26.05.2017, 11:40
Potaissa Turda seek to climb another mountain

FINAL PREVIEW: In the semi-final of the Men’s Challenge Cup, AHC Potaissa Turda managed to come back from an eight-goal deficit. They will need to attempt a similar feat against Sporting CP in the second leg of the final.

Potaissa Turda seek to climb another mountain

In the second leg of their final against Sporting CP, the Romanian side AHC Potaissa Turda will be chasing a nine-goal deficit. Thus, they must muster up an incredible comeback, as they did in the second leg of the semi-final against Valur, where they came back from an eight-goal deficit. However, it might not be as easy this time against the undefeated Portuguese team.

• It is AHC Potaissa Turda’s first season in the Challenge Cup.
• Sporting CP have not lost a single point so far this season in the Challenge Cup.
• Sporting CP’s Serbian left wing Ivan Nikcevic scored 10 goals in the first leg.

FINAL, SECOND LEG

AHC Potaissa Turda (ROU) vs Sporting CP (POR)

Saturday 27 May, 17:00 local time, live on ehfTV.com.

In the semi-final, Turda managed to catch up with an eight-goal deficit to qualify for the final of the Challenge Cup. Having lost 30:22 away against Valur, they managed to defeat the Icelandic side 32:23 at home to proceed to the final. The mountain that the Romanian team must climb in the second leg of the final is even steeper, however.

This time, Turda find themselves nine goals down after losing 37:28 away against Sporting last Sunday.

The distance could have been even bigger, however, as Sporting were leading by 13 goals on several occasions during the match. Nevertheless, nine goals is likely more than enough, considering that Sporting have not lost a single point in the Challenge Cup so far this season.

Still, Sporting coach Hugo Canela remains cautious ahead of the second leg match on Saturday afternoon:

“We are going to play on a very difficult court, and we have to be very focused and to withstand the pressure,” he said.

3-3 defence may be a good tactic for Turda

A key to Turda's success in the second semi-final against Valur was the fact that the Romanian team tried a highly aggressive 3-3 defence from the start.

It might be a good idea for them to try this tactic again, however, they would need to be extremely careful not to lose possession.

In the first match, Sporting capitalized on Turda’s technical mistakes to score series of goals on fast breaks.

Serbian left wing Ivan Nikcevic was particularly successful with this, scoring most of his 10 goals from fast breaks.

TEXT: Peter Bruun/kc