PANTHERS READY TO ROAR IN BATTLE OF BIG CATS
After a two-week break, Panthers Wrocław return to European League of Football action as they face a Prague Lions team eager to build on last week’s thrashing of the Fehérvár Enthroners.
This will be the third match of the season for the Panthers — who sat out Week 3 of the season following an opening weekend victory over Fehérvár and a subsequent loss to ELF newcomers Nordic Storm — and they are counting on a second win of the campaign as they aim to keep touch with Vienna at the top of the East Division.
Their opponent has already played three matches, but currently sits 1-2 after early defeats to Vienna and Hamburg were followed by a 40-point shutout of the hapless Enthroners. Wroclaw’s five previous matches against Prague have all resulted in victories for the Panthers, but that performance, however, will lift the Lions team for the trip to Poland and, as such, the Panthers will not be able to take them lightly.
“As we have learned from the last match, Prague are a much better team than last year – their American players and defense make the difference,” Panthers wide receiver Maciej Krupa confirmed. “As every week, we guarantee good football and we will give it our all to defend our home and have a 2–1 balance after this match. We have a bye week behind us — a rest in this sport is always welcome and this was a chance to heal minor injuries.”
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While the ELF match will be accompanied by attractions for the whole family, it is very much a football weekend in the Polish city, with their national league affiliate entertaining Southern Division table-toppers Silesia Rebels Katowice on Saturday.
The Polish league season is slowly entering its decisive phase, and Wroclaw comes into what will be its final home game of the regular season off the back of victory over Armia Poznań which kept supporters in suspense until the very end.
“We have a close match with Armia Poznań behind us, but we approach every match the same way — we want to win it, no matter if the opponent is Wataha Zielona Góra, Warsaw Eagles or Rhein Fire,” commented DC Przemysław Lewszyk. “We always expect the guys to be fully committed and show the best versions of themselves on the pitch. In the clash with the Rebels, we have to focus on the basics, because we lost both matches with the Kraków Kings by our own hand, not because the opponent outclassed us. We do not play in the NFL or the European league and, at our level, matches are won by teams that have very good mastery of basic field activities: blocking, catching and knocking down. The Rebels have shown good football this season; they have a good QB and talented home-grown players mixed with veterans. However, I believe that, if we play a defensive game like we did against Kings in Kraków, we will be able to stop their offense.”
The Rebels arrive in Wroclaw with a 5-1 record and, according to many, are one of the best teams in the entire league. With an effective offense and physical defense, the Katowice team’s dual-threat quarterback Jeremaiah Tucker has already recorded 15 touchdown passes and eight rushing touchdowns in 2025, and it is also worth paying attention to British wide receiver Ryan Wakeling, who is going head-to-head with Panthers’ own Tomasz Burdziński for the title of the best WR of the season.
“For the defense, the Poznań game was actually a new start, because five starters were invited to play in the ELF,” Lewszyk continued. “However, the [replacement] players passed the test. The last drive was a completely new experience for our juniors, playing under time pressure and a two-minute drill where the opponent goes all-in. It was great to watch them put into practice what we taught them: defend the endzone and knock the opponent down on the field. We won, but we are already focusing on the match with the Rebels. I believe in my guys and I know that, if they play their best football, we will give them a very tough time.”
