An encounter between Jadran Herceg Novi and Barceloneta was the highlight of Day 5 in Group A of the 2019/20 Champions League.

After a lot of twists and turns, Barceloneta, the visiting team, defeated Jadran narrowly – 13:12, thanks to a last-gasp goal.

Szolnok hosted Jadran Split. This match also offered a lot of thrills, and one goal decided the winner. Szolnok edged out the visitors from Croatia – 5:4.
Olympiacos beat Spandau 13:8, while Jug blew away Sintez Kazan.

Champions League 2019/20, Main Round, Day 5

Group A

Jadran HN – Barceloneta 12:13 (4:1, 1:5, 4:3, 3:4)

Jadran Carine Herceg Novi: Petkovic 3, Obradovic 2, Averka 2, Dj. Radovic 2, Popadic 1, Spaic 1, Brkic 1.
Zodiac CNA Barceloneta: Granados 4, Mallarach 4, Munarriz 3, Perrone 2.

Jadran dominated the opening minutes of the game in Herceg Novi. The hosts earned a 4:1 lead in the first quarter. But, Barceloneta controlled the second period. The Spaniards equalised in the 15th minute (5:5), while Barceloneta’s best scorer Alvaro Granados converted a penalty to put his team ahead – 6:5 just 40 seconds before the middle break.

The second half also offered a lot of turns. Jadran netted three straight goals in the first two minutes of the third quarter for an 8:6 advantage. Barceloneta responded in the same manner – with three goals and gained a 9:8 lead. However, before the last period, the sides were tied at 9:9, as Petkovic scored 9th goal for Jadran 4 seconds from the end of the third.

Early in the fourth, Barceloneta had a minimal lead twice (10:9 and 11:10), but Jadran equalised on both occasions. Just 37 seconds from the end Barceloneta’s star Perrone forced a penalty, which Granados converted to the visitors’ 12:11 lead. The drama wasn’t over yet, as Spaic levelled the score with a nice backhander (12:12). But, the Spaniards had the last laugh.

After Jadran’s goal, Barceloneta head coach Chus Martin called the timeout. Barceloneta’s goalkeeper Daniel Lopez joined his teammates in the last attack. He took the centre-forward position. Just two seconds before the final buzzer, Felipe Perrone scored a winner for Barceloneta’s 13:12 win.

Only four players in the visiting team scored in this match. Granados and Mallarach netted 4 goals each, Munnariz 3 and Perrone 2. Jadran’s captain Marko Petkovic was the best scorer in the home team, with 3 goals.

Szolnok – Jadran S 5:4 (1:0, 2:1, 2:1, 0:2)

Szolnok Dosza: Angyal 2, Pijetlovic 1, Jansik 1, Szeghalmi 1.
Jadran Split: Butic 4.

Only 9 goals were scored in the encounter between two former European champions Szolnok (winner in 2017) and Jadran Split (1992 and 1993). Szolnok’s Daniel Angyal found the net for 1:0 in the 3rd minute. It took almost 9 minutes before the next goal was scored. Zvonimir Butic equalised in the middle of the second quarter, but Szolnok earned a 3:1 advantage by halftime. Before the last quarter, the Hungarians had a 5:2 advantage. Zvonimir Butic (who scored all 4 goals for Jadran) opened the final eight minutes with two goals and Jadran came very close to the hosts (4:5). But, there were no goals in the remaining 06:18 minutes, so Szolnok kept the minimal advantage and the win.

Olympiacos – Spandau 13:8 (3:2, 5:3, 2:1, 3:2)

Olympiacos Piraeus: Jokovic 3, Argyropoulos 3, Genidounias 2, Gounas 2, Mitrovic 2, Buljubasic 1.
Spandau 04 Berlin: Dedovic 3, Gielen 2, Negrean 2, Ma. Cuk.

Spandau stunned Olympiacos with an early 2:0 lead. But, the hosts responded with 4 unanswered goals for a 4:2 advantage in the 9th minute. Quickly after that, Spandau equalised 4:4 and kept up with the favourites until the 14th minute. Two and a half minutes before the end of the second period, the score was 5:5. After that, Olympiacos produced a 5:0 rush for a 10:5 lead and never looked back.

Jug – Sintez 18:10 (7:0, 4:2, 4:3, 3:5)

Jug Adriatic Osiguranje: Fatovic 5, Obradovic 3, Loncar 2, Lozina 2, Papanastasiou 2, Benic 2, Zuvela 1, Garcia 1.
Sintez Kazan:Bugaychuk 3, Lisunov 2, Latypov 2, Vasilyev 1, Dereviankin 1, Ryzhov-Alenichev 1.

Jug rolled past Sintez in the last match of the day. The champion of Croatia jumped to a 9:0 lead before the Russians scored their first goal in the 12th minute. Sintez couldn’t recover from that shock, despite it played well in the second half of the match.

1 Olympiacos (GRE) 5 – 15
2 Jug AO (CRO) 5 – 12
3 Barceloneta (ESP) 5 – 12
4 Szolnok (HUN) 5 – 9
5 Jadran Split (CRO) 5 – 4
6 Sintez (RUS) 5 – 3
7 Spandau 04 (GER) 5 – 2
8 Jadran Herceg Novi (MNE) 5 – 1

Group B

The matches in group B will be played tomorrow. The big game of the day will be played in Bologna, where Pro Recco will host reigning champion Ferencvaros.
Other matches: Terrassa – OSC Budapest, Marseille – Dinamo Tbilisi, Mladost – Hannover.