Barceloneta and Olympiacos both snatched huge away wins in the second round of the men’s Champions League Group Stage, sending a clear message that these two stand above the rest in Group C and D respectively. Vasas bounced back from their heavy opening-day defeat to stun Marseille in a thrilling match in Budapest, while Savona hit 18 goals in Kotor.
Group C
Jadran m:tel Herceg Novi (MNE) 8-16 Zodiac CNA Barceloneta (ESP)
Vasas-Plaket (HUN) 13-11 CN Marseille (FRA)
After an 18-7 blast at home against Vasas last week, Barceloneta went on thrashing their rivals – this time it was Jadran’s turn to learn a lesson from the Spaniards who beat them soundly.
The Montenegrins did keep up for a while, they even led 4-3 early in the second period, but then the Spaniards geared up a bit, hitting two in 47 seconds and adding one more for 4-6, as Unai Aguirre also posted a couple of saves in man-downs.
Vasilje Radovic lifted the locals’ spirits with a great steal and a spectacular finish in a one-on-one, however, Barceloneta hit back with another fast double, this time in 49 seconds. It was even more painful for the hosts as both came from action and Jadran missed a man-up between the two.
Soon, the game was gone, as Bernat Sanahuja sent the ball home from a 6 on 5, then Roger Tahull delivered a great one from the centre for 5-10. Though the Montenegrins pulled two back, nine seconds was still enough for Barceloneta to force a penalty and Granados buried it for 7-11.
The final period left no question – Granados went on scoring two more, a man-up and a counter, followed by two more from Gergo Burian from the right wing. All in all, it was a 1-5 rush at the end which really expanded the gap.
Elsewhere, Vasas were emerging from a devastating week – as the Hungarians had conceded 33 goals in two matches, 18 in Barceloneta as their Champions League return ended in an embarrassing defeat, then they sank further by losing to low-key rivals, Szeged, in the domestic league.
Next came the daunting task of facing Marseille, with their great mix of international and French stars – and in just 1:45 minutes, the visiting side were already 0-2 up and the horizon looked even darker from the hosts’ perspective.
But two quick goals in a minute brought them back to life and even though Marseille took the lead three more times in the first period, Vasas found some rhythm and only a penalty miss at 4-5 prevented them from levelling the score at the end of an action-packed first quarter.
The next penalty, in the second, went in, and that kicked off a new phase of the match as Marton Levai started delivering critical saves in a row. Though the Magyars also missed a couple of 6 on 5s, from action they managed to add two more while the French were unable to beat the hosts’ goalie.
Finally, Andrija Prlainovic’s fierce bounce shot found its way to the net, with 46 seconds from time, but Vasas were ahead 7-6 at half-time.
Two extraordinary blasts kicked off the third, from David Mijic and Nikola Dedovic, while Daniel Angyal, a Hungarian, scored with a bit of luck for Marseille from a rebound between the two.
This was Marseille’s lonely goal once more in this period as they couldn’t add any more in the next seven minutes. Levai was on top once more as he and his defenders killed four man-downs – while the hosts could force two penalties and even though the first one was another miss, the second was converted and Benedek Batizi sneaked in for another action goal with 0:02 on the clock for 11-7.
Even though Marseille managed to find the way to score in the fourth, Dedovic also beat Tesanovic from the perimeter – the new goalie of Marseille didn’t bring his best this evening – and at 12-8 the end was near for the French.
They could climb back to 12-10, but Soma Lakatos scored from a crucial extra for 13-10 with 2:39 to go and Alessandro Velotto’s man-up goal came too late with 52 seconds remaining. Vasas pulled off a great win – the first in the Champions League since the spring of 2012, and the only three-pointer for the home teams in this round.
Group D
KEIO CN Sabadell (ESP) 8-15 Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE)
VPK Primorac Kotor (MNE) 12-18 RN Savona (ITA)
However shaky Olympiacos looked in the opening round, the Greeks produced an outstanding performance in Sabadell. Not right from the beginning, but they didn’t start panicking and from the second period they started dominating. What’s more, they were simply overwhelming.
The Spanish side did well in the first eight minutes, took a 3-1 lead and killed back-to-back man-ups early in the second and Olympiacos needed almost five more minutes to gear up, but once Dimitrios Nikolaidis put away a 6 on 5, they began to roll. In a span of 78 seconds, they hit three more to complete a 0-4 run to lead 3-5 at half-time.
Sabadell still stayed in the fight in the third, managed to score three goals in four minutes, but the Greeks always found a way to respond and reset the two-goal gap. And after Dimitrios Dimou buried a 6 on 4 for 6-8, Olympiacos came up with the ultimate assault.
It’s a bit rare that they could earn three penalties in a row, though each seemed to be a fair call and more importantly, Ioannis Fountoulis (twice) and Konstantinos Genidounias (once) converted them all for a commanding 6-11 advantage with one period remaining.
The hosts were done, the Greeks added four more in the last period, with Genidounias hitting his fifth of the night as last season’s bronze medallists breezed to a great away win.
The evening match was rather like a showdown from the old Wild West – as Kotor and Savona produced a full-time score by half-time as the Italians led 8-10. Defending was suspended, the offences dominated and the lead was exchanging hands up until 7-6, then Savona hit three in a row in 1:50 minutes and never gave away their advantage for the rest of the match.
The hosts fought hard to climb back, but after 9-10 they were shut out for almost four minutes while the Italians produced another 0-3 run which extended their lead to 9-13.
Primorac pulled two back before the last break and had a 6 on 5 early in the fourth but a block denied them and Andrea Patchaliev’s action goal in the next possession killed the Montenegrin’s momentum. Instead of 12-13, it was 11-14 and soon it was over.
Mario Giudi finished off a nicely played 6 on 5 from close, then came a trademark blast by veteran Pietro Figlioli and another one from Balazs Erdelyi, this time it was a 0-4 thrashing and these surges helped rocket Savona to a huge 12-18 win.
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