Neither of the two teams had enjoyed a victory since the beginning of the group phase.

Leon grabbed their first point in round two against Toulouse, missing the opportunity to take one more by missing a last-second seven-meters shot.

Playing against the same French opponent, Metalurg had not managed to come back victorious and were, as a consequence, still looking for their first point in the group phase before travelling to Spain. The trip to Leon had been an eventful one for the North-Macedonian side, as it had to travel by bus for more than 40 hours in order to play the game.

GROUP A

Abanca Ademar Leon (ESP) vs HC Metalurg (MKD) 41:32 (20:13)

• Leon’s Andrew Dolin was given a red card by the referees after just six minutes
• That did not prevent the Spanish side from breaking away on the scoreboard, having at most a nine-goal advantage in the first half.
• Best scorer of the game was Ruben Marchan Criado with eight goals
• Metalurg remain bottom of the group without points while Leon move to the second place, with three points.

Leon’s incredible offensive efficiency

Just one missed shot in the first thirty minutes of the game. That’s the achievement Leon managed to produce tonight against Metalurg. Goals from the North Macedonian side were not all to blame, though, as most of the goals they conceded were fastbreaks. On every position did Ademar players outplay their opponents. And that definitely showed on the scoreboard.