Real thriller in Velenje
Group B:
RK Velenje – MKB Veszprem 27:28 (14:13)
Goalkeeper Dejan Peric was the Veszprem hero in this thriller in Velenje. By saving a penalty shot of Ivan Cupic with the final whistle,he was the responsible for this highly important victory of the Hungarian champion. On the other side, goalkeeper Ivan Gajic was the outstanding player for Gorenje Velenje. The Slovenians started well with a 9:6 lead, before Veszprem came closer and equalized for the first time in minute 33 (15:15). The last two minutes were highest tension, the spectators in the sold out hall – 400 from Hungary – went crazy. Veszprem seemed to have the better end with 27:25 lead, but Velenje equalized again thanks to two Cupic goals. 20 seconds before the end Perez score the 28:27 for Veszprem – and then Peric won the “shoot out” against Cupic.
“It’s very hard to comment this result”, Velenje coach Ivica Obrvan said: “We were so close to the victory, even as some important players were missing. In the end, not only the players, but the luck was missing, as we failed four times with penalty shots.” For Veszprem coach Lajos Mocsai “neither Velenje, nor Veszprem havedeserved a defeat. Sometimes sports is very hard for the losers.” As Veszprem is leading the table together with the Löwen (6 points), Velenje (2 points) missed a great chance to come closer to the top ranked teams. Topscorers were Cupic (9) for Velenje and Terzic (6) for Veszprem.
Vive Targi Kielce – Bosna BH Gas Sarajewo 34:30 (15:15)
Kielce is still on best way to qualify for the last 16 with now 5:3 points after the second home victory – and only one point less than the leading teams from Löwen and Veszprem.The first halftime against hard fighting team from Sarajewo was equal, but afterwards the eleven goals of Stojkovic decided the match for the Polish champion. Topscorer for Bosna was Banic with nine goals.
Group C:
Ciudad Real RK CO Zagreb 32:27 (15:12)
Title holder Ciudad Real remains unbeaten in Champions League and is the only team in the current season with four victories after four matches. But it took a long time, until the Spanish champion had beaten Zagreb. For Mirza Dzomba it was a very special match, as he previously played for Ciudad – and despite the defeat the Croatian was satisfied: “I’m happy with our game, because we came here to play good against the best players and the best team. We did a good match. I really think that we did the best fifteen minutes of all our year.”
Dzomba mentioned the time after the break, as Zagreb turned the 15:12 for Ciudad into a 21:20 for the Croatians. But afterwards the individual class and specially the defence of Ciudad decided the match. Two injuries overshadowed the game: Jonas Kallman’s sprained left foot will take him out for three weeks, and Petar Metlicic has a bruised right shoulder. After the 26:23 Ciudad increased the gap to finally six goals. “My players did a big effort,when the match was difficult andZagreb had taken the lead. I congratulate my team, as we played against a big team. I’m sure that the spectators enjoyed a really good match”, Ciudad coach Talant Dushebajew said.Top scorers were Jerome Fernandez (Ciudad Real) and Kiril Lazarow (Zagreb) with each seven goals.
Fyllingen Handball – Alingsas HK 26:28 (13:14)
Historic day for the Swedish champion: Thanks to the victory in the Northern duel, Alingsas won their first ever Champions League points. Even as Iveland and Bernardsson were missing, Alingsas was the better team. The Swedish champion was leading 11:7 after an equal start , before Fyllingen came closer. Even as Alingsas was leading 25:21 the match hadn’t been decided, as Fyllingen equalized to 25:25. But in this stage topscorer Johan Petterson (9 goals) took the responsibility for the Swedish team. After goalkeeperKappelin (27 saves in total) saved an important shot, Bliznac scored the last goal for Alingsas. “It was an outstanding success for us”, HK coach Wedberg said. Topscorer for the still pointless team from Norway was Gjeitrem with seven goals.
Group D:
FC Barcelona – Ademar Leon 28:22 (13:10)
In the first Spanish duel of this CL season, Barcelona didn’t have problems and took revenge against Reale Ademar after the draw (26-26) two weeks ago in Liga Asobal. FC Barcelona improved their defense, as Ademar only scored 22 goals -the best mark of the Catalans in this CL season. After the 0:2, Barca improved their skills and achieved their first big lead (9:4) in minute 20. With four consecutives goals after the break FCB pre decided the match at the score of 17:10.
For Jorge García (player Reale Ademar) these minutes brought the decision: “The key was in the first minutes of the second half. We made too many mistakes and Barca played with a great defence. We couldn’t break through.” His coach, Jordi Ribera, shared this opinion: “It was a game of two sides. First half we were face to face to Barca, but after the break FCB was much more better. They have more alternatives on the bench in contrast to us.” FCB coach Xavier Pascual agreed: “ In the first half the game was equal, but after the break we were betterthanks our bench rotations and our defence.” Best player for the host was Juan Garcia with seven goals, Doder, Stranovsky, Chernov and Krivoschlykov each scored three goals for Leon.
KIF Kolding – THW Kiel 31:31 (13:13)
High tension, brilliant atmosphere and a deserved draw were the ingredients of this match. As Kiel lost their fist point in this season, Kolding- on home soil still unbeaten this season - has recovered perfectly from their clear defeat in Barcelona on the last matchday. No team could increase the gap to more than three goals, and both goalkeepers – Thierry Omeyer and Ole Erevik – showed outstanding saves. Kolding was supported by frenetic spectators in the boiling pot. In the first halftime Kiel’s left hander Christian Zeitz set the bookmarks, but in total the match was equal. After the break at the score of 24:22 the Germans had several chances to increase the distance, but missed all their shots.
So Kolding turned the match, even as Anders Oecsler was suspended, equalized and was in lead with two goals in the last five minutes. But Kiel could catch up again, but missed the fourth victory in the final stage, as Erevik saved twice against Narcisse, after Sondergaard had scored the equalizer (31:31). “We missed too many clear chances to be the winner”, THW coach Alfred Gislasson said. “It was our best match, since I’m coach her”, Kolding coach Ingemar Linnell praised his team. Spellerberg and Sondergaard scored each six goals for the Danish champion, Zeitz eight for Kiel. THW is still leading the table of group D with seven points, and has - as Kolding- a good base for reaching the last 16.
Vardar Skopje – Amicitia Zurich 22:22 (14:10)
Outstanding goalkeeper Vaskevicius saved the first CL point for Amicitia in this season. Thanks to his 23 saves in Skopje and a strong second halftime the Swiss champion showed a sign of life after publishing severe financial problems. Vardar was in lead until minute 50, specially in the first halftime with an intermediate difference of four or five goals, but in the very end, Zurich turned the match and led 21:20 in minute 52 for the first time. In the last minute Skopje equalized again. Topscorers were Djordjevic with four goals for Vardar and Behrends with seven goals for Zurich. Both teams have gained their first point.
TEXT:
Björn Pazen