03.03.2021, 08:20
Goal machines Barça win 27th group match in a row

GROUP B REVIEW: Catalan side easily defeat Motor to break another Champions League record

The start was a bit weaker than expected, but from minute 15 to minute 40, Barça put the pedal to the metal against Motor and won a one-sided match to finish the group phase with a clean record. 

The 42:34 victory - the highest score of the group phase up until now – means that Barça only finished one of 14 group matches with fewer than 30 goals scored (29:25 against Kiel); that they netted 40 goals or more four times in the group phase; and that they scored a total of 505 goals, an average of 36 strikes per match.

GROUP B
Barça (ESP) vs HC Motor (UKR) 42:34 (23:18)

• Barça’s 23 goals at the break was the second highest number in a first half in this season – ahead of their own half-time score of 24:13 against Zagreb
• thanks to three quick goals from their top scorer Viachaslau Bokhan, Motor were ahead 5:3, before Barça turned the match around with a 5:0 run from 5:8 to 10:8
• from that moment to the break, the advance was constantly between four and six goals. Dika Mem scored seven goals from seven attempts in the first half
• after his 11 goals against Barça, Bokhan now is on 67 strikes, putting him third in the top scorer list
• Motor remain on 14 points, level with Aalborg and Kiel, who both have their final group matches still ahead on Thursday

Another Barça record in the Champions League

They are the record winners with eight trophies, they are by far the best team in the All-Time ranking of the competition, and they are record holders in numbers of finals and participations at the EHF FINAL4.

Now Barça hold another record, becoming the first team to win all 14 group matches since the introduction of the eight-team group phase in 2015/16. Last season, they lost to Szeged in round 1 before winning the following 13 games, meaning they have now won 27 group matches in a row.

TEXT: EHF / Björn Pazen