Courtesy: LEN
The re-match of last May’s F8
quarter-final between Olympiacos and Barceloneta, Novi Beograd’s visit to
Budapest where they play Ferencvaros and the clash of OSC Budapest and
Marseille are the highlights of the upcoming round.
Though the road is long, it’s going
to get harder and harder to make up the points dropped in the initial phase of
the main round. Especially in Group A where we have seven teams eying the top
four spots (with Novi Beograd having a guaranteed one, we may say six on
three). That’s why three clashes can be considered crucial once again.
The encounter of Olympiacos and
Barceloneta deserves to be the headline, these two met in the quarters last May
where the Spaniards handed the Greeks a historical beating (22-9). Besides the
transformation of the two sides, Olympiacos should look for a revenge, and a
home win would also keep them on top.
Novi Beograd had some ups and downs
but showed some progress in Split – now the emerging Serbian side visits
Budapest where they face 2019 champion and last season’s runner-up FTC. The
Hungarians already dropped six points though they are still unbeaten as they
played three straight ties. The Serbs arrive after an exhausting but successful
week in the Regional League (six wins in as many matches) while Ferencvaros
played a brilliant match with fellow CHL participant OSC and managed to win by
a fingernail – for the Magyars, starting to win matches in this competition too
will be critical after a while.
Brescia has the easiest task among
the leaders as bagging three points in Tbilisi is something of a compulsory
element in this group for those with serious plans on the Final Eight.
At the same time, the encounter
between Jadran and Radnicki might leave the eventual loser in a position from
where it’s going to be challenging to catch up with the leaders. Jadran faces
back-to-back home challenges against the Serbs, they lost badly to Novi
Beograd, now Radnicki returns after they had played 14-14 in the Regional
League last week – a draw might not make either team happy this time.
In Group B, the showdown with OSC and
Marseille is the highlight of the programme. OSC is still unbeaten though
dropped two points in Hannover while Marseille earned fine away wins in
Dubrovnik and Bucharest, and a third one in a row would definitely cement the
French’s place among the top contenders for the F8 berths.
Recco should enjoy another easy ride
at home against winless Spandau, and Jug is also a heavy favourite in Bucharest
but the Croats – just like the other Regional League participants from Croatia
and Serbia – travel to visit Steaua after a tiring match-load from last week.
And the game of Crvena Zvezda and
Hannover is also about staying in the hunt – one win for Zvezda, two draws for
Hannover, this means that claiming three points would be crucial in their
position. Here a last-minute switch of hosts took place as the game should have
been played in Hannover but the freshly implemented restrictions would make it
hard for the Serbian side to enter Germany. Next March, on Day 11, they will
meet in Hannover of course.
Champions League, Fixtures, Day 4
Group A – Tuesday
19.00 Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v AN
Brescia (ITA)
19.00 Jadran Split (CRO) v Radnicki
Kragujevac (SRB)
19.15 Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v
Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP)
20.30 FTC-Telekom (HUN) v Novi
Beograd (SRB)
Standings: 1. Olympiacos 7, 2.
Brescia 7, 3. Barceloneta 6, 4. Novi Beograd 6, 5. Ferencvaros 3, 6. Jadran 3,
7. Radnicki 1, 8. Dinamo 0
Group B – Wednesday
19.00 OSC Budapest (HUN) v CN
Marseille (FRA)
20.00 Steaua Bucharest (ROU) v Jug
Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
20.15 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) v Waspo 98
Hannover (GER)
20.30 Pro Recco (ITA) v Spandau 04
Berlin (GER)
Standings: 1. Recco 9, 2. OSC 7, 3.
Marseille 6, 4. Jug 6, 5. Zvezda 3, 6. Hannover 2, 7. Spandau 1, 8. Steaua 0
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