Day 2 was really entertaining, producing 121 goals, an amazing 20.1 goals per game average. Five teams stand with two wins apiece, in fact they are the top favourites to reach the Final Six this season. Olympiacos (GRE) is also unbeaten but the Greeks had to settle for another draw after a stunning match in Berlin which saw the home side, Spandau coming back from 0-5.
Primorje (CRO) and Barceloneta (ESP) added another win to their tally to top Group A after two rounds. The Croats managed to overcome Eger (HUN) in a really tough battle, the visitors – holding a guaranteed F6 spot as the host in June – were on equal terms with last season’s runner-up throughout the match and missed a 6 on 5 at the end for levelling the score once more (8-7).
Barceloneta found its new scoring-machine, Strahinja Rasovic who netted 5 on Day 1 and now stopped at 6 goals against Jadran (MNE). The Serb’s hat-trick in 76 seconds (!) at the beginning of the second period virtually ended the contest as it put the Spaniards 7-2 ahead and the rest was easy (15-10).
Olympiacos rushed to a 0-5 lead in Berlin right in the first period and was sitting comfortably for most of the time. Perhaps too comfortably: despite they were 7-11 up before the last eight minutes, they couldn’t hold on until the end. The Germans smelled blood in the fourth and netted four unanswered goals to save the match to an 11-11 tie, courtesy of Mehdi Marzouki (5 goals) and Mateo Cuk (4). The Greeks dropped two more points after drawing in Eger on Day 1 which makes their journey a tough one already.
Only two rounds were enough to divide Group B: the top three sides made the ‘compulsories’, all stand with 6 points while the other three are yet to earn one. Title- holder Recco (ITA) downed Partizan: the young Serbs withstood the pressure for three periods but collapsed in the last, conceding six straight goals. Recco’s first two home games brought telling results: 15-4 and 15-3 – the Italian champion is the team to beat in this season as well.
A strong start put Jug (CRO) on the right track in Istanbul: jumping to a 1-6 lead in the middle of the second period did the harm, from there Galatasaray (TUR) couldn’t climb back. The game turned into the highest-scoring encounter so far in the prelims (10-16) – as well as ensuring the second away win for the Croats.
The all-Hungarian duel between Szolnok and OSC – a rematch of the local league final – ended the usual way: Szolnok won, just as they did 7 out 8 times in last season. OSC tried everything to hide their structural problems, for a while they succeeded but Szolnok found the answers and rushed to an 8-4 lead after being 1-3 down in the second period. OSC had a late surge but their last hit came too late and had to leave the pool empty- handed again (8-7).
Champions League, Preliminaries, Day 2
Group A
CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v Jadran Carine Herceg Novi (MNE) 15-10
Spandau 04 (GER) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) 11-11
Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka (CRO) v ZF Eger (HUN) 8-7
Classification
1. Barceloneta 6, 1. Primorje 6, 3. Olympiacos 2, 4. Eger 1, 5. Spandau 1, 6. Jadran 0.
Group B
Szolnoki Dozsa-Kozgep (HUN) v A Hid-OSC Budapest (HUN) 8-7
Pro Recco (ITA) v Partizan Belgrade (SRB) 15-3
Galatasaray Istanbul (TUR) v Jug Croatia Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) 10-16
Classification
1. Recco 6, 2. Jug 6, 3. Szolnok 6, 4. OSC 0, 5. Galatasaray 0, 6. Partizan 0
Next round: 28 November
