After a flawless campaign in the
qualifications, Brescia rolled on and gave a bad beating to Jug in Dubrovnik, a
feat rarely achieved in water polo. Medallists from last season, runner-up Novi
Beograd and third placed Ferencvaros showed no mercy either, in Berlin and in Sabadell
respectively. There was no home win in the opening day in this group since in
the game of twists and turns Marseille, once down by three then up by two,
could only equalise against OSC with 8 seconds to go.
Group B, Day 1: Jug Adriatic
Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v AN Brescia (ITA) 8-13, Astralpool Sabadell (ESP) v
FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 7-10, Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v Novi Beograd (SRB)
5-16, CN Marseille (FRA) v Genesys-OSC Budapest (HUN) 10-10
Beating Jug quite convincingly in
Dubrovnik is something teams may dream of but achieve it quite rarely. Brescia
now just did that – in fact, the Italians decided the game by halftime, staging
an amazing run in the second period when they scored seven goals. Once they
were five goals up, there was no way back for the Croats.
Euro Cup winner Sabadell fought
bravely against Ferencvaros, the Hungarians held the lead throughout the match,
but the Spanish always came up with a fine reply so never trailed by more than
two goals and was only 7-8 down before the last break. However, experience and
outstanding goaltending made the difference in the fourth where the hosts were
shut out completely and the 2019 champions finally won by three.
Marseille and OSC staged the most exciting
game of the day. The French had downed the Magyars in the previous season twice
with ease, now they found their match in them who stunned them by taking a 2-5
lead deep into the second period. The home side responded well, they could come
back quickly and with a 5-0 rush they went 7-5 up before the last period.
Still, OSC fought themselves back and managed to halt its embarrassingly long
scoreless period after 14:24 minutes, what’s more, they netted five goals in
the fourth period, with 44 seconds on the clock they even took the lead, but
the hosts saved the game to a tie from a double man-up with 8 seconds
remaining.
Serbia’s super side Novi Beograd was
considered the better team anyway while taking on Spandau, but multiple
Covid-infections undermined even the less ambitious plans of the Germans. At
least they could set up a team to play the game and held on till halftime when
they trailed 3-6. Then they ran out of gas for the second half which they lost
2-10.
For game reports with quotes from the
coaches, plus stats, video clips of each goal, and more, visit www.championsleague.len.eu
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