Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) remained the only undefeated side in the prelims after winning a really tough battle against Eger (HUN). Recco clinched the top spot in Group A and can also prepare for the semis. The six best teams of the season will meet on 2-4 June in Budapest, at the legendary Alfred Hajos complex on the Margaret Island, where the quarter-finals will see exactly the same match-ups as in last year.
The last day didn’t change the ranks in either of the groups. In Group A, Olympiacos managed to overcome Eger in a thrilling fight, scoring the last two goals of the match for an 8-7 win and maintaining their clean sheet with 7 wins and 3 draws in the prelims.
This also opened the door to Barceloneta to finish second, but the Spaniards were unable to win in Berlin, though Spandau was a clear underdog in this game. Still, the Germans wanted to bid farewell to the series in style by earning their first win. They got close: soon after coming back from 1-4 down early in the first and trailing 5-6 at half-time, they enjoyed a great spell while making a 3-0 rush and going 8-6 up with 4:07 minutes from time. Barceloneta, being shut out for 15:04 minutes, found the way back and netted two goals in the last 71 seconds. Alberto Munarriz equalised with 0:03 to go (8-8, this was the 11 th draw in the group’s 30 games). The tie wasn’t enough for Barceloneta to pass Eger, while Spandau can be proud of showing some progress compared to last year, this season they didn’t lose in half of their matches, though could not win any either.
With Eger remaining second, it has also been decided that the two Hungarian F6 participants finally avoided an in-house clash in the quarters, a kind of extra contest after their ongoing domestic final series. Szolnok (HUN) also came second in Group B by beating Partizan (SRB) 12-9, though after some difficulties. It took some time until the hosts found their game, but once they had it, they scored six connecting goals to gain a 10-6 lead after being 4-6 down. Partizan remained scoreless for 15:36 minutes and could never recover from this bad run. Here Recco secured its top spot by a flood of goals in Istanbul, the title-holders even bettered the single-game scoring record in this season by netting 19 against Galatasaray (TUR) so once more they qualified directly to the semis (they earned more points than the other top finisher, Olympiacos).
Jug didn’t make any mistake against OSC as the freshly crowned Croatian champion earned a secure 10-7 win against the third Hungarian side, though the outcome of this match did not matter that much. Just as the other Croatian club’s victory against Jadran (MNE) in Group A: Primorje jumped to a 6-1 lead and never looked back (13-7) – and it’s better if they don’t have a look to their entire season either as it saw a rather poor performance from this great team.
Champions League, Prelims, Day 10
Group A
Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v ZF-Eger (HUN) 8-7
Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v CN Barceloneta (ESP) 8-8
Primorje Erste Banka Rijeka (CRO) v Jadran Carine Herceg Novi (MNE) 13-7
Classification: 1. Olympiacos 24, 2. Eger 16, 3. Barceloneta 16, 4. Primorje 15, 5. Spandau 5, 6. Jadran 3
Group B
Galatasaray Istanbul (TUR) v Pro Recco (ITA) 10-19
Jug Croatia Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v A Híd-OSC Budapest (HUN) 10-7
Szolnoki Dozsa-Kozgep (HUN) v Partizan Belgrade (SRB) 12-9
Classification: 1. Recco 25, 2. Szolnok 24, 3. Jug 22, 4. OSC 9, 5. Partizan 7, 6. Galatasaray 1
Final Six – Budapest, 2-4 June
Quarter-finals
Eger (HUN) v Jug (CRO)
Szolnok (HUN) v Barceloneta (ESP)
Semi-finals
Olympiacos (GRE) v Szolnok/Barceloneta
Recco (ITA) v Eger/Jug
