Courtesy: LEN
While title-holder and group leader
Recco cashed in three points without playing (due to Jug’s Covid-problems), the other favourites had to
work hard to claim their respective wins. Marseille played its first game since
Christmas and they had to overcome a three-goal deficit in the second half in Belgrade but a 0-7 run secured their
seventh straight win. OSC was trailing during the whole game in Berlin but staged a late surge
and managed to hit the winner 7 seconds from time. The other match in Germany was also decided
by a single goal, Hannover edged out Steaua in a match where the Romanians came back from four
goals down but the hosts prevailed at the end.
Group B: Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v
Steaua Bucharest (ROU) 13-12, Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v OSC Budapest (HUN) 11-12, Crvena Zvezda (SRB)
v CN Marseille (FRA) 8-11, Pro Recco (ITA) v
Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) 10-0
Standings: 1. Recco 21, 2. Marseille
21, 3. Jug 15, 4. OSC 13, 5. Hannover 11, 6. Spandau 7, 7. Steaua 3, 8. Zvezda 3
Marseille fell three goals behind in
Belgrade twice and was trailing 7-4 at halftime against bottom ranked Crvena Zvezda, before the French found
their rhythm and started playing at their usual level. Without a match since Christmas, Marseille
needed some time to reach ‘game-heat’ but once they had it, they blew the Serbs away with a 0-7 run.
The hosts could not penetrate the French defence at all, scored a single goal in the second half, with
1:39 from time, so Marseille claimed its 7th straight win and keep up with Recco on top.
OSC won a thriller in Berlin – the
Magyars led only once in the match, 7 seconds before the end but that late goal earned them a really precious win.
At certain stages Spandau was in firm control, once they went three goals up and they held a two-goal
lead three times in the last period but was unable to score in the last 4:35 minutes while OSC netted
three in a row to have the last laugh. After losing the previous match by default (due to Covid-problems),
this win kept the Hungarians among the top four.
Hannover got entangled into an
unexpectedly tough battle with Steaua despite all its key-players returned to the team who had been missing in
Bucharest. The Romanians managed to come back from four goals down but ran out of gas in the
fourth when the Germans rebuilt their three-goal lead. Two late goals from the visitors could not
prevent Hannover from bagging three more points.
Sadly, the big rematch between
title-holder Recco and Jug was cancelled as the Croats – who had halted the Italians unbeaten run two weeks ago –
were hit by positive Covid-tests plus several players were ordered to go to self-isolation, thus the
team was unable to line up the minimum number of players for this match. According to the regulations, the
game was awarded to Recco with a 10-0 scoreline.
Recaps
C. Zvezda v Marseille 8-11
The opening period offered everything
the given situation held for the teams. The Serbs got some fresh blood under their new coach Mirko
Vicevic while the French struggled a lot as they hadn’t played a single game since December as all of
their scheduled encounters were cancelled. Meeting with a refreshed team in front of their noisy Serb
fans while not being in play – it led to a stunning start as Zvezda rushed a 3-0 lead while Marseille
missed three extras in a row. Ante Vukicevic finally put them on the scoreboard with 18 seconds remaining
and soon in the second it seemed that the French machine geared up as they quickly equalised for 3-3.
However, they couldn’t carry on their
momentum while the hosts, playing without any pressure as their chances to qualify were almost zero, regained
their composure, scored two in a minute and added one more to have another 3-0 run – Vuk
Milojevic’s action goal came at the end of a brilliantly played action. Vukicevic’s perfect blast halted
Marseille’s ‘second” bad phase but Milos Vukicevic’s magnificent backhander gave the home side a
stunning 7-4 lead by halftime.
The French managed to regroup
themselves in the middle break so the game started to offer a pattern which mirrored the real quality difference
between the teams. In 80 seconds, Marseille hit two as Thomas Vernoux scored his usual one from the
centre, then Michael Bodegas’ ball bounced in from the goalie’s hand in a 6 on 4. The biggest change
happened at the other end – Marseille’s defence was tightened, the Serbs were unable to penetrate
them, they missed their lonely man-up lately, that was their only real scoring opportunity during
these eight minutes. It was only a question of time when the French took over the lead – Romain Vernoux’s
6m shot put them on level and Vukicevic’s penalty put them ahead for the first time in the match,
with 1:12 to go in the third.
The fourth started just like the
third, Vernoux scored from the centre for 7-9 – and when Zvezda missed its man-ups in the next two possessions, the
fans could have a kind of a game-over feeling. It was virtually over soon when Vukicevic hit his
5th goal from a man-up for 7-10. After Uros Cuckovic’s goal from a counter, Milos Vukicevic could score
again for the hosts to end the French’s 0-7 run. But it was too few and too late, they had a drought
lasting 16:50 minutes – or we may say, they ran out of miracles for the second half.
Spandau v OSC 11-12
The Germans offered a great run at
the beginning, scoring 5 out of 5 man-ups – a rare feat at any level. OSC tried to keep up but thanks to the
Germans’ effective offence they fell behind quickly, turning the encounter in a chasing game where the
favourite Magyars had to play under growing pressure.
When the visitors could finally kill
a couple of man-downs, they had the chance to come back and they just did that, Ferenc Salamon’s brilliant
back-handed action goal brought them to even at 5-5. However, they could not carry on their momentum, though
they defended well but the German defence and the hosts’ Hungarian goalie Laszlo Baksa was up
to the task too.
And their efforts worked well at both
ends of the pool in the third when they staged a 3-0 run. Their veteran great Marko Stamm was instrumental in
this rush, his old-school pushed shot from the water in a counter was a sheer beauty and his finely
tuned man-up shot put Spandau 8-5 up deep into this quarter. Still, the Magyars weren’t done,
they managed to score again after more than six minutes but quickly added another one before the break so
it stood 8-7 before the final period.
Nikola Dedovic’s brilliant shot from
the distance doubled Spandau’s lead but despite another fine save from Baksa, OSC could put away its next
man-up. This pattern was repeated twice – the Germans scored first, OSC could pull one back, but after
11-10 Spandau’s offence lost its rhythm and Salamon’s magnificent 8m shot equalled the score at
11-11. What’s more, Baksa had to come up with a great stop at a counter – however, the Hungarians
managed to deny the hosts in a crucial man-up with 1:41 to go. The post saved Spandau at OSC’s next
possession, Marton Levai came up with a save 17 seconds from time and the Magyars earned a man-up though
Gergely Burian was swimming one on one towards the goal anyway and he hit the winner just 7
seconds before the end. This was the first time OSC took the lead in the game – but it earned them all
three points.
Hannover v Steaua 13-12
The game began as it was more or less
expected, the Germans jumped to a 3-0 lead. Steaua hit back with a late double but Darko Brguljan also
scored twice still in the first period to set the three-goal gap back. Waspo was in control, in the second
they expanded their lead to 7-3 and despite a fine action goal from Dmitri Goanta with 0:11 on the clock,
all looked well from the hosts’ perspective at halftime.
Things took a sharp turn in the third
as the home players seemed to have laid back a bit early while the Romanians managed to lead a series of
counters and finished off three in a row, thus in a span of 62 seconds it was 7-7. Petar Muslim’s man-up
goal eased Waspo’s miseries – it was their first after 7:17 minutes – but the reply came at the other end
as Andrei Neamtu also sent the ball home from a 6 on 5. Soon Hannover had some luck as the Romanians
almost killed a man-down but a second attack saw Ivan Nagaev scoring a crucial goal. Then
Marius Tic saved a penalty, but again, after the corner Aleksandar Radovic managed to find the back
of the net from the distance for 10-8. The Romanians could score a late one again, so the decision
was left to the final period.
There Hannover opened the scoring,
Steaua could hit back once more but in the crucial moments the visitors looked no longer that fresh and fast
as they had been in the third. They had a man-up to go even once more at 11-10 but missed it and that
cost them dearly as Ivan Nagaev netted one from the ensuing counter. That was decisive as the Romanians
couldn’t create clear scoring chances until the other leftie Fynn Schutze did not score another fine
action goal for 13-10. With 1:25 to go, the bill was settled, though Steaua
managed to find two more in the last 43 seconds, but they no longer had the
chance to save a point at least.
Fixtures, Wednesday
Group A
19.00 FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v
Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)
19.00 Jadran Split (CRO) v AN Brescia
(ITA)
19.45 Novi Beograd (SRB) v Zodiac
Atletic Barceloneta (ESP)
20.30 Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) v
Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE)
Standings: 1. Brescia 17, 2.
Olympiacos 16, 3. Ferencvaros 13, 4. Barceloneta 11, 5. Novi Beograd 11, 6. Jadran 6, 7. Radnicki 4, 8. Dinamo 0
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