Leon earn first win of the season

In what proved a tough encounter between Abanca Ademar Leon and Kadetten Schaffhausen in VELUX EHF Champions League Round 2, the Swiss side never held the lead, but came close to clinching one point.

"It has been a long time since Leon has seen a good European match," said Leon coach Rafael Guijosa. "We had control, attack didn't give us any easy situations. We always had [an advantage of] two or three goals, we had a lot of intensity in the game, and that's why we could
win."

The Spanish team ultimately recorded their first victory of the season with a final score of 29:28, ahead of a Kadetten squad that will face Dinamo Bucuresti in Round 3 on Wednesday.

• Ademar Leon earn their first win of the Champions League season, beating Kadetten by one goal after a close match
• Leon will host Elverum in Round 3, while Kadetten will play Dinamo
• Skjern and Gorenje Velenje are the only teams in Group C with four points, while Kadetten and Leon follow with two each

GROUP C
Abanca Ademar Leon (ESP) vs Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) 29:28 (14:13)

Another loss for Leon would have seriously dented the Spanish side's chances of progressing to the next phase, as Leon would have found themselves four points behind three other teams.

However, the Spanish side understood the need for a good start and led the game from the first attack, taking a 7:5 advantage after a hard-fought 22 minutes.

The visitors from Switzerland tied the game at 10:10, and did not fall behind by more than two goals until the 33rd minute, when Leon's better start to the half took them to a three-goal difference, 17:14.

The experienced squad never backed down, with veterans Manuel Liniger and Gabor Csaszar leading the charge for Kadetten.

Leon looked assured of a win, leading 27:24 with five minutes to go, but the game was played down to the wire.

The teams exchanged goals until the final whistle, with Leon having the last say to win the tough contest by one.