Giants share points in big game of Day 5 in Bologna

November 20, 2019

Denes Varga Photo: FTC Vizilabda

The 6th day in Group B of the 2019/20 Champions League brought a big derby. Italian giant Pro Recco hosted reigning champion Ferencvaros.

The match was played in Bologna, as a part of Recco’s promotional tour. After a lot of thrills, the game was ended with no winner – 13:13.

103 goals were scored in Group B today (four less than in the previous round).

Mladost Zagreb defeated Waspo Hannover harder than it was expected – 15:13. LEN Euro Cup winner Marseille demolished Dinamo Tbilisi 17:7, while OSC Budapest beat Terrassa 15:10.

Ferencvaros remains in atop of the group, with two points more than 3rd-placed Pro Recco. OSC climbed into the 2nd position.

Champions League 2019/20, Main Round, Day 5

Group B

Pro Recco – Ferencvaros 13:13 (3:3, 4:4, 3:4, 3:2)

Pro Recco: Filipovic 4, Ivovic 3, Renzuto 2, Mandic 1, Echenique 1, Di Somma 1, Kayes 1.
Ferencvaros Telekom: Varga 4, Zalnaki 2, Jaksic 2, Fountoulis 2, Pohl 1, Vamos 1, Constantin-Bicari 1,

The match in Bologna was a close battle from the first whistle. Midway through the second quarter, Pro Recco built a 3-goal advantage (7:4). But, the visitors managed to level the score by halftime. Ferencvaros reduced the gap (7:6), while Pro Recco had an extra-man attack in the last minute. The Italians didn’t find the net in that possession, while Ferencvaros’s Zoltan Pohl scored from the big distance three seconds before the end of the second quarter, so the rivals entered tied the second half (7:7).

Quickly after the middle break, the Hungarians.led by Denes Varga, continued their series of goals and jumped to a 10:7 lead in the 21st minute. After that Ferencvaros’s 6:0 rush, Dusan Mandic broke the Italians’ silence, that lasted 10:17 minutes, by converting a man-up for 8:10. Ferencvars earned an 11:8 advantage, but Pro Recco reduced the gap with two goals in the last 64 seconds of the quarter. Before the last period, Ferencvaros had a minimal 11:10 lead.

In the fourth period, the visitors had a 2-goal advantage twice (12:10 and 13:11). Francesco Di Fulvio scored from an extra for 12:13 in the 28th minute. Two minutes from the end, Recco captain Aleksandar Ivovic fired the ball from 7-8 meters to equalise – 13:13. Both teams had nice chances in the remaining time, but there were no goals and two giants shared the points.
After 33 consecutive wins in home games in the Champions League, Pro Recco must be satisfied with a point. The last match, before today’s, in which Pro Recco didn’t manage to beat a rival on home soil was played in 2013, when the Italians were defeated by Primorje (6:8).

Denes Varga , Ferencvaros’s captain, and Filip Filipovic, one of the key Recco’s players, were the top scorers Each netted 4 goals.

Mladost – Hannover 15:13 (4:3, 4:4, 2:3, 5:3)

Mladost Zagreb: Cuk 6, Bowen 3, Radu 2, Kunac 2, Bukic 1, Lazic 1.
Hannover: A. Radovic 4, Da. Brguljan 3, Nagaev 2, Real 1, Muslim 1, Schuetze 1, Winkelhorst 1.

Mladost Zagreb overcame some difficulties in beating Hannover, which didn’t surrender easily. Before the last period, the sides were tied- 10:10, while Mladost opened the fourth quarter with three unanswered goals and went 13:10 up. Hannover trailed by a goal in the 28th minute (12:13). Then came two goals from Mladost’s players and the hosts gained a new 3-goal lead (15:12) with 01:51 remaining on the clock, which was vital in their win. Hannover reduced the gap, but it couldn’t equalise.

The man of the match was Milos Cuk, who scored 6 goals for Mladost.

Marseille – Dinamo Tbilisi 17:7 (5:1, 5:2, 3:2, 4:2)

Marseille: Camarasa 3, Crousillat 3, Blary 3, Djurdjic 2, Marion-Vernoux 2, Kovacevic 1, Vukicevic 1, Olivon 1, Izdinsky 1.
Dinamo Tbilisi: Vapenski 2, Jelaca 2, Imnashvili 1, Shushiashvili 1, Magrakvelidze 1.

Encouraged by the win over OSC in Budapest ten days ago, Marseille proved that might enter the battle for the top 4 places in this group. Dinamo Tbilisi is the underdog in this group, but the Georgians made troubles to the favourites in the previous rounds. Still, Marseille didn’t let a surprise. The French ran over Dinamo this evening.

Terrassa – OSC Budapest 10:15 (1:4, 4:4, 3:3, 2:4)

CN Terrassa: Barroso 4, Pericas 3, Sanahuja 2, Gutierrez 1.
OSC Budapest: Dr. Brguljan 4, Erdelyi 3, Manhercz 2, Randjelovic 2, Prlainovic 2, Bundschuh 1, Harat 1.

After an unexpected loss to Marseille in Budapest on Day 4, OSC returned to the winning track. The Hungarians earned a 5-goal lead (7:2) in the middle of the second quarter, but Terrassa was able to come back and to reduce the gap (8:9) deep into the third period. However, OSC jumped to an 11:8 lead before the last break, while the Budapest-based side extended the margin to 5 in the middle of the last period (14:9) to secure the win.

1 Ferencvaros (HUN)5 – 13
2 OSC Budapest (HUN) 5 -12
3 Pro Recco (ITA) 5 – 11
4 Mladost (CRO) 5 – 10
5 Marseille (FRA) 5 – 9
6 Terrassa (ESP) 5 – 3
7 Hannover (GER) 5 – 0
8 Dinamo (GEO) 5 – 0