brannagain for the Kiel vs. Barcelona matchup. Subject to the availability of the ehfTV on demand stream and the demands of the Ryan family household, I plan to do an audio commentary of the Montpellier – Rhein-Neckar match. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post it Saturday afternoon in the states. Check back at the site for updates.
Match Schedule (Handicap point spread in parentheses)
Rhein-Neckar at Montpellier at (-1.5) (ehfTV: Saturday, 30 April: 5:00 PM CET, 11:00 AM
(U.S. East Coast)
On Demand link: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2010-2011/video/001619
Audio files are below
1st half commentary starts at 18:20 on ehfTV Clock
2nd half commentary starts at 66:30 on ehfTV Clock
Barcelona at Kiel (-2.5) (ehfTV: Sunday, 1 May: 6:30 PM CET, 12:30 PM (U.S. East Coast)
Live Broadcast link: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2010-11/live/high/001622
On Demand Broadcast Link: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2010-11/video/001622
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, 1 May. For information on how you can watch MHZ see this link: http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/carriage/
Note: Chekhov-Hamburg is on Saturday and Ciudad Real-Flensburg is on Sunday. I recommend only checking the score halfway through the on-demand video, on the off chance that a miracle is taking place.
Audio recording links are below. Open the on demand video in one window and then click on the podcast link. I do a countdown of the ehfTV clock in the lower left hand of the screen. Pause the audio when I start the countdown and then play the video. Then unpause the audio when you get to the appropriate time on the clock.