Courtesy: LEN
After a month-long break, here is the
grand finish of the prelims with four more rounds in five weeks. So far, Recco
and Marseille secured their respective spots in the Final Eight and Jug needs
one point to join them from Group B. At the same time, Group A is quite
balanced, and we’ll have two extremely important matches this Wednesday where teams
ranked in the top five face off each other.
Brescia was the last one in the field
to lose a game, it happened to them at home against Novi Beograd – but now they
have the easiest task of all, to collect three points against bottom-ranked
Dinamo at home and that can secure them the F8 spot.
The Serbs are in chasing mood now,
though they face another tough test as Ferencvaros visits them – while for Novi
Belgrade it’s all about the possibility to be ranked first (and pride, of
course) since their place in the F8 is guaranteed as the hosts, for the
Hungarians it’s now a do-or-die occasion. After an undefeated run of eight
games, FTC lost back-to-back matches – going down in Split was a real blow, a
crushing 7-17 defeat at home against Barceloneta was definitely an all-time low
for the club which found itself in an extremely difficult position. They beat
the Serbs at home in November but the trends are different now – Novi Belgrade
is on the rise, they have a new coach, a living legend, Igor Milanovic who’ll be
in charge in their Champions League campaign for the first time which is
definitely a big boost for the home side. On contrary, Ferencvaros had ups and
downs recently, and a third loss may leave them in the cold with three rounds
to go.
It’s going to be exciting to watch
this encounter almost parallel with the other big clash featuring Barceloneta
and Olympiacos. The Spaniards had a terrific run in late February so the
one-month break was definitely a setback for them – as their scoring machine
Alvaro Granados mentions it in his pre game quote – and Olympiacos also bounced
back after the shocks (lost to Radnicki in Kragujevac, then to Brescia at
home). Here the winner gets some comfort for sure, but the loser will see
challenging times so the outcome is absolutely crucial in this game too.
Radnicki and Jadran should produce a fierce encounter but neither side has a
realistic chance to catch the train to Belgrade.
In Group B, the top three ranked
sides are in safe – Recco’s and Marseille’s spots are sealed, Jug needs a point
against Steaua and this should be an easy ride for the Croats who look to find
the right gears for the spring.
At the same time, Recco and Marseille
keep on wrestling for the first place – the title-holder Italians visit Berlin
where they might have an easier task then the French who prepares for a huge
battle against OSC at home. Marseille won in Budapest with ease and now has a
9-game winning streak, but the Hungarians are coming up, had a great game in
Recco in the last round and also played really well in the key matches in the
domestic league. Facing a tough challenge from the two Germans in the hunt for
the fourth qualifying spot, OSC will double its efforts for sure so their visit
to Marseille is definitely the highlight of Day 10 action.
Their crucial showdown with Hannover
is due in one week and if OSC loses in Marseille – which is still very much in
the cards – and the Germans beat Crvena Zvezda – no one would be surprised
either –, it would mean that Hannover gets ahead of OSC in the ranks before the
grand battle on Day 12.
Champions League, Day 11 – Fixtures
Group A (Wednesday)
19.30 Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta
(ESP) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE)
19.45 Novi Beograd (SRB) v
FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN)
20.30 Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) v
Jadran Split (CRO)
20.30 AN Brescia (ITA) v Dinamo
Tbilisi (GEO)
Standings: 1. Brescia 23, 2. Novi
Beograd 20, 3. Olympiacos 19, 4. Barceloneta 17, 5. Ferencvaros 16, 6. Radnicki
10, 7. Jadran 9, 8. Dinamo 0
Group B (Tuesday)
18.15 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v
Crvena Zvezda (SRB)
19.00 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v Pro
Recco (ITA)
19.00 CN Marseille (FRA) v Genesys
OSC Budapest (HUN)
19.00 Jug Adriatic Osiguranje
Dubrovnik (CRO) v Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
Standings: 1. Recco 27, 2. Marseille
27, 3. Jug 21, 4. OSC 13, 5. Hannover 11, 6. Spandau 10, 7. Steaua 4, 8. Zvezda
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