Hungarians remain undefeated at home soil

October 9, 2019

Budapest-based teams Ferencvaros and OSC recorded victories at home on Day 1 in Group B of the 2020 Champions League. Ferencvaros was better than Hannover, while OSC overcame Mladost. So, the two teams from Budapest joined Szolnok, the third Hungarian club in this season’s Champions League. Yesterday, Szolnok opened its campaign in Group A with a win at home.

In the other two today’s matches, favourites made no mistake. Pro Recco beat Marseille in France, while Terrassa defeated Dinamo Tbilisi.

Champions League 2019/20, Main Round, Day 1

Group B

Ferencvaros – Hannover 15:12 (3:3, 6:3, 4:3, 2:3)

Ferencvaros: Zalanki 3, Constantin-Bicari 2, Jaksic 2, Younger 2, De. Varga 2, Sedlmayer 1, Mezei 1, S. Jansik 1, Fountoulis 1.
Waspo Hannover: A. Radovic 5, Da. Brguljan 4, Muslim 1, Preuss 1, Corusic 1.

OSC Budapest – Mladost 13:10 (3:1, 3:2, 4:5, 3:2)

OSC Budapest: Prlainovic 4, Ubovic 3, Erdelyi 2, Dr. Brguljan 2, Randjelovic 1, Ukropina 1.
HAVK Mladost: Milos 3, Mi. Cuk 3, Bowen 2, Vrlic 1, Kharkov 1.

Marseille – Pro Recco 9:13 (1:3, 3:4, 5:5, 0:1)

Marseille: Djurdjic 3, Camarasa 2, Izdinsky 1, R. Blary 1, Vernoux 1, Crousillat 1.
Pro Recco: Filipovic 4, Dobud 3, Fondelli 2, F. Di Fulvio 1, Figlioli 1, Echenique 1, Vellotto.

Terrassa – Dinamo 9:5 (1:1, 6:2, 0:1, 2:1)

Terrassa:Sanahuja 3, Mora Belmonte 3, Barroso 2, Gutierrez 1.
Dinamo Tbilisi:Baraldi 2, Vapenski 1, Crepulja 1, Rurua.

Titleholder Ferencvaros had to fight hard to defeat Hannover in Budapest. The Germans stunned the hosts with an opening 2:0 lead. Ferencvaros levelled the score by the first break (3:3), while Denes Varga put the reigning champion in front after 27 seconds of play in the second quarter (4:3). But, Hannover struck back, led by its Montenegrins Aleksandar Radovic and Darko Brguljan, and earned a new advantage (5:4). The hosts responded with a 6:1 series and built a 4-goal advantage (10:6) early in the third period. After that, their win was never in danger, despite Hannover didn’t surrender until the end. Ferencvaros even had a 5-goal lead in the middle of the last quarter (14:9). In the end, the Hungarians celebrated a 15:12 victory.

OSC, the runner-up in the 2019 Hungarian Championship, hosted Regional League winner Mladost Zagreb in today’s second match in Budapest. Early in the second quarter, OSC earned a 4:1 lead, but Mladost came back and reduced the gap to 1 (6:7). Quickly after that, the hosts found the net twice in two consecutive attacks for a 9:6 lead three minutes before the end of the third quarter. The Hungarians, with its Serbs Andrija Prlainovic (4 goals) and Nemanja Ubovic (3) controlled everything in the remaining time. With 03:02 to go, OSC jumped to 13:8 advantage and there was no way back for Mladost.

LEN Euro Cup winner Marseille opened the European season by hosting Pro Recco. The Italians rushed to a 4:1 lead, but the French managed to come back. Marseille trailed by a goal midway through the second quarter (4:5). However, the visitors scored two goals in the finish of the second period, while they added two early in the third quarter to gain a big 9:4 lead which proved vital in their win. Ten goals were scored in the third period, but Recco’s advantage was never smaller than three goals. The Italians entered the last quarter with a 12:9 lead, while Filip Filipovic hit the back of the net for the 4th time this evening 96 seconds from the end for the final score – 13:9.

Two newcomers in the Champions League faced off in Spain, where Terrassa hosted Dinamo Tbilisi. The second quarter was decisive for the outcome. After 2:2, Terrassa netted three straight goals for 5:2. The Georgians interrupted the hosts’ series (3:5), but not for long. The Spaniards scored two goals in the last 74 seconds of the second quarter and went 7:3 up before the halftime. Dinamo couldn’t recover from that, Terrassa won by 4 goals 9:5.

1 Pro Recco (ITA) 1 – 3
2 Terrassa (ESP) 1 – 3
3 Ferencvaros (HUN) 1 – 3
4 OSC Budapest (HUN) 1 – 3
5 Mladost (CRO) 1 – 0
6 Hannover (GER) 1 – 0
7 Marseille (FRA) 1 – 0
8 Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) 1 – 0