Nagy conquers Vistalegre again

A year after playing a massive part in the 23:25 downfall of the fortress Vistalegre to FC Barcelona Intersport, the Hungarian right back László Nagy helped MKB Veszprém dish out another shock result against Atlético Madrid on Sunday.

Nagy powered home eight goals last December in the uniform of the Spanish League champions Barcelona, but he bettered that with a ten-goal performance which underpinned their win against Madrid.

"It was the best match László has ever played for us,” said Veszprém coach Antonio Carlos Ortega. “He has been outstanding in attack and defence. All teams have their franchise player and László is ours.”

However, the Hungarian team's coach also wanted to highlight the collective work of Veszprém, who were securing their third straight win in the VELUX EHF Champions League with the 26:27 win in Madrid.

"It is true that at the end of the match László took control, but Nagy was only able to score those ten goals because of the work of the rest of the team," added Carlos Ortega.

Nagy scored four of their last five goals, including the last one that gave victory to Veszprém with 30 seconds to go until the end of the match.

"It is true this is a very good place for me,” said Nagy after the match. “Except in Spanish Super Cup, last year I won here in the Spanish League with Barcelona and today also with Veszprém. I´m very happy.“

The victory leaves MKB Veszprém on six points and equal with THW Kiel at the top of Group B. But it was a close result, with Madrid leading 25:22 with six minutes remaining.

“We just couldn’t close down the result in the last six minutes. We failed to finish the job when everything was in our favour," said Atlético's coach, Talant Dujshebaev, at the post-game press conference.

However, rather than focusing on his side’s second straight home defeat in the VELUX EHF Champions League, Dujshebaev was worried about injuries to goalkeeper José Javier Hombrados and Danish left back Nikolaj Markussen.

"What worries me are the injuries of Hombrados and Markussen," said Dujshebaev, who was also without injured Croatian Ivano Balić for the match against Veszprém.

The injury to Hombrados seems most serious, and he will undergo several tests to establish just how long his recovery will take.

Hombrados, who reappeared last Saturday against Celje Pivovarna Laško after nearly a month off, had to leave the court after 21 minutes after damaging his knee in a collision with a Veszprém player.

Meanwhile Markussen, who played for the first time this season in the VELUX EHF Champions League against Veszprém, did not return for the second half after picking up an injury in the closing stages of the first period.

Atlético Madrid were led by an inspired Magnus Dahl, who saved 12 shots in the second half – but he couldn’t stop them letting slip their late lead.

Veszprém’s Croatian goalkeeper Mirko Alilović made two crucial saves, the last one a penalty from Kiril Lazarov, which allowed Nagy and his side to conquer Vistalegre once again.