Two rounds are left until the end of the regular season in Spain, and only one question regarding the teams that will qualify for the playoffs is open.
The top four teams will battle for the title in the playoffs. Sabadell extended its winning streak to the 20th game, beating Terrassa convincingly (16:8) and cementing 1st place. Barceloneta cruised to a win over Tenerife (17:4) and will finish the regular season just behind Sabadell.
Barcelona secured 3rd place, beating Mataro in the most thrilling encounter of the day – 11:10.
Terrassa is in 4th place. It has two wins more than 5th-placed Mataro and 6th-placed Tenerife. But, Terrassa played one match more than Mataro and Tenerife. The Canarians can’t catch up with Terrassa.
Despite the loss to Barcelona, Mataro still has a slim chance of securing a spot in the playoffs. Find our more about Mataro’s chances in our today’s report.
2022/23 Spanish League, Day 20
Barceloneta – Tenerife 17:4 (4:0, 5:3, 5:0, 3:1)
Barceloneta: Paul 4, Larumbe 3, Pavillard 3, Biel 2, Matkovic 2, De Toro 1, Fernandez 1, Tahull 1.
Tenerife:Magrina 4.
Mediterrani – Caballa 14:4 (7:0, 1:0, 3:1, 3:3)
Mediterrani: Prat 6, Corres 3, Radic 2, Estevez 1, Serrano 1, Zaan 1.
Caballa:Martinez 1, Reguera 1, Leona 1, Arostegui 1.
Sabadell – Terrassa 16:8 (2:2, 6:2, 3:1, 5:3)
Sabadell: Averka 4, Valera 3, Cabanas 2, J.J.Bustos 2, Sanahuja 2, Teclas 1, Veich 1, Bertran 1.
Terrassa:Flores 3, Delgado 3, Alarcon 1, De Lera 1.
Barcelona – Mataro 11:10 (4:1, 4:3, 1:2, 2:4)
Barcelona: Asensio 2, Valls 2, Cupido 2, Goma 2, Aguirre 1, Mallarach 1, Vavic 1.
Mataro: Flaque 3, Castro 2, Schofield 2, Negus 1, Weerd 1, Daura 1.
Catalunya – Rubi 18:11 (3:3, 4:2, 6:4, 5:2)
Catalunya: Sousa 5, Alavarino 4, Lopez-Escribano 3, Cukrov 2, S.Gonzalez 1, Santiveri 1, Gomez 1, Gomila 1.
Rubi:Mejias 3, Carrasco 2, Martins 2, Andion 1, Ortiz 1, Moyano 1, Pascual 1
Real Canoe – Sant Andreu 4:12 (0:3, 3:5, 1:3, 0:1)
Real Canoe: A.Jumenez 1, V.Fernandez 1, Romero 1, M.J.Gonzalez 1.
Sant Andreu:Bargallo 5, Chmyr 3, Frigola 2 Montes 1, Tenorio 1.
Rescheduled match of round 22
Caballa – Terrassa 10:15 (2:3, 0:2, 5:8, 3:2)
Caballa:Pardon 2, Leona 2, Fernandez 2, Carlos 1, Matoso 1, F.Molina 1, Arostegui 1.
Terrassa: Delgado 6, Alarcon 5, Wilson 1, Flores 1, Perez 1.
Terrassa played two matches this week. First, it beat Caballa 15:10 in the rescheduled match of Round 22. Then, it faced the league leader Sabadell. This game was Terrassa’s last rehearsal before the first match of the LEN Challenger final against Apollon Smyrnis that will be played on Wednesday. Terrassa started quite well. It led 2:1. Sabadell answered with two goals and went in front. Terrassa kept up with the favorite until 4:4, but the visitors’ hopes didn’t live for long. Between the 13th and 21st minute, Sabadell produced a 6:0 run, jumped to a 10:4 lead and it was clear that a surprise wouldn’t happen.
Tenerife arrived with only 11 players in Barcelona to the game against Barceloneta. The reigning champion was merciless. Felipe Perrone didn’t play. Nicolas Paul, who wore the cap with number 10, instead of Perrone, was the best scorer with four goals in a 17:4 victory. Adrian Magrina had the same output in the losing team, he netted all four goals for Tenerife.
The encounter between Barcelona and Mataro was one of the crucial matches in the hunt for spots in the playoffs. Barcelona took a flying start. In the 11th minute, Marc Valls gave the hosts a 6:2 lead. Barcelona maintained a 4-goal difference until 9:5. Mataro was a better rival at the finish, but Barcelona held back the visitors’ comeback attempts. Mataro scored three straight goals to cut the deficit to one – 8:9 with 02:46 minutes left on the clock. In the last two minutes, the teams exchanged goals. Barcelona took a 2-goal lead twice (10:8 and 11:9). Mataro halved the deficit twice. Still the visitors’ last goal came too late. Twenty seconds before the final buzzer Negus made it 10:11. After that, Barcelona kept the ball and the win.
Terrassa has played 21 games and recorded 13 wins. Mataro and Tenerife have the same record – 11 wins in 20 games.
Terrassa will play only one match until the end. It will host Mediterrani next week.
If Terrassa losses its last game, Mataro wins its remaining two matches, Mataro will jump to 4th place in the standings due to its better score in head-to-head matches against Terrassa (11:12 and 12:9).
But, Mataro will have a very demanding task in the next round when it welcomes Sabacell. So it is likely that Terrassa will remain in 4th place, even if it loses against Mediterrani.
Mataro will play an away game against Mediterrani on Day 22.
Tenerife, on the other hand, cannot climb to 4th place due to its inferior head-to-head record against both Terrassa and Mataro.
Catalunya beat Rubi 18:11 and mathematically avoided relegation. Rubi had a 3:1 lead at the beginning, but Catalunya replied with a 5:0 run and went to 6:3. Fron that point on, Catalunya was always ahead and recorded a 18:11 victory.
The teams ranked 11th and 12th will be relegated to the second league. Currently, Rubi is in 11th, and Caballa is in 12th place. Caballa can’t move from the bottom of the table and it will play in the lower rank in the next season.
The 10th-placed Rubi, which suffered a big home loss to Sant Andreu (4:12), still isn’t out of the danger zone.
1.Sabadell 20 games – 20 wins
2. Barceloneta 20 – 18
3. Barcelona 20 – 15
4. Terrassa 21 – 13
5. Mataro 20 – 11
6. Tenerife 20 – 11
7. Sant Andreu 20 – 9
8. Mediterrani 20 – 9
9. Catalunya 20 – 6
10. Real Canoe 20 – 4
11. Rubi 20 – 3
12. Caballa 21 – 2
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