Just like Recco in Group A, fellow
Italian side Brescia also bagged four wins in as many matches in Budapest as
they defended brilliantly and kept titleholder Ferencvaros on 6 goals on the
closing day. In the hunt for the fourth qualifying spot Hannover took the upper
hand over Jadran Herceg Novi – the German side’s Montenegrin stars did the most
to claim the crucial victory against the Montenegrin champion. Barceloneta
retained its first place after these four days but the top rank will only be
decided in April.
FLASH QUOTES
Group B (Budapest), Round 7: Dinamo
Tbilisi (GEO) v Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) 6-14, AN Brescia (ITA) v
FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 9-6, Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v Jadran Herceg Novi
(MNE) 9-4
Standings: 1. Barceloneta 18, 2.
Brescia 18, 3. Ferencvaros 15, 4. Hannover 6, 5. Dinamo 3, 6. Jadran 3
Tournaments No. 3 are scheduled for 19-22 April.
The last big match of the week kicked
off in style: Brescia took a flying start, two great shots from Maro Jokovic, a
‘sneaking one’ from Vincenzo Renzuto gave them a 3-0 lead in four minutes while
they easily handled the home side’s attacks. But the first 6 on 5 for
Ferencvaros not only broke the ice but put the title-holders into flying mood,
Gergo Zalanki finished off a counter and Nikola Jaksic netted his second after
another nicely played man-up for 3- 3 – still inside the first period.
The first 6 on 5 for Ferencvaros
ended in a fast ball-loss in the second, then Brescia had some luck to regain
the ball in their man-up after a save and Jacopo Alesiani could score from the
second attempt to halt their drought at 7:14 minutes. At the other end another
man-up was gone, this time with a turnover foul (though the ball hit the net),
while Angelos Vlachopoulos’ smart shot from action gave Brescia a 5-3 lead.
They had a man-up after a time-out for +3 but Soma Vogel could catch the ball
coming from close range but it offered only temporary relief as his mates
struggled to create any danger in front, so it was 6-3 soon as Renzuto buried a
penalty. While Brescia staged a 3-0 run again, Ferencvaros’ 6 on 5 conversion
was 0/3 in this period as Zalanki’s shot flew away so the Magyars were shut out
in this quarter and the partial score was almost the same as in last December
when the Italians led 5-2 at halftime.
The cross-bar saved the Hungarians
from going –4 down in Brescia’s extra and Zalanki blasted the ball to the net
from the counter to halt their goalless phase after 9:59 minutes. They could
have come closer but wasted two manups with bad shots, though Vogel also
stopped one at the other end. With four minutes gone, it became crucial who
scored first amidst the exhausting swimming race. With 2:47 to go, Vamos sent
the ball home from a penalty for 6-5 but the incoming fresh players put the
next man-up together for the Italians in the next possession and Giacomo
Cannella reset the two-goal cushion which they held with brilliant defending
till the last break.
An extraordinary scene introduced the
final quarter – though Brescia got the ball, Marco del Lungo a little bit
overplayed his role in keeping the centreforward under the water when the ball
was not even close and he was redcarded. Astonishingly, the hosts could not
direct the ball onto the goal from this man-up despite Brescia had no goalie
for 20sec, the block denied them – and as a sharp contrast Edoardo di Somma’s
shot from the perimeter on equal strength found the back of the net for 8-5.
Ferencvaros seemed to be messed up its game a bit, their next man-up also gone,
then incoming goalie Matteo Gianazza posted a fine save. Brescia’s man-up
didn’t work at the other end though it was a match-ball with 4:02 to go and
soon Vamos could finally score from their third man-up for 8-6. But Brescia
responded well once again, Vlachopoulos’ great shot from action gave them back
the three-goal lead in the next possession and that indeed was a winner.
Brescia’s defence remained tight leaving the title-holders little or no room in
attack: Gianazza faced only three shots, Ferencvaros had only 14 on target in
total, while Brescia had 20 (31 altogether) and bagged another three-goal
victory, just like in December when they had won 10-7.
Before the last match, which was a
crucial encounter in the race for the 4th place, Jadran had suffered a serious
blow as they had lost their first-pick goalie Peter Tesanovic due to a positive
Covid-19 test. The Montenegrins could never keep the number of conceded goals
below 11 (they got 11 in their first four matches and 12 in the last two) and
only once could outscore their rivals – in December when they beat Hannover
12-11 (their lonely win here beforehand). Now they faced off again with the
Germans but in the first half it was not a question of 21 year-old Darko Durovic’s
performance in Jadran’s goal, whether the Montenegrins can keep up with
Hannover. Four goals in two periods are not a big deal – but Jadran’s offence
lacked the necessary sharpness, they had two fine shots but many more bad ones
as they were 1 for 7 in man-ups while Hannover was a bit more effective though
didn’t offer any sparkling attacking while taking a 4-2 lead.
This trend continued, Jadran missed
another man-up while Hannover, without risking anything in offence but relying
on a firm defence, found the right moment for a counter and Darko Brguljan made
it 5-2. With some luck Vasilije Radovic netted from close as a ball after a
weakened shot dropped in front of him, that halted their bad run after 10:13
minutes. Though man-ups didn’t work at either end, Aleksandar Radovic finely
placed actions shots did, he netted two from the same place, right-back, in 50
seconds so it was Hannover’s Montenegrin players who buried the hopes of Herceg
Novi in this period (7-3).
Brguljan earned a penalty, converted
by Ivan Nagaev, then Radovic blocked the next 6 on 5 of Jadran so the game was
practically decided early in the fourth at 8-3. Petar Muslim netted his second
soon – he was well rested for this match – while the young Montenegrins
struggled to create any danger as they ran out of gas – they were outweighed
and outpowered towards the end of this physical battle. After another 11
minutes they could net one at the end from a rare counter – even so, despite
they managed to keep the number of goals conceded under 10 for the first time,
their offence didn’t click (were 1 for 11 in man-up at the end). At the same
time, Hannover pulled off a crucial win, the second one this week which might
just as well give them back the F8 spot they may lose if they should hand over the
hosting right to another city because of the extremely strict German lockdown
measures and their impact on the long term.
The game of Dinamo and Barceloneta
was a lop-sided contest as expected. The Spaniards, despite their legendary
goalie Dani Lopez got some rest, played a brilliant first half in defence,
their Brazilian-born second goalkeeper Joao Coimbra Serra also came up with big
saves so Dinamo sill had a zero next to the team’s name on the scoreboard (it
stood 7-0). In the third the VAR denied their first goal (netted just after the
shot-clock expired), but soon they could break the ice and after 19:40 minutes
they scored their first which was followed by five more till the end while
Barceloneta stopped at 14.
Thanks to Brescia’s winning efforts, Barceloneta
kept its first place after this tournament, and it seems that these two sides’
clash in April might decide the top rank as Ferencvaros’ two 3-goal defeats
from the Italians put the Magyar side to a hopeless position in case of a
three-way tie – at the same time, it’s worth noting that the top three teams
now officially qualified for the Final Eight.
For detailed match stats, visit
http://len.microplustiming.com/lenchampionsleague/index.php?cal=1
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