European Champions League of Soccer, Volleyball, and More

UEFA Champions League (Soccer)

Cristiano Ronaldo
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The Round of 16 for the UEFA Champs League has ended with three teams from La Liga (Spain), two from the Bundesliga (Germany), and one team from Serie A (Italy), Ligue 1 (France), and Super Lig (Turkey) making the quarters. No teams from England have made the quarterfinals, a first since the 1995-96 Champs League. The premier teams in the final eight are Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid. Borussia Dortmond, Juventes, and Paris Saint-Germain. Galatasaray is a good team that will be undervalued. Malaga is a few steps below the other seven. They have the smallest chance of making it to the semi-finals. The quarterfinals games will be played on in early April, with the first leg on the second and third and the second leg on the ninth and tenth.

The draw for the quarterfinals were on Friday. The match-ups are Barcelona-PSG, Bayern Munich-Juventus, Borussia Dortmond-Malaga, and Galatasaray-Real Madrid. Of all the games, Boruissa Dortmond has the easiest road against Malaga. Every other game will be close. Barcelona vs. PSG will be closer then you would think at first glance. Bayern Munich is better then Juventes, but after being blown out by Arsenal in the second leg of their Round of 16 series, Munich may be vulnerable. The German club will need to put that behind them to win. The final match-up is between Real Madrid and Galatasaray. The winner of this match-up will be the team does performs it's best on the road. This, and Barca-PSG, are my favorite games. 

Euroleague (Basketball)

Jordan Farmer
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The Euroleague is also in it's Round of 16. Unlike other sports, the basketball league's round of 16 has two groups of eight teams.  Each team will play fourteen games against the the other seven teams in their group. All the teams have just finished eleven games. Group E features Alba Berlin, 
Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Brose Baskets, CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos Athens, Real Madrid, Unicaja Malaga, and Zalgiris Kaunas. In the first Group E game of week eleven, Anadolu Efes won a close game against Brose Baskets. Anadolu Efes, led by former NBA player Jordan Farmer, enhanced their record to 9-2, while Brose dropped to 0-11. Next up was Zalgiris Kaunas at CSKA Moscow. CSKA Moscow improved to 8-3 with the 70-61. Zalgiris record is now 4-7. After that, Liga ACB members Unicaja Malaga and Real Madrid went at it in Madrid. Malaga pulled off the upset away from home, winning 77-74. Real Madrid, who with the loss slid to 9-2, were without 3 time MVP of Week Rudy Fernandez. Malaga enhanced their record to 6-5. The last game of the week for Group E teams was a blowout. Panathinaikos beat Alba Berlin 82-58. With the win, Panathinakos record became 7-4, while Alba Berlin dropped to 1-10.

BC Khimki MR, Besiktas JK, Caja Laboral Vitoria, FC Barcelona Regal, Fenerbahce Ulker, Maccabi Electra, Montepaschi Siena, and Olympiacos Piraeus are the teams of Group F. The first game of the week for Group F was between BC Khimki MR and Maccabi Electra. In a game that went down to the wire, Maccabi Electra won 80-79. The win boosted Maccabi Electra's record to 6-5 and BC Khimki MR slid to 6-5. The next game was also a nail-bitter between Olympiacos and Montepaschi. With Olympiacos up by one, Montepaschi's star player Bobby Brown drove and then kicked it out. However, they could not get a shot off in time, and Olympiacos got the win away from home, 68-67. After the game, both teams had a record of 7-4. Caja Laboral then went up against Fenerbahce. At home, Caja Laboral destroyed Fenerbahce by a score of 87-67. Caja Laboral, who improved to 6-5, had five players who scored in double figures. Fenerbahce dropped to 2-9. The final game was also a blowout. FC Barcelona, in front of their home crowd, defeated Besiktas by 25, 88-61.

CEV Champions League (Volleyball)- 16th-17th

This weekend was the Final Four weekend for the CEV Champions League. The four teams that reached the semi's were Bre Baanc Lannutti of Italy, Lokomotiv Novosibrsk and Zenit Kazan of Russia, and Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle of Poland. The first game of the semi's was between the two Russian teams, Lokomotiv Novosibrsk and Zenit Kazan. Novosibrsk, playing in front of the home crowd, lost the first set 25-19. Novosibrsk then rebounded in the second set, winning 25-20. The next set was close, but Zenit Kazan pulled it out with a score of 25-22. The fourth set was all Novosibrsk, winning 25-16. In the fifth and deciding set, the home team won 15-12 to advance to the final. In the other semi, Bre Baanc and Kedzierzyn-Kozle also went to the fifth set. Kedzierzyn-Kozle took the first and fourth set, while Bre Baanc won the second and third set. In the fifth set, Bre Baanc got out to the the early led and never looked back. They won the final set 15-10 and won the game, setting up a Lokomotiv Novosibrsk vs. Bre Baanc Lannutti.

Lokomotiv Novosibrsk celebrating their championship
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Before the championship game, they had a third place game between Zenit Kazan and Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle. The two teams split the first two sets with Kazan taking the first one and Kedzierztn-Kozle taking the second. The next two sets went to Kazan as they took the match 3-1. The championship game went all the way to the wire. Bre Baanc Lannutti took the first set 25-22 against Lokomotiv Novosibrsk. Novosibrsk, playing at home, then took a really close set 26-24. They then took the next set too, 25-23. The fourth set went to Bre Baanc 25-20, setting up a winner-take-all fifth set. Novosibrsk took the early lead, but by the third partial they were only up by one. In the end, Novosibrsk won the match 16-14, and the match, three games to two. This is Novosibrsk's first ever CEV Champions League championship.

EHF Champions League (Handball)- 14th-17th and 21st-24th

The EHF Champions League finished up their first leg of the Round of 16. In the first game of the week, HC Dinamo Minsk and HC Metalerg faced off in Dinamo, Belarus. HC Metalerg won the match 26-23. Chekhovskie Medvedi upset the defending champions THW Kiel in a shootout, 36-34. Celje Pivovarna Lasko went up against HSV Hamburg. Even though Celje's Borut Mackovesk had thirteen goals, Hamburg still won easily 29-38. Pick Szeged and KS Vivie Targi Kielce went down to the wire. Pick Szeged had the one point led at half. They kept the lead and won 26-25. 

MKB Veszprem KC beat Reale Ademar Leon away from home, 23-20. FC Barcelona Intersport beat Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 32-26. FC Barcelona had four players, Enterrios Rodriguez, Gurbindo Martinez, Jesper Brian Noddesbo, and Siarhei Rutenka, who scored five goals and two players who scored four goals. Athletico Madrid and Fuchse Berlin played to a 29-29 tie. The last game of the first leg of the Round of 16 featured Gorenge Velenje and SG Flensburg-Handewitt. SG Flensburg-Handewitt won 28-25.

LEN Champions League (Water Polo)

The LEN Champions League is currently in it's round of 16, called the Eight Finals. The first leg of this round was played on the ninth and tenth of March, with the second and final leg being played on the twentieth. In the first leg, there were nail-bitters and blowouts. The blowouts included Jug CO Dubrovnik 19-1 demolition of Schuurmanea BZC and CN Atletic Barceloneta annihilation of CSM DiGi Oradea 15-5. These two matches have almost, but guaranteed the two winners will make the next round. Crvena Zvevda also helped their chances tremendously with their 13-6 defeat of ZF Eger.

The other five games are still up for grabs. The closest of these match-ups is Olympiakos and Spartak Volograd. Their first leg ended in a 9-8 victory for Olympiakos. This grouping could go either way. Another good match-up is between Galatasaray and Sintez Kazan. Galatasaray won the first game 9-6. The second game looks to be a nail-bitter. In a high-scoring affair, Vouliagmeni NC beat CN Marseille 16-12, setting up an interesting second leg. The last game of Final Eight is between Partizan Raiffeissen Belgrade and AN Brescia. After winning the first game, Partizan is looking to win the second game to confirm their advancing. 

CERH European League (Roller Hockey)

Group Play for the CERH European League just finished up. There were four groups of four teams that play each other twice over six weeks. The top two teams in each group make the quarterfinals. Group A was set before the sixth game. FC Barcelona and Igualada clinched were the top two teams, while HC Dinan Quevert and Candelria SC were the bottom two. These games were just for placement. Barcelona's 4-1 victory over Quevert made them the group winner, while Candelria beat Igualada. In Group B, Porto had clinched their spot in the next round. However, the second spot was still up for grabs between Noia and Amatori Lodi. Noia won their match, 4-2 against Porto. Amatori Lodi also won, 10-3 over SCRA St. Omar. Noia sealed their spot in the quarters due to having more points then Amatori Lodi.

Group C had their top two teams set with Benfica and Reus Deportiu. Benfica defeat the winless Cronenberg, 12-3. Reus Deportiu lost to CGC Viareggio, 8-3. That was their only loss in Group Play. In Group D, Lieco, the defending champ and Valdagno went head-to-head to see who would be the group winner. To win the group, Lieco needed to win and have a better goal differential. Valdagno beat Lieco 7-3 to win the group. In the other game, UD Oliverense beat Geneve RHC, 11-2. The loss dropped Geneve to 0-6 in group play. The quarterfinals start on April 6th with the first leg and the April 20th is the second leg. The four match-ups are FC Barcelona vs. Lieco, Benfica vs. CE Noia, Igualada vs. Valdagno, and Porto vs. Reus Deportiu.