01.10.2007, 10:11
Barcelona pass Karvina test

The Catalonian side beat the Czech champions despite the help of a great home crowd.

Barcelona pass Karvina test

Barcelona left no chance for Banik Karvina. The Cadenas team showed their power right after the throw-off and took a comfortable lead. Karvina went on court to win the game, but the Catalonian defence did not allow much for the hosts.

The match had Danish protagonists. Kasper Hvidt showed a great performance, while Jesper Noddesbo scored seven goals to secure a 20-35 Spanish victory.

It seems that Barcelona do not want to waste the chance that they were awarded by the wild card for this edition of CL. They qualified without problems to be favourites for making it to the final rounds again.

Karvina were only able to keep the pace in the first minutes. A massive fan support helped the Czechs, but winning remained only a dream. 

Promising Ugalde

The greatest strength of Barcelona was their defence. Manolo Cadenas applied the usual 6-0 system and it worked well. However, easy Spanish goals allowed to try several players and formations. In defence, Cristian Ugalde played in the advanced position of the 5-1 defence. The young handballer performed really well. He is a very interesting defensive option for the team.

The second half of the game was fairly easy for the Spanish because Karvina did not have the power to close the gap any more. Jesper Noddesbo played well and the Catalonians had a 16-goal advantage already. The final result, 20-35, allows Barcelona to focus on the next match against Astrakan.

TEXT: Fernando Urra Goñi