The Final Six spots have already been decided, only the final ranks are to be determined, however Group B seems to remain the same as it stands today, with Recco coming first. In Group A, Olympiacos has already clinched the top spot, but it’s yet to be decided if Eger can stay second or falls to third, if the latter happens it would set up an all-Hungarian clash with Szolnok in the F6 quarters.
Group A
18.15 Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v ZF-Eger (HUN)
Olympiacos can only go for maintaining their almost perfectly clean sheet. The Greeks are the lonely undefeated side in the prelims and won all their home games so far (4 out of 4, had 2 wins and 3 ties in the away matches). For their current rival, Eger not even a draw might be enough to hold the second place as Barceloneta (ESP) visits Berlin and is regarded the favourite in the match against Spandau (GER). The last thing Eger perhaps wishes to see is another contest against Szolnok (HUN), at least not right on the opening day of the F6, in the quarters. They are on the losing trail against the fellow Hungarian side, Szolnok leads 2-0 in the domestic league final, though Eger offered a promising performance, still, finally went down in the penalty shootout last Sunday.
Theodoros Vlachos, head coach, Olympiacos:
“My team has already achieved the qualification for the semifinals, but we want to continue our journey with wins and good performances, and staying undefeated, something that will help us to boost our psychological level for the matches in Budapest. This game offers an extra opportunity to have a good performance and earn a victory, this is our last European match at home and we certainly want to give pleasure to our fans, who supported us all the way in Champions League games in Piraeus.”
Manolis Milonakis, player, Olympiacos:
“The contest against Eger may have nothing at stake, but this does not mean that we do not want to even talk about winning. Keeping our undefeated streak is a great push for us, also to live up to the expectations of our fans. We want to continue winning, for us every match from now is like a final.”
Norbert Dabrowski, head coach, Eger:
“After the game we will learn whom we play with in the Final Six. Unfortunately this is the only reason why this match is important for us. Sunday we played a very hard game in the championship final, both physically and mentally. On Wednesday we will fall out of the rhythm of the final, this is the hardest challenge. In this Olympic year the club suffers a lot from the duties of the national team players, still, our goal is to give our best in all series.”
Krisztián Bedő, player, Eger:
“The biggest question is, how can we focus for the CL game after what happened on Sunday. I think to win in Athens is just as hard as to win against Szolnok. We want to win, it would be a great feeling for the remaining games in the season.”
Balázs Erdélyi, player, ZF-Eger:
“We have only three days between playing Szolnok and in Athens. And we need to travel, too. In Eger we couldn't win against Olympiacos, those points are missing. We will fight for our prestige.”
19.30 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v CN Barceloneta (ESP)
Spandau goes for its first win in the prelims – had 4 draws so far, three at home – though this is going to be an uphill battle against the Spaniards. Barceloneta is in safe, even if Primorje manages to bridge the three-point gap, the results obtained against each other favour the Spanish side.
Chus Martín, head coach, Barceloneta:
„After the last game in Herceg Novi where CNAB earned the qualification for Budapest now we are going to Berlin for a last match of preliminary round but our goal has already been achieved. We want to play a good game which would give us good feelings turning into the final phase of the season.”
20.15 Primorje Erste Banka Rijeka (CRO) v Jadran Carine Herceg Novi (MNE)
Primorje might get some consolation against bottom-ranked Jadran, after their season has fallen apart in the League: in the last five rounds the Croats could win only one game, a rather poor showing from last year’s runners-up who also lost their title at home.
Classification: 1. Olympiacos 21, 2. Eger 16, 3. Barceloneta 15, 4. Primorje 12, 5. Spandau 4, 6. Jadran 3
Group B
18.00 Galatasaray Istanbul (TUR) v Pro Recco (ITA)
Any change in the current ranks would require a big upset as the three top sides meet the lower-ranked ones. That means Recco will secure its top spot once more (and an automatic berth in the semis), the title-holders face an easy cruise in Istanbul, against Galatasaray.
18.30 Jug Croatia Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v A Híd-OSC Budapest (HUN)
Jug takes on OSC and have a good chance to maintain their superb home run counting 3 wins and a draw so far.
Maro Jokovic, player, Jug:
“OSC is a well organised team with strong defence. In attack, they play a typically unpredictable Hungarian game, it's really hard to play against them. But I believe we will find the way to win this match.”
19.00 Szolnoki Dozsa-Kozgep (HUN) v Partizan Belgrade (SRB)
Szolnok clashes Partizan at home, they might use this match for the preparations for the Final Six and for the third game of the league final (versus Eger).
Sándor Cseh, head coach, Szolnok:
“Probably Pro Recco is going to finish first in the group. We don’t know if the second or third place would be better for us. It will turn out only in the games of Final Six. The most important is to win this one against Partizan.”
Tamás Mezei, player, Szolnok:
“We are in the middle of the final of the Hungarian championship but we must concentrate on the game with Partizan on Wednesday. It is obvious that we want to obtain the second place in our group so we are going to do our best against the Serbs.”
Classification: 1. Recco 22, 2. Szolnok 21, 3. Jug 19, 4. OSC 9, 5. Partizan 7, 6. Galatasaray 1
