Vardar open new home with win, while Ilic leads Veszprém through Löwen

Rhein-Neckar Löwen managed to quiet Veszprém Arena in the first half but the home side somehow found a way to reverse the intense, high quality game that made up to the expectations of handball fans. Vardar made no mistake and easily ran over Chekhovskie Medvedi.

HC Vardar (MKD) vs Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS) 39:28 (24:12)

Vardar made the Russian champions realise they already feel at home in their magnificent new Jane Sandanski hall. After the hectic start when both teams had some good runs Vardar took the initiative and left the visitors standing.

“Before the match we were a little bit upset, a little bit nervous, because it was our first game in the new arena Jane Sandanski. But the crowd created a spectacular atmosphere and made the things easier for us,” said Raul Gonzales, HC Vardar coach.

Chekhov were made to pay for their errors in attack (they gave away 11 balls in the first half alone) and Vardar went up by ten goals as early as the 20th minute. And the Macedonian team did not step off the gas and managed to gain a 12 goal lead by the end of the first half. The Russians were no match for the high-flying Vardar.

Timur Dibirov and Alex Dujshebaev ran the show for the home side the winger being the most prolific with eight  goals while the heroics of Alexander Dereven proved worthless as far as the massive lead of Vardar was concerned. For most of the second half the Macedonian champion fielded their reserves but the margin never shrank to less than eight goals.

Fun-fact: almost half of Vardar’s goals were scored by players who once played for Medvedi.

“We are very happy that we started in our new home with the win. Especially the way that we played first half, this is something that we have to play always. This is a memorable day for us, for our fans and for Macedonian handball because we started to play the new built arena. I expect here many big games and successes in the future,” said Alex Dujshebaev, HC Vardar player.
 

MKB-MVM Veszprém (HUN) vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER) 27:24 (10:11)

Although Veszprém started the Match of the Week slightly better it soon became clear that Löwen prepared very thoroughly for the game. The Bundesliga leader defended with fast legs and clear head and Veszprém seemed too slow to hurt the German defence, which was supported by the outstanding Niklas Landin, too.

Roland Mikler kept Löwen on a short leash with some excellent saves but the German team comfortably kept their lead. When Carlos Ortega sent in a more mobile line Veszprém started to climb back but Löwen were ahead at half time thanks to the prolific Uwe Gensheimer and Alexander Petersson.

The match did not disappoint handball fans who expected a tense, high tempo game. The teams went head-to-head after the break but soon Veszprém took control of the game when they started scoring from the line and László Nagy found the way to Landin’s net more often.

The Hungarian wall became more solid and Veszprém tightened their grip of the game although Gensheimer remained unstoppable.

Momir Ilic sent the home crowd to a frenzy when extended the home side’s lead to four goals and both teams knew the game was done. Löwen fought extremely hard and managed to give Veszprém a scare but a much-improved second half performance was enough for the Hungarian champion to beat their most dangerous rival in the group of death.