03.03.2008, 03:46
Barcelona closer to the semi-final

The Catalonians are just one step from the semi-finals after a 32:27 victory in Slovenia.

Barcelona closer to the semi-final

The Spanish giant Barcelona were stronger than Celje once again. 5,500 fans in the Zlatorog hall could not help the home team avoid their third defeat in the Champions League Main Round.

Who was the happiest man in Celje? Probably Manolo Cadenas, Barcelona coach, who finally won in Celje after three defeats in the past seasons:

"Celje is always a difficult place to play. Personally, I lost a few times here and I’m very happy to win finally," said Cadenas immediately after the 32:27 victory.

Poor Celje performance

Barcelona were in full control of the match for the whole 60 minutes. With a superb László Nagy, Iker Romero, Jesper Noddesbo in attack and a fantastic Kasper Hvidt in the goal (14 saves), Celje had no chance for the two points.

Without much idea in attack and too complicated team play, the Slovenians were lost. They did not go for simple shots and their defence was also on a low level for almost 40 minutes. This gave the Spanish a chance to win comfortably. The biggest gap was eight goals in the 45th minute. The only bright stars in the home team were Miha Gorensek, Srdjan Trivundza and at the end David Spiler.

The Catalonians won deservedly and have a fair chance to reach the semi-finals with six points in Group 4.

"I can only congratulate Barcelona. They were better today in all elements of handball. We started the match in the way we did not want to. That quick advantage taken was too much for us, we could only go after them, but could not reach Barcelona. We played under pressure as the fans had big expectations,” said Celje's coach Slavko Ivezic.

TEXT: Maja Mastnak, Sportal (http://www.siol.net/sportal.aspx)