Teams having qualified last season to
the main round, Jadran Split (CRO), OSC (HUN) and Brescia (ITA) made the
play-offs once more, and they all finished atop in their respective groups.
A bit surprisingly France’s Noisy-Le
Sec also topped its group – here Oradea (ROU) caused the biggest upset by
grabbing the second spot ahead of Jadran Herceg Novi (MNE) and CN Barcelona
(ESP).
The group of ‘Death’ in Split
produced a series of thrilling contests as expected. Host Jadran finally won
all their four matches, however, the favourite Croats had to push hard to beat
Sabac (SRB) 14-13, where the winning goal came 23 seconds from time and needed
a 4-1 blast in the last period to turn their match against Vasas (HUN). The
Hungarians clinched the second qualifying spot by beating Savona (ITA) 9-8 –
they led 7-1 deep into the third before the Italians staged a late surge but
their last goal came only in the dying seconds.
A big drama unfolded in Barcelona
where France’s Noisy-Le Sec posted a perfect record thanks to a couple of fine
wins, while the fight for the second place ended in a three-way tie and
Romania’s Oradea went through. On the closing day, the Romanians stunned host
CN Barcelona (ESP) with a brilliant 12-6 victory with a 5-1 rush in the second
half.
Group C didn’t offer any less
excitements. After Tourcoing (FRA) had caused one of the big upsets of the
weekend by scoring the last five goals and beating OSC (HUN) 10-7, the French
were 9 seconds away from making the cut in the encounter against Vouliagmeni (GRE).
However, the Greeks netted the game winner in the two sides’ epic match on
Sunday in the dying second to catch the second place with a 14-13 win. OSC then
thrashed host Primorac (MNE) to finish atop in the group.
The other Greek side Panionios also qualified
thanks to a late winner – it was netted 1:47min from time against Mladost (CRO)
for a decisive 7-6 victory; here last season’s semi-finalist Brescia (ITA)
bagged four wins with ease.
The draw will take place on Monday –
the four group winners are to be paired against the second ranked sides (teams
now in the same group cannot face each other). The four play-off victors will
make the main round, while the losers will play in the Euro Cup eight-finals.
Clubs ranked third or below in this round enter the draw for the Euro Cup
second qualifying round.
Champions League, Qualification Round
II
Group A (Split)
1. Jadran Split (CRO) 12, 2. A Hid
Vasas-Plaket (HUN) 9, 2. RN Savona (ITA) 6, 4. VK Sabac
(SRB) 3, 5. Steaua Bucharest (ROU) 0
Group B (Barcelona)
1. CN Noisy-Le Sec (FRA) 12, 2. CSM
Oradea (ROU) 6, 3. Jadran Herceg Novi (MNE) 6, 4. CN
Barcelona (ESP) 6, 5. Vitoria
Guimaraes (POR) 0
Three-way tie, goal differences:
Oradea +5, Jadran 0, Barcelona –5
Group C (Kotor)
1. Genesys-OSC Budapest (HUN) 6, 2. NC
Vouliagmeni (GRE) 6, 3. EN Tourcoing (FRA) 4, 4.
Primorac Kotor (MNE) 1
Tie for the first place: OSC v
Vouliagmeni 13-9
Group D (Athens)
1. AN Brescia (ITA) 12, 2. Panionios
GSS (GRE) 9, 3. HAVK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) 6, 4. EVK
Zaibas (LTU) 3, 5. ASC Duisburg (GER)
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