Yesterday, the visiting teams were more successful on Day 2 of the Champions League Group A.
The games of Group B produced a completely different scenario. Today, the home teams recorded three wins, while one match ended in a draw.
Brescia beat Ferencvaros in the derby of the round. It was a low-scoring encounter. The Italians’ defense was superb and instrumental in an 8:4 victory.
Jug defeated Marseille 14:9. The French started very well, but in the middle of the game, Jug, led by outstanding Maro Jokovic, made a turn.
Novi Beograd blew OSC Budapest away – 17:9. In the first quarter and a half, it was an interesting game, but midway through the second period, Novi Beograd took full control.
Sabadell and Spandau 04 shared the points (9:9), which can be considered a surprise. Many believed that the LEN Euro Cup winner Sabadell would record a victory on home soil.
After two rounds, only Novi Beograd and Brescia have perfect records. Jug and Ferencvaros have one win both. Each of the remaining four teams has collected a point so far.
2022/23 Champions League, Group B, Day 2
Brescia – Ferencvaros 8:4 (2:1, 3:1, 1:1, 2:1)
Brescia: Tesanovic, Dolce 2, C.Presciutti, Gianazza, Lazic, Vapenski, Renzuto Iodice 1, Kharkov, Alesiani 1, Luongo 2, E. Di Somma 2, Gitto, Baggi Necchi. Head coach: Bovo.
Ferencvaros: Vogel, Molnar, A.Nagy, Merkulov 1, Argyropoulos, Ubovic, Fekete, Ven.Vigvari 1, Nemet, D.Varga, Jansik 1, Vadovics. Szakonyi. Head coach: Zs.Varga.
Szilard Jansik, the MVP of the European Championships, scored an opening goal in the match. He converted an extra man in the 3rd minute.
But, the Hungarians couldn’t find the net in the following 12 minutes. Brescia’s defense, with an excellent goalie Petar Tesanovic, was up to the task. They shut out Ferencvaros’ excellent goalscorers. The hosts’ attack did its job well in these 12 minutes. The Italians scored four goals. Luongo and Renzuto Iodice put Brescia in front before the first break. By the middle of the second quarter, Edoardo Di Somma added two goals, and Brescia had a considerable 4:1 advantage and that set the tone of the match. At the finish of the quarter, Merkulov ended Ferencvaros’ goalless phase with a power-play goal. Still, Luongo scored an action goal in Brescia’s last attack in the first half, and the hosts regained a 3-goal lead.
Edoardo Di Somma Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Total Waterpolo
Early in the third, Molnar made it 3:5. But, at the finish of this quarter, Dolce gave Brescia a 6:3 advantage. Since the hosts’ defense was excellent, all of Ferencvaros’ comeback attempts didn’t give desired results.
Jug – Marseille 14:9 (2:4, 5:2, 5:2, 2:1)
Jug: Popadic, Burdjelez, Fatovic 2, Mozara 1, Jokovic 4, Vukojevic, Biljaka, Lazic 1, Krzic 1, Kakaris, Grgurevic 3, Zuvela 2, Jurisic. Head coach: Kobescak.
Marseille: Lazovic, Cuckovic 2, Crousillat, Spaic, Prlainovic 5, Vernoux, Olivon, Bouet, Marion-Vernouc, Bodegas, Vukicevic 2, Vanpeperstraete, Hovhannisyan. Head coach: Scepanovic.
The beginning of the game didn’t indicate that Jug would earn the points. Marseille had a 2-goal lead in the opening minutes (3:1, 4:2, 5:3). Jug leveled at 5:5 after Grgurevic netted from a nice backhander. Prlainovic gave the French a 6:5 with his third goal (this time from a penalty). Still, Jug went ahead with two goals in the last 128 seconds of the first half. A 35-year-old leftie Maro Jokovic proved that he was still a high-class player. First, he leveled from a distance, from the left side of the attack. At 00:43, Jokovic put Jug in front, scoring from his usual position on the right side.
Andrija Prlainovic and Maro Jokovic Photo: VK Jug
Marseille equalized twice in the third quarter (7:7 and 8:8). But, Jug dominated between the 20th and the 24th minute. The hosts scored four straight goals in that interval which determined the outcome. Lazic opened the series by converting a man-up. Jokovic added his third goal for 10:8. Fatovic converted a man-up in the 22nd minute.Mozara finished a counterattack with a goal in the last minute of the quarter and made it 12:8.
After two minutes of play in the final quarter, Maro Jokovic hit the back of the net with another “bomb” and sank Marseille’s last hope. The visitors’ 9th goal came after Andrija Prlainovic’s “ruse”. He confused Jug’s defense – Loren Fatovic passed the ball to Prlainovic, who scored for 9:13 (28th minute), but the visitors had no chance to make a turn.
Novi Beograd – OSC Budapest 17:9 (3:3, 5:2, 3:1, 6:3)
Novi Beograd: Filipovic, S.Rasovic 3, Mandic 2, Granados 4, Vucinic 1, Pijetlovic, Drasovic 3, Jaksic, Perkovic, Vlachopoulos 1, Skoumpakis 2, V.Rasovic 1, Fernandez. Head coach: Gocic.
OSC Budapest: Levai, Angyal 2, Manhercz 2, Varnai 1, Salamon , E.Csacsocszky 1, Dala 1, Toth 1, Szucs, Burian 1, Bundschuh, Aranyi, Bisztranyi. Head coach: Varga
Novi Beograd convincingly beat OSC, maybe, easier than expected. A very good team of OSC kept up with the hosts until the middle of the second period. The teams fought an equal battle in the first 12 minutes But, after that, Novi Beograd dominated and outplayed OSC completely.
OSC led only once (1:0) and kept a minimal advantage for a while. Granados equalized in the 5th minute. Strahinja Rasovic put Novi Beograd in front in the 7th minute from a penalty shot. In the following minutes, OSC leveled at 2:2, 3:3, 4:4 and 5:5 (12th minute).
Strahinja Rasovic Photo by Dj.Kostic/VK Novi Beograd
After that, the game turned into a one-sided contest. Novi Beograd scored five unanswered goals in nine minutes, went to 10:5 (21st minute) and there was no way back for OSC. Novi Beograd didn’t slow down, it dominated until the last buzzer and even had a 9-goal lead (17:8). Dala set the final score in the last second.
Zivko Gocic, Novi Beograd’s head coach, said:
“I didn’t expect such a convincing victory. I think that our defense was the key to an eight-goal win.”
His colleague Daniel Varga commented:
“Our biggest problem in this game was a strong opponent. We knew that it would be a tough game. Still, we played well in the first half. But, after the middle break, the level of our play was very low. We missed two players today. Anyway, it isn’t an excuse. A Champions League team mustn’t let itself such a big down as we let in the second half.
Sabadell – Spandau 04 9:9 (2:4, 1:0, 3:2, 3:3)
Sabadell: Lorrio, Sanahuja 2, Gil, Teclas, Veich, Valera 3, Bertran, Cabanas 1, Averka 3, Banicevic, Bonet, Bustos,Teclas. Head coach:Colet.
Spandau 04: Baksa, Gbadamassi 1, Prioteasa 1, Cuk 1, Tkac 1, Bozic, Strelezij 2, Marziali 1, Chiru, Kholod 1, Restovic, Shepelev 1, Schweimer. Head coach: Kechagias.
Spandau 04 surprised LEN Euro Cup winner Sabadell and earned a significant point. Moreover, the Spaniards can be more satisfied with the outcome. Spandau led for most of the time, while Sabadell chased the rival.
The Berliners had a 3:0 and 4:1 lead in the first quarter. Sabadell consolidated its defense, and after Spandau’s fourth goal in the 7th minute, the Spaniards kept the visitors goalless until the middle of the third period. Sabadell scored four goals in a row in that interval. Averka gave the hosts a 5:4 lead in the 19th minute. Spandau responded with two – Prioteasa netted for 6:5 three minutes before the last break.
However, new twists were yet to come. Sabadell scored two back-to-back goals – Sanahuja scored for 7:6 in the 26th minute. The visitors leveled at 8:8, put Averka put the Spaniards in front again – 8:7. Then, Spandau made a new 2:0 series and earned a 9:8 advantage in the 30th minute. Sabadell saved a point thanks to Kanstantin Averka, who converted a man up with 63 seconds to go.
1.Novi Beograd 2 – 6
2. Brescia 2 – 6
3. Jug 2 – 3
4. Ferencvaros 2 – 3
5. Marseille 2 – 1
6. OSC Budapest 2 – 1
7. Sabadell 2 – 1
8. Spandau 2 – 1
