Eger’s visit to Rijeka and the all-Hungarian clash between Szolnok and OSC highlights the second day of the prelims in the Champions League.
Group A
19.15 CNA Barceloneta (ESP) v Jadran Carine Herceg Novi (MNE)
Barceloneta started its campaign with a hard-fought win against Spandau: for a while it seemed the Spaniards would win with ease but at the end they had to dig deep to keep their lead. In the meantime the young Montenegrins also gave a tough test to last season’s runner-up Primorje. However, Jadran looked strong at home, now they should come up with something special against Barceloneta. The have some good spells in the weekend, though, beating Partizan in Belgrade 12-10 in the Regional League.
Chus Martin, head coach of Barceloneta: “This is a very important match for us because it’s the second game at home and we have to be very strong in our pool if we want reserve the chance to access the Final Six. Jadran is a team of very good quality, young players with a great coach who is also the head coach of the Montenegrin national team. We have to play a good game and have to improve our play in man-ups and man-downs in order to secure the win”.
19.45 Spandau 04 (GER) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE)
Though Spandau lost, it was a good start to play a really even game in Barcelona. The Germans cannot have high hopes for making the Final Six, besides Eger – enjoying automatic qualification as the host of the F6 – further three sides had much better chances in the group, still, Spandau can cause some headaches even for the strongest ones. For Olympiacos, too – the Greeks saved their opening game in Eger to a tie, which is a fine start and they are desperate to reach the last stage this time. Winning in Berlin is a must to reach their goal, but it’s definitely not an easy task, let’s say definitely not easier than playing at home: they won their first four games in the Greek league scoring 90 goals en route.
Theodoros Vlachos, head coach of Olympiacos: “I think that we are well prepared and the level of our confidence is high. We have to be focused in order to get through the difficulties an away game has. We want to gain our first away win in this game.”
Konstantinos Mourikis, player of Olympiacos:
“This is our second away game in a row, but we want to win as this is our goal in every single game. I think we are a better team than Spandau and if we play according to our ability we have a really strong chance to win.”
20.45 Primorje Erste Bank Rijeka (CRO) v ZF Eger (HUN)
Two years ago Primorje downed Eger – it was a brutal bust-up, 20-7 they won and after that game Eger fired its coach. The successor, Norbert Dabrowski will return to the Adriatic coast for the first time as a head coach – the line-ups differ from the ones in 2013, but more at Eger’s side. The Hungarians lost a big match in the weekend in Szolnok, they struggled to score – netted only 4 goals – so they have to find out something better in order to be on equal terms with the Croats who can welcome back Damir Buric who missed the opening round.
Norbert Dabrowski, head coach of ZF-Eger: “The upcoming match is very important for us and for Rijeka too. Not only for the points, but also for saving our face.”
Péter Biros, captain of ZF-Eger: “We cannot play so bad as we did in the weekend against Szolnok. We can play better and I think we can win in Rijeka.”
Balázs Erdélyi, player ZF-Eger: “I’m happy that the upcoming game is also a big challenge. We need to concentrate to return to our form.”
Classification 1. Primorje 3, 2. Barceloneta 3, 3-4. Eger and Olympiacos 1-1, 5. Jadran 0, 6. Spandau 0
Group B
17.30 Szolnoki Dozsa-Kozgep (HUN) v A Hid-OSC Budapest (HUN)
The all-Hungarian clash has a special taste: at the beginning of the last season these two met in the third round of the qualification and Szolnok ousted OSC in a really balanced battle – at the end of the season they contested the domestic league final and Szolnok prevailed again. The champion team had a perfect record at home last year in the Champions League and after beating Eger in the weekend they are ready to offer another fine performance. OSC has problems in a key position – as of today they don’t have two really strong centre-forwards – and that left its mark on their opening game which they lost to Jug. Bouncing back looks hard but Budapest based side is famous for causing upsets.
Sándor Cseh, head coach of Szolnok: “In the past season only we could defeat OSC. I am not boasting, it is a fact: we played 8 games against them in national championship, in Hungarian Cup and in Champions League qualification round and we beat them 7 times. Certainly this does not mean that we are not preparing for the clash. OSC is a very good and strong team. It cannot mislead us that they lost their first game to Dubrovnik. We would like to win this encounter on Wednesday evening and we will do our very best to achieve it.”
Tamás Mezei, centre-forward of Szolnok: “We haven’t met OSC in the current season with our new line-up. A Champions League game cannot be compered to a national championship game, it is a different atmosphere, different referees and so on. What is for sure that the Wednesday evening game will be a very tough encounter.”
Balazs Vincze, head coach of OSC: „We are still hoping that at least one of our centre-forwards will be healthy enough to play in Szolnok otherwise we face a mission impossible. We have structural problems anyway but without centre-forwards there no way to beat Szolnok”.
19.15 Pro Recco (ITA) v Partizan Belgrade (SRB)
Anything else than an easy win for Pro Recco would be a surprise: the title-holder is way stronger than the young Serbian team – especially after the summer transfer of Dusan Mandic who left Partizan for Recco. The leftie was the engine of Partizan’s play, without his goals the team looks much weaker, especially in international waters. Add the other members of Recco’s Yugoslavian mix and the outcome is predictable: a one-sided match and a multiple-goals win to the Italians.
20.00 Galatasaray Istanbul (TUR) v Jug Croatia Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
On their better days the Serbian-Montenegrin players of Galatasaray can impose a threat to stronger sides – especially after the arrival of the new head coach, Igor Milanovic. The legendary Serbian led Recco to win the trophy last May (in 2011 he did the same with Partizan) – this match can be the first real test of his work as the opening game in Recco didn’t promise too much to Galata and indeed they got a heavy beating. Playing against Jug is not much easier either, still, at home they can cause an upset. However, the Croats, semi-finalists in the spring, will also have a word: starting with two away wins (Budapest, Istanbul) would serve as a pretty solid base to go through again.
Classification: 1. Recco 3, 2. Szolnok 3, 3. Jug 3, 4. OSC 0, 5. Partizan 0, 6. Galatasaray 0
Euro Cup, Quarter-finals, 1st leg
In the Euro Cup the four sides making the qualifications face the four losing teams of the third round of the Champions League qualifications. All four matches look pretty balanced so an action-packed evening is in sight in this competition as well!
18.30: Kinef Kirishi (RUS) v AN Brescia (ITA)
18.30: Diapolo-Szeged (HUN) v Waspo 98 Hannover (GER)
19.30: Mornar Brodospas Split (CRO) v CSM DiGi Oradea (ROU)
20.00: CN Marseille (FRA) v Sintez Kazan (RUS)
