07.09.2007, 11:23
CL teams battle for Supercup

The 2004/05 CL finalists, Ciudad Real and Barcelona, will play for the first official title of the season, the Spanish Supercup.

CL teams battle for Supercup

Barcelona and Ciudad Real were the protagonists of the summer period when the clubs reinforced their rosters.

Chema Rodriguez, Torsten Laen, Albert Rocas or Kasper Hvidt were some of the greatest names on the European transfer market. These two strong clubs will play for the first official title of the season this weekend: the Spanish Super Cup. The venue will be Salamanca and the single match deciding about the Supercup will open the season in Spain.

They are the favourites for every competition with other teams such as Portland or Ademar, while Valladolid or CAI Aragon will threaten their “Spanish Handball Kingdom”.

Great transfers

The transfers of players broke all records. The Spanish media reports that Ciudad Real paid 800,000 Euros for Chema Rodriguez to Valladolid, Barcelona gave 200,000 Euros for Rocas to Portland and Valladolid paid 300,000 for Oscar Perales to Ademar Leon. More than a million of Euros spent would be a record number.

Ciudad Real and Barcelona will meet in a match that will be the first real battle of the season. The pre-season was successful for both teams. Ciudad Real showed their strength and won all their matches. With a Eurotornoi victory in Strasbourgh – against strong clubs such as Montpellier, Zagreb and Valladolid – they may have confidence. Barcelona, on the other hand, may have been less brilliant in the preparation matches, but reached their most important objective: they qualified for the Champions League after beating ABC Braga.

(Almost) complete teams

The preparations did not go without injuries. On the Barcelona side, Nodesbo and Rocas suffered had various problems, but they will be okay for this match. Cadenas can probably count on all the players.

On the Ciudad Real side, Urios is a problem for Dujshebaiev. The Spanish international pivot had physical problems a couple of days ago, his game is in doubt. In addition, Pajovic will not play with his mates for administrative problems. Ciudad have more foreign players than allowed in the Spanish domestic competitions.

It will be the first step on a long road for both teams that will play five competitions this season.

TEXT: Fernando Urra Goñi