The difference of European experience between the two teams was huge, as Wisla Plock played the EHF Champions League in the last seven seasons while Fivers reached the European League for the first time in history.

But the Polish side, due to sanitary reasons, had not played a game in almost a month while the Austrian one intended to surprise yet some more in the first game of the group phase.

GROUP A

Orlen Wisla Plock HB (POL) vs Fivers (AUT) 32:23 (17:15)

• Neither team really took the upper hand in the first half and it was only thanks to a last-second Michal Daszek penalty goal that Plock were ahead by two at the break, the biggest advantage of the game so far.
• Adam Moravski had a key role for Plock, as his entrance at the end of the first half allowed his team to find some defensive strength. The young Polish goalkeeper only conceded eight goals in the second half.
• Plock’s Michal Daszek was the best scorer of the game. The right winger netted twelve times.
• Plock are now top of the group A, ahead of Toulouse, and will play in Skopje against Metalurg next week.

Plock’s impressive front-court trio

Plock scored 32 goals, and they can thank their front-court trio. Out of the 17 goals the Polish side scored in the first half, fourteen came either from Michal Daszek, Lovro Mihic or Abel Serdio. And, even more surprisingly when it comes to wingers, most of these goals were not scored on fastbreaks. With such scorers on the front-court, you can imagine how much trouble Plock could cause when their backcourt is also in a good day!