The day of away victories

After Löwen, Hamburg and Barcelona had won their away matches in the first leg of the last 16 on Saturday, the favoured teams of Kiel, Ciudad Real, Veszprem and Chechov followed them on Sunday. Like Montpellier (draw in Kolding on Saturday) all teams were number one or two after the group phase are in best position now, as no team from pot three or four could win a match on home soil.

Last 16, first leg:

FCK Handbold – THW Kiel 31:33 (13:16)

600 THW fans celebrated the victory of their club in Denmark – and specially cheered for outstanding Filip Jicha, who scored 13 goals in 14 attempts for the German champion. Another match winner for THW was goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer, who saved 16 shots. After the 5:4 Kiel scored a 6:1 series, but FCK kept playing strong and reduced the distance to 13:15, before Narcisse scored the halftime result of 16:13 for the guests. It only took 14 minutes before Kiel had extended their lead pre decisively to 25:18. But FCK awoke again, reduced the gap to 22:26, 28:30 in minute 56 and 30:31 in minute 58. FCK was close to turn the match, as Kiel lacked concentration. But then Jicha saved the victory with his last two goals. “I’m satisfied with the fact that we won, but were very weak in the last 15 minutes,” THW coach Alfred Gislasson said. And line player Marcus Ahlm added: “We gave a big lead from our hands, but still we have a good base for the second leg at home.” Top scorer for FCK was Ätterhall with six goals.

Gorenje Velenje – Ciudad Real 23:31 (9:14)

The reigning champion is nearly through to the quarterfinals and took their eleventh victory in their eleventh CL match this season. Despite the great atmosphere in Velenje, full support from the stands and 16 saves of goalkeeper Gajic the host didn’t have any chance against the Spaniards. With this eight goal difference Ciudad Real will have an easy match on home soil next Saturday. The score of 5:4 was the last lead for Gorenje in the whole match, later on Ciudad dominated the game clearly and scored a 10:4 series until the break, led by outstanding Chema Rodriguez and top scorer Jerome Fernandez. At first the Spanish defence stood well, then Ciudad took their chances by counter attacks and from position attacks. Even as Gorenje reduced the distance to 14:16 it was obvious very early that Ciudad will leave the field as the winners. The final result was the biggest distance. Top scorer for Velenje was Simic with six goals.

Ademar Leon – Chechovski Medvedi 36:37 (20:18)

History repeated again for Ademar Leon: The Spanish team still have to wait for a victory against Chechovski Medvedi – since nine years now. On Sunday evening Ademar was very close to end this series, but in the second half the Russian champion turned the game – for Chechov now a draw on home soil is enough to reach the quarterfinals. Top scorers in a high speed and high tension match were Shelmenko (9) and Rastvortsev (8) for Chechov and Ortigosa (9) and Buntic (7) for Leon. The host was in better position in the first half, even as the Russians could reduce the distance to two goals at the break. At the score of 24:23 Chechov took the lead for the fist time and didn’t give it from their hands until the end. Another match winner for the Russians was goalkeeper Oleg Grams, who specially in the final stage saved several important shots. Nine minutes before the end Chechov had extended the gap to 31:28, but then Ademar fought hard for the points. Starykh secured the victory with his 37:36, as Aguirrezabalaga missed the last chance for Leon. By winning with a two goal difference Ademar wouldn’t only break the Chechov spell on Russian ground, but would qualify for the quarterfinals.

HCM Constanta – MKB Veszprem 23:27 (9:12)

It was a hard piece of work before Veszprem had taken those two points which open the gate to the quarterfinals widely. “I’m very glad after this victory,” Veszprem coach Lajos Mocsai said: “Constanta was well organized and it wasn’t easy for us top win here, as it took some time until the resistance of the Romanians was broken.” The first 22 minutes were completely equal, before the Hungarians improvedin their attacks. After the 8:8 they scored three consecutive goals and kept this distance until the break. In the second half Constantacame closer and equalized at the score of 18:18. But then Veszprem goalkeeper Dejan Peric showed his strength and his team again extended the lead to three goals. As Constanta tried everything to keep the points in Romania, the final stage became tensioned. The game was decided right after the 22:24, as Veszprem scored three goals in a row. Top scorers were Toma with nine goals for Constanta and Gulyas, Terzic, Sulic and Gergö Ivanscik who scored each four times for the Hungarians. Special guest of this match was Petre Cozma, the father of Veszprem’sformer Romanian player Marian Cozma, who had been murdered one year ago in Veszprem.