Besiktas earn win against Medvedi while Silkeborg beat leaders Sporting

The Russian side lost both games this season and another loss would have seen them far away from a VELUX EHF Champions League play-off berth. Yet Besiktas were not easy opponents, as shown last season, when the Turkish side took both wins between the two sides in the same stage of the competition.

Besiktas’ clear objective was crystal clear – taking a step further this season – and this meant winning their second consecutive game in Russia. The Turkish side earned a 24:22 win, after eight lead changes in the game and is now on track to challenge for a play-off spot.

• Both Sporting and Silkeborg are now tied at the top of Group C with four points

• A win next week against Sporting would match Besikatas' best-ever Champions League run

• The hosts scored only once in the last nine minutes

• 37-year old veteran Ramazan Döne scored nine goals for the Turkish outfit

• Silkeborg have scored 35 or more for the second time in three games this season

GROUP C

Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS) vs Besiktas Mogaz (TUR) 22:24 (13:12)

While Besiktas may have looked like the favourites, it was far from a walk in the park, with the young Russian side taking early control of the game. The Turkish Eagles benefitted from a solid start by veteran right back Ramazan Döne, who scored four times to tie the score at 6:6 after 14 minutes.

It was a cat-and-mouse game, with both teams relying heavily on their sharpshooters, yet the defences managed to get the needed stops until Chekhovskie put up a 3:0 run inspired by Alexander Kotov, to take a 12:9 lead.

But an excellent Döne and line player Mehmet Demirezen engineered their own 3:0 unanswered run for Besiktas to tie the game, 12:12.

While Chekhovskie tried to keep their cool, the Russian side was clearly running out of steam and a 5:0 run by Besiktas saw the Turkish side jump to an unexpected 18:15 lead.

It looked to be the point of no return for the Russian hosts, who only scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, as they hit a wall when trying to force their way through the Turkish defence. But the game handed out another wildcard, when Chehovskie came back with another 5:0 unanswered run to see them take a 21:20 lead in the 52nd minute.

Yet Besiktas found their strength when it mattered the most, shut out Chehovskie and took the 24:22 win, their second in a row. Chekhovskie is now last in the group, riding a three-game losing streak.

Sporting CP (POR) vs Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (DEN) 32:35 (14:19)

Silkeborg took the game to Sporting right from the first minute. If the Danes had been struggling offensively last week, they were back to their usual form, with Nikolaj Markussen scoring three goals in the first 11 minutes of the game. 

With the help of their left-back, Silkeborg were quickly ahead by five, leading 9-4 after 11 minutes. Sporting then took a time-out to stop the gap from widening, but it did not allow the locals to come back. Despite Tiago Rocha and Edmilson Araujo both scoring three before the break, their team was still struggling on defense, letting the visitors go back to the dressing-room with a comfortable advantage, 19-14.

The fifteen minutes break did not help Sporting much. Their opponents picked up where they left off and rapidly took the biggest lead of the game, 22-15. 

No matter how hard they tried, even changing goalkeepers, the hosts could not find any solution to stop Nikolaj Markussen and Nikolaj Oris Nielsen from scoring. The Danish back-court was on fire tonight, scoring a combined 23 goals. 

Despite Sporting scoring a few to make the score a little more respectable, Silkeborg had the game firmly in hand and cruised to an undisputed win, 35 to 32.