Many of the eight games played on Day 2 of the Champions League qualifications can be considered derbies.
Vouliagmeni, the 4th-placed team in the 2023 Champions League, is one of the big winners of the day. The Greeks beat Ortigia 12:8 in the encounter between the favorites for the top spot in the group in Oradea.
Crvena Zvezda is the only unbeaten team after two competition days in the group in Hannover. Today, the Belgrade-based cluun sank Barcelona 14:9 (the score was 13:6 after three quarters). Host Hannover edged out Apollon 11:10.
Tourcoing beat OSC Budapest in the group in Dubrovnik, thanks to an excellent defense – 10:5.
Brescia, Noisy-le-Sec, and Jug collected the points with ease.
2024 Champions League Qualifications, Day 2
Group A (Hannover), Round 2
Barcelona – Crvena Zvezda 9:14 (3:5, 2:3, 1:5, 3:1)
Barcelona: Valls 2, Ramon 2, Veich 1, Prat 1, Bertran 1, Villamayor 1, Alegre 1.
Crvena Zvezda: Subotic 4, Markovic 2, Vasic 2, Vukicevic 2, Radovic 2, Gogoc 1, Basara 1.
Waspo98 – Apollon Smyrnis 11:10 (3:0, 2:3, 3:4, 3:3)
Waspo98 Hannover: Basic 5, Lozina 3, Benic 2, Macan 1
Apollon Smyrnis: Bogdanovic 3, Goniotakis 2, Alamanos 1, Mokkas 1, Troulos 1, Shushiashvili 1, Gardikas 1.
Honved bye
After beating Honved yesterday, Crvena Zvezda convincingly defeated Barcelona. The Serbian team is the only unbeaten side in Group A, and it has everything in its own hands. Tomorrow, Crvena Zvezda will have two significant challenges against Hannover and Apollon.
Barcelona kept with the Serbs until 3:3. Then, Crvena Zvezda produced a 4:0 run and jumped to 7:3. Barcelona reduced the gap to two with two quick goals (5:7). Crvena Zvezda’s captain Dusan Markovic converted a man-up and gave his team a 8:5 lead before the middle break. Still, the Spaniards’ hopes were alive. However, Crvena Zvezda ruled the field in the third period and earned a 13:6 lead, so the fourth period was just a formality.
The second match of the day was open until the very end. Hannover’s defense did a great job in the first half. It kept Apollon goalless until the 13th minute. The German team, led by Croat Andrija Basic and his countrymen Lozina, Benic and Macan, rushed to a 4:0 lead. Still, Apollon halved the deficit before the middle break (3:5). The Greeks continued their chase and trailed by a goal after 24 minutes (7:8). Waspo built a 3-goal lead with two quick goals at the beginning of the fourth period. The Greeks came close twice at the finish of the game (9:10 and 10:11). But, their 10th goal came too late – 31 seconds before the end. In the remaining time, Hannover kept the ball and saved the hope that it could reach the top spot.
1.Crvena Zvezda 2 – 6
2.Barcelona 2 – 3
3. Waspo98 2 – 3
4. Apollon 1 – 0
5. Honved 1 – 0
Group B (Kragujevac), Round 2
Brescia – ASC Duisburg 11:4 (3:0, 3:2, 2:1, 3:1)
Brescia: Renzuto Iodice 2, Dolce 2, Irving 2, Balzarini 2, Del Basso 1, F.Faraglia 1, Manzi 1.
ASC Duisburg: Gusakov 2, Sekulic 1, Seifert 1.
Primorac – Noisy-le-Sec 10:16 (4:4, 1:7, 2:3, 3:2)
Primorac Kotor: P.Cetkovic 3, Dr.Brguljan 2, Mrsic 2, Janovic 2, Perov 1.
Noisy-le-Sec (Cercle 93): Bowen 5, Matkovic 4, Do Carmo 3, V.Rasovic 2, Bjorch 1, Krapic 1.
Radnicki bye
Brescia, which had a day off on Thursday, made no mistake in its first match at the tournament. The Italians led 4:0 in the 11th minute. Three minutes after, the score was 6:1. Brescia played disciplined in defense and increased the margin to seven.
Despite Noisy-le-Sec being the favorite in the match against Primorac, many anticipated a closer competition. However, after a balanced 4-4 first quarter, Noisy-le-Sec gained momentum and dominated the second quarter, conceding only one goal and scoring seven to earn a huge 11:5 advantage. The Parisians maintained the difference in the second half for a well-deserved win. Alex Bowen was unstoppable with five goals. Dusan Matkovic, who started his career at Primorac, found the net of his former club four times.
1.Noisy-le-Sec 2 – 6
2.Brescia 1 – 3
3.Radnicki 1 – 2
4. Primorac 2 – 1
5. ASC Duisburg 2 – 0
Group C (Oradea), Round 1
Vouliagmeni – Ortigia 12:8 (2:2, 4:2, 2:1, 4:3)
Vouliagmeni: Ubovic 3, Kalogeropoulos 3, Papasifakis 3, D. Woodhead 1, Kastrinakis 1, Kapotsis 1.
Ortigia: Cassia 3, Cupido 2, La Rosa 1 Bitadze 1.
Oradea – Primorje 7:10 (2:3, 1:3, 2:1, 2:3)
Oradea: Velkic 2, Gheorghe 2, Belenyesi 1, Dragomirescu 1, Gardasevic 1.
Primorje: Jadivec 2, Da. Brguljan 2, Burburan 2, Te Riele 2, N.Cubranic 1, Paparic 1.
The tournament in Oradea was opened with a duel between the most serious contenders for the top spot, Vouliagmeni and Ortigia. The Italians played with 12 players – newcomer Yusuke Inaba was missing because of a suspension due to a red card in last season’s Euro Cup semifinals, when he played for Trieste.
The teams were in a neck-and-neck race until 3:3. The first turning point was Vouliagmeni’s 3:0 series between the 11th and 14th minute, which gave them a 6:3 lead. Still, after that, Ortigia’s defense, with a veteran Stefano Tempesti between the posts, didn’t concede a single goal for seven minutes. The Sicilians scored twice in that interval and came very close (5:6). Vouliagmeni’s reinforcement, Nemanja Ubovic, ended his team’s silence with an action goal for 7:5. The Greeks added three unanswered goals in the following few minutes, stretched the margin to five (10:5). It was the second turning point. Ortigia couldn’t come back.
Primorje, the runner-up in the 2012 Champions League, returned to the European stage after a few years of absence and it did it in style. Oradea, which composed a good team for this season, had a 2:1 advantage in the 5th minute. However, the Romanians couldn’t find the net in the following 11 minutes, while Primorje scored five to build a 6:2 advantage. Gardasevic beat the buzzer and made it 3:6 in the last second of the first half. The hosts narrowed the distance to two a few times in the second half but didn’t come closer.
Group D (Dubrovnik), Round 1
Jug – Dinamo Bucharest 16:4 (2:1, 6:1, 5:0, 3:2)
Jug AO: Cabanas 4, Daube 3, Buric 3, Zuvela 2, Lazic 2, Jokovic 1, Grgurevic 1.
Dinamo: Kari 2, Bindea 1, Pirianu 1.
OSC Budapest – Tourcoing 5:10 (1:3, 1:1, 1:2, 2:4)
OSC Budapest: Szalai 2, Gaszt 1, Vin.Vigvari 1, Aranyi 1.
Tourcoing: D.Zivkovic 3, Colodrovschi 2, Draskovic 2, Cutovic 1, Durik 1, Furman 1.
Jug started slowly against Dinamo– there were no goals until the 6th minute. Still, in the middle two quarters, a big difference in quality was obvious. Three players who debuted for Jug today – Sergi Cabanas, Rino Buric, and Hannes Daube combined ten goals.
Several excellent players left OSC during the summer, while Tourcoing entered the season stronger than last year. One of Tourcoing’s reinforcements, Olympic champion Branislav Mitrovic, was the hero of today’s win. Serbia’s goalkeeper posted a lot of saves. But, all players of the French team were up to the task in defense. OSC scored only two goals in the first 23 minutes of the game.
The French led 3:1 after the first eight minutes. In the second period, both teams failed to convert one penalty shot each and several 6 on 5s. OSC’s Szalai scored with an extra player in the 16th minute for 2:3, but Draskovic replied immediately with an action goal. The third period was crucial for the outcome. By the middle of the quarter, the French went to 6:2. The Hungarians threatened with an action goal in the 24th minute. They converted a man-up at the beginning of the fourth to halve the distance (4:6). Tourcoing responded with three goals for a safe 9:4 advantage and secured the points.
Day 3, September 9
GROUP A (Hannover): Barcelona – Honved (09:00), Crvena Zvezda – Apollon (11:00), Apollon – Honved (17:00), Waspo 98 – Crvena Zvezda (19:00).
GROUP B (Kragujevac): ASC Duisburg – Radnicki (10:00), Noisy-le-Sec – Brescia (12:00), Brescia – Primorac (19:00), Radnicki – Noisy-le-Sec (21:00).
GROUP C (Oradea): Primorje EB – Vouliagmeni (17:00 – 16:00 CET), Oradea – Ortigia (18:45 – 17:45 CET)
GROUP D (Dubrovnik): Jug – Tourcoing (18:00), OSC Budapest – Dinamo Bucharest (20:00).
More articles about the Champions League
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For more video content, subscribe to our Youtube Channel and Tik Tok account
