Eight games will be played at the end of the Champions League qualifications, but almost all tickets for the elite competition have been allocated.
Crvena Zvezda and Vouliagmeni qualified for the Champions League after today’s wins. Only a miracle can prevent Jug from finishing in 1st place in the group in Dubrovnik.
Crvena Zvezda finished the tournament in Hannover with four wins in as many matches and kept the top spot. Today, the “Red Whites” beat Apollon Smyrnis (12:10) and Hannover (14:6).
Vouliagmeni was better than Primorje (14:12) in the second round in Group C. The Greeks have three points more than Primorje and Ortigia. Neither of the two teams can catch up with Vouliagmeni because both teams were defeated by the Greeks.
Jug demolished Tourcoing (18:7) this evening and traced its way to the Champions League. Tomorrow, it will play against OSC Budapest. The Hungarians have slim chances of overtaking Jug in the standings.
The fourth team that will advance to the group stage from the qualifications will be the winner of Group B (Brescia or Radnicki).
2024 Champions League Qualifications, Day 3
Group A (Hannover)
ROUND 3
Barcelona – Honved 9:8 (4:4, 3:3, 2:1, 0:0)
Barcelona:Valls 2, Daura 2, Veich 1, Linares 1, Ramon 1, Villamayor 1, Goma 1.
Honved:Kevi 2, Zs. Ekler 1, Sugar 1, Gregor 1, B.Ekler 1, Simon 1, Nyiri 1.
Crvena Zvezda – Apollon Smyrnis 12:10 (3:2, 6:4, 3:2, 0:2)
Crvena Zvezda: Gogov 3, Vasic 2, Vukicevic 2, Radovic 2, Markovic 1, Subotic 1, Lukas 1.
Apollon Smyrnis: Troulos 3, Diplaros 2, Shushiashvili 2, Alamanos 1, Bogdanovic 1, Gardikas 1.
ROUND 4
Apollon Smyrnis – Honved 11:10 (3:3, 1:2, 5:2, 2:3)
Apollon: Troulos 3, Shushiashvili 2, Goniotakis 2, Mokkas 1, Diplaros 1, Chondrokoukis 1, Tsachilidis 1.
Honved: B.Ekler 4, Zs. Ekler 2, Kevi 1, Vadovics 1, B.Hessels 1, S.Hessels 1.
Waspo Hannover – Crvena Zvezda 6:14 (2:3, 1:1, 1:5, 2:5)
Waspo 98: Jaeschke 2, Milradovic 2, Lozina 1, Benic 1.
Crvena Zvezda: Milojevic 3, Radovic 3, Markovic 2, Basara 2, Vukicevic 2, Seman 1, Subotic 1.
Crvena Zvezda deserved 1st place in the group in Hannover with four wins in three days. Most of those victories were quite convincing. The narrowest margin was a two-goal win over Apollon in today’s morning session.
Barcelona was better than Honved in the first match of the day.. The score was tied at 3, 4, 7 and 8. Paul Daura gave Barcelona a 9:8 lead in the 23rd minute. It turned out that it was the last goal in the match and Barcelona kept a slim chance of reaching the Champions League.
But that chance disappeared 90 minutes later as Crvena Zvezda continued its winning streak, beating Apollon. The Serbs broke the Greeks’ resistance in the middle of the match. Apollon took a 5:4 lead (10th minute) just to see Crvena Zvezda’s strong response. The Belgrade-based side produced a 3:0 run for a 7:5 advantage and stretched the margin to three at the finish of the first half (9:6). Crvena Zvezda added two goals in the first three minutes of the third period – 11:6 and from that point on, their win wasn’t in danger.
Apollon recorded a consolation 11:10 win over Honved in the evening session.
The day was closed by the match Hannover – Crvena Zvezda. The “Red Whites” needed a point to keep 1st place, while only a win in regular time would keep Hannover in the race for the top spot.
The Germans, who didn’t play in the morning session, kept up with Crvena Zvezda for two quarters. The first quarter belonged to the Serbs. The hosts leveled at 3:3 shortly after the first break. Crvena Zvezda regained a lead quickly, but there were no more goals until halftime (4:3). In the second half, the game turned into a one-sided contest. Crvena Zvezda was a far better rival. Its defense was up to the task, and the attack worked perfectly, so the Belgrade-based side cruised to a 16:4 victory and the Champions League ticket.
Crvena Zvezda’s rivals in the Champions League will be Ferencvaros, Jadran Split and Jadran Herceg Novi (Group C)
1.Crvena Zvezda 4 – 12
2. Barcelona 3 – 6
3. Waspo 98 3 – 3
4. Apollon 3 – 3
5. Honved 3 – 0
Group B (Kragujevac)
ROUND 3
ASC Duisburg – Radnicki 8:13 (3:4, 0:2, 3:3, 2:4)
ASC Duisburg: Gusakov 3, Simic 2, Seifert 2, Gergelyfi 1.
Radnicki: Pljevancic 3, N.Kojic 2, Randjic 2, Vuckovic 2, Stanojevic 1, Jankovic 1, Tanasijevic 1, Poznanovic 1.
Noisy-le-Sec – Brescia 9:10 (0:3, 3:1, 3:2, 3:4)
Noisy-le-Sec: Matkovic 3, Do Carmo 2, Bjorch 1, Bowen 1, Krapic 1, V.Rasovic 1.
Brescia: Irving 3, Balzarini 2, Alesiani 2, Manzi 2, Renzuto Iodice 1.
ROUND 4
Brescia – Primorac 11:3 (1:2, 3:0, 5:1, 2:0)
Brescia: Del Basso 3, F.Faraglia 1, Gianazza 1, Renzuto Iodice 1 Guerrato 1, Alesiani 1, Manzi 1, Irving 1, Balzarini 1.
Primorac: Markovic 1, Vuckovic 1, P.Cetkovic 1.
Radnicki – Noisy-le-Sec 13:10 (3:5, 5:3, 3:0, 2:2)
Radnicki: Vickovic 6, Pljevancic 2, Stanojevic 1, Randjic 1, Gavrilovic 1, Adeishvili 1, Dadvani 1.
Noisy-le-Sec: V.Rasovic 4, Caumette 2, Krapic 2, Bowen 1, Matkovic 1.
Host Radnicki didn’t disappoint its fans in the morning session and beat ASC Duisburg. The Serbs led 3:0 and 4:1 in the first quarter. ASC reduced the gap to one (3:4). Then came a new 3:0 run from Radnicki for a 7:3 lead. The Kragujevac team didn’t let Duisburg come close.
But, the second game in the 3rd round, Noisy-le-Sec, produced a lot of excitement. At the beginning Brescia ruled the field. The French scored their first goal only in the 14th minute. Before that, Brescia built a 4:0 advantage. The teams switched their roles. Noisy caught up with Brescia in the middle of the third period (5:5). Before the final quarter it stood 6:6. Croatia’s captain Ivan Krapic put Noisy in front from a 6 on 5 in the 27th minute. Brescia leveled immediately (Manzi). Noisy’s American Alex Bowen converted a penalty for 8:7 with 05:14 minutes left on the clock. Brescia then retook control, and netted three straight goals (10:8). Noisy halved the distance with 91 seconds remaining, but the French didn’t equalize.
Primorac won the first quarter of the game against Brescia (2:1). However, the Italians’ defense let the Montenegrins score only one goal in the next three periods and Brescia recorded a comfortable 11:3 victory.
Lazar Vickovic (Radnicki) Photo: KVK Radnicki
The last match of the day was a clash of two collaborators. Radnicki is guded by Serbia’s head coach Uros Stevanovic. His assistant on the national team, Stefan Ciric, coaches Noisy. Stevanovic celebrated the win and still has a chance to bring Radnicki into the Champions League.
The result says all. Radnicki broke the rival in the second half. Noisy ran out of gas for the last two periods in a tiring day with two demanding games.
In the opening minutes, Radnicki had control and a 2-goal lead (2:0 and 3:1), but Noisy entered the second period with a 5:3 advantage. The hosts opened the second period with a 5:1 run for an 8:6 lead, but the Parisians leveled at 8:8 before the end of the first half. Radnicki dictated the pace in the next 16 minutes. Noisy, pressured with many personal fouls (one of the key players Bowen was sent off 11 minutes before the end), couldn’t follow the hosts’ rhythm. Radnicki netted five consecutive goals and went to 13:8. The French found the net twice in the last 68 seconds. Radnicki’s left-handed goalgetter Lazar Vickovic was a hero of the win with six goals.
Tomorrow’s encounter between Radnicki and Brescia will decide the group winner. Radnicki has to win the match in regular time to climb atop because one point (a loss in a penalty shootout) is enough for Brescia to stay in 1st place.
1.Brescia 3 – 9
2. Radnicki 3 – 8
3. Noisy-le-Sec 4 – 6
4. Primorac 3 – 1
5. ASC Duisburg 3 – 0
Group C (Oradea), round 2
Primorje – Vouliagmeni 12:14 (1:5, 3:3, 5:3, 3:3)
Primorje:Brubnjak 4, Da.Brguljan 2, Babic 1, Kadivec 1, Burburan 1, Te Riele 1, Crippa 1, Paparic 1.
Vouliagmeni: Chalyvopoulos 4, Kalogeropoulos 2, Ubovic 2, Papasifakis 2, Spahic 1, D.Woodhead 1, Kourovanis 1, Almyras 1.
Oradea – Ortigia 7:14 (4:3, 1:3, 2:6, 0:2)
Oradea: Gardasevic 3, Belenyesi 2, Gheorghe 2.
Ortigia: Bitadze 3, Inaba 3, Ferrero 2, Cassia 2, La Rosa 2, Di Luciano 1, Cupido 1.
Vouliagmeni opened the duel with Primorje with a 4:0 explosion and led 5:1 at the first break. The Greeks maintained a 4-goal lead until the end of the second period (8:4), and went to 9:4 in the 17th minute. In the middle of the third quarter, five goals separated the rivals (10:5). They seemed to earn points easily. However, Primorje started climbing back and narrowed the distance to one with four quick goals (9:10). Chalyvopoulos gave the Greeks an 11:9 lead at the finish of the third quarter. The teams traded the goals in the fourth period. Primorje cut the deficit to one three times. Still, it couldn’t equalize. Papasifakis decided everything, scoring an action goal with 46 seconds left on the clock – 14:12.
After beating Primorje, the players of Vouliagmeni waited for the outcome of the second match of the day, Ortigia – Oradea, and hoped the Sicilians would win. That result would send them to the Champions League. Oradea started well and fought hard in the first half. Three minutes before the end of the second period, the teams were tied at 5:5. But, Ortigia netted six unanswered goals in eight minutes, jumped to 11:5 and controlled the match until the end. That win didn’t help the Sicilians since they won’t reach the Champions League, but everything ended as Vouliagmeni wished.
Regardless of tomorrow’s results, Vouliagmeni will remain atop the group because it defeated both Ortigia and Primorje, which will face off on Sunday.
The Greeks will play in Group D of the CHL with Barceloneta, Marseille and Spandau.
1.Vouliagmeni 2 – 6
2. Ortigia 2 – 3
3. Primorje 2 – 3
4. Oradea 2 – 0
I Vouliagmeni will play in the Champions League for the second year in a row. Crvena Zvezda qualified for the elite competition in 2022, but didn’t make the cut in the last season
Group D (Dubrovnik), Round 2
Jug – Tourcoing 17:8 (4:0, 9:3, 2:3, 2:2)
Jug AO: Vukojevic 4, Daube 3, Lazic 2, Jokovic 2, Krzic 2, Zuvela 2, Buric 1, Grgurevic 1.
Tourcoing: Furman 2, Marzouki 2, Draskovic 2, M.Brguljan 1, Durik 1.
OSC Budapest – Dinamo Bucharest 20:9 (6:3, 5:2, 6:0, 3:4)
OSC Budapest:Baksa 4, Szalai 3, Varnai 3, Toth 2, Salamon 2, Harai 2, Rossi 1, Aranyi 1, Gaszt 1, Ten Broek 1.
Dinamo: Gorea 3, Lutescu 2, Vranceanu 2, Kovats 1, Radu 1.
There were no exciting matches in Dubrovnik today. Jug sank Tourcoing, while OSC didn’t have many problems in beating Dinamo Bucharest.
Yesterday, Jug beat Dinamo, and Tourcoing displayed a very good performance in a win over OSC (10:5). Therefore, many expected a close contest. But, Jug killed all the suspense quickly. Jug rushed to a 6:0 lead in the first 11 minutes, and Tourcoing never recovered from an opening shock. By the middle break, the Croats earned a double-digit lead (13:3). They had an 11-goal advantage (14:3 and 15:4) in the second half. Tourcoing reduced the gap in the final period.
Jug won’t keep 1st place only in two cases. The home side won’t qualify for the Champions League if loses to OSC tomorrow by seven goals or more and Tourcoing beats Dinamo.. There is the other scenario. If Dinamo beats Tourcoing, OSC will jump atop with a win in regular rime over Jug. But, both scenarios sound really impossible, so it’s very likely that the Dubrovnik-based side will play in the Champions League this season.
OSC Budapest, a heavy favorite in the match against Dinamo, started slowly. The Romanians leveled at 1:1, 2:2, and 3:3. OSC took control late in the first quarter and stopped at 20 goals. It should be mentioned that veteran Cosmin Radu (42), who came back from retirement to help Dinamo got on the scoresheet.
1.Jug 2 – 6
2. Tourcoing 2 – 3
3. OSC Budapest 2 – 3
4. Dinamo 2 – 0
Day 4, September 10
GROUP A (Hannover): Barcelona – Apollon (10:30), Waspo 98 – Honved (12:30). Crvena Zvezda bye
GROUP B (Kragujevac): Primorac – Duisburg (11:00), Radnicki – Brescia (20:00)
GROUP C (Oradea): Ortigia – Primorje EB (10:00 – 9:00 CET), Oradea – Vouliagmeni (11:45 – 10:45 CET)
GROUP D (Dubrovnik): Dinamo – Tourcoing (16:00), Jug AO – OSC Budapest (18:00).
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