A day before the end of the second qualification round for the Main round of the Champions League, there are still five available spots for Round 3.
Brescia (Italy), Terrassa (Spain) and Strasbourg (France) advanced to the next round. OSC Budapest (Hungary) and Jadran Split (Croatia) are still unbeaten, as well as the three teams which went through, but these two sides still haven’t qualified for the Round 3.
Champions League, Qualification Round II, Day 2
Group C (Oradea)
Brescia – Barcelona 12:6 (3:0, 4:1, 2:2, 3:2)
Brescia: Cannella 4, C. Presciutti 2, Nora 2, Alesiani 1, Buha 1, Nikolaidis 1, Figari 1.
Barcelona: Estrany 2, Flores 1, Durik 1, Esteller 1, Marsal 1.
Oradea – Lokomotiv Tbilisi 25:6 (6:1, 7:2, 9:1, 3:2)
CSM Digi Oradea: V. Georgescu 6, Dragomirescu 6, Ilisie 3, Szabo 3, Inaba 2,Kovats 2, R. Georgescu 1, Remes 1, Popoviciu 1.
Lokomotiv Tbilisi: Alavidze 2, Rusishvili 2, Chikvaidze 1, Ivanishvili 1.
Brescia became the first team which booked its spot in the Qualification Round 3. After yesterday’s win over host Oradea (14:6), Brescia defeated Barcelona today (12:6) in the first match of today’s schedule and secured the 1st place in Group C. Just like in the match against Oradea, the Italians downed the opponent by halftime. After the second quarter, Brescia water polo players led 7:1. Early in the third period, they went 8:1 up and Barcelona couldn’t come back.
Oradea won its first points by beating Lokomotiv Tbilisi. Tomorrow, Oradea and Barcelona will clash each other and that match will decide which team will join Brescia in the third round.
1 Brescia (ITA) 2 – 6
2 Barcelona (ESP) 2 – 3 (+13)
3 Oradea (ROM) 2 – 3 (+7)
4 Lokomotiv (GEO) 2 – 0
Group D (Budapest)
OSC Potsdam – Dynamo Moscow 9:17 (1:4, 3:5, 3:5, 2:3)
OSC Potsdam: Kueppers 6, Tadin 2, Korbel 1.
Dynamo Moscow: Bychkov 7, Shepelev 2, Balakirev 2, Suchkov 2, Magomaev 2, Koptsev 1, Krug 1.
OSC Budapest – Sintez Kazan 14:6 (5:1, 2:1, 2:3, 5:1)
OSC Budapest: Prlainovic 4, Dr. Brguljan 3, Kovacs 2, Erdelyi 2, Randjelovic 1, Burian 1, Harai 1.
Sintez Kazan: Ryzhov-Alenichev 3, Andryukov 2, Vasilyev 1.
OSC Budapest proved too strong for Sintez Kazan. Led by newcomer Andrija Prlainovic, the Hungarians defeated the Russians by 8 goals (14:6). OSC Budapest still hasn’t mathematically advanced to the Round 3. They need a point in tomorrow’s match against Dynamo. They might keep the 1st place even if they lose with a small difference. But it’s hard to expect that Dynamo can upset the home team. So, OSC and Sintez will probably qualify for the next round.
1 OSC Budapest (HUN) 2 – 6
2 Sintez Kazan (RUS) 2 – 3
3 Dynamo Moscow (RUS) 2 – 3
4 OSC Potsdam (GER) 2 – 0
Group E (Terrassa)
Terrassa – Sabac 12:5 (4:1, 1:0, 3:1, 4:3)
Terrassa: Sanahuja 3, Gutierrez 3, Mora 2, Barroso 2, Alarcon 1, Rodriguez 1.
Sabac: Vasic 2, Repanovic 1, Matkovic 1.
Team Strasbourg – Steaua Bucharest 9:7 (3:2, 1:1, 2:2, 3:2)
Team Strasbourg: Jablonski 2, Babic 2, Markovic 2, Bratic 1, Sutic 1, Begovic 1.
Steaua Bucharest: Marinic Kragic 3, Fulea 1, Antipa 1, Goanta 1, Gheorghe 1.
Home team Terrassa and Team Strasbourg advanced to the third round, as they collected 6 points each in the first two days of the tournament.
Today, Terrassa dominated the match against Sabac and cruised to a 12:5 win.
The second match of the day offered more thrills. At the beginning of the third period, Strasbourg, the champion of France, and Steaua were tied (4:4). The French broke the Romanians by the middle of the last quarter, as they earned 9:5 lead with 3:15 remaining on the clock and secured a win.
Terrassa and Strasbourg will face off tomorrow to decide the group winner, while Sabac and Steaua will end their season at the European stage.
1 Terrassa (ESP) 2 – 6 (+10)
2 Team Strasbourg (FRA) 2 – 6 (+5)
3 Steaua Bucharest (ROM) 2 – 0 (-5)
4 Sabac (SRB) 2 – 0 (-10)
Group F (Belgrade)
Crvena Zvezda – Jadran Split 9:14 (2:4, 3:2, 1:6, 3:2)
Crvena Zvezda: Tankosic 3, Martinovic 2, Vasin 1, M. Jankovic 1, Sulc 1, Radovic 1.
Jadran Split: Zovic 2, Krapic 2, Vrdoljak 2, Delic 2, Buric 1, Butic 1, Pejkovic 1, Viskovic 1, Setka 1, Duzevic 1.
Pays d’Aix Natation – Vouliagmeni 10:13 (3:2, 3:6, 2:3, 2:2)
Pays d’Aix Natation: De Lera 4, Khasz 2, Espanol 2, Monneret 2.
Vouliagmeni: Gkiouvetsis 5, Kourouvanis 3, Vukcevic 2, Gouvis 1, Afroudakis 1, Basic 1.
Before the last round in Group F, only home team Crvena Zvezda, which was defeated by Jadran today, has no chance to reach the third round.
Jadran Split grabbed an early 3:0 lead, but Crvena Zvezda was able to come back and to equalise (5:5). Jadran earned a new advantage (6:5) 17 seconds before the middle break, while the third period proved crucial, as the Croats had a safe 12:6 lead before the last eight minutes.
Vouliagmeni defeated Pays d’Aix and saved a chance to qualify for the next round. The teams were in a neck-and-neck race from the beginning. Pays d’Aix was leading after the first period (3:2), but the Greeks turned around a slim deficit to a 2-goal lead in the middle of the second quarter (6:4). From that point on, Vouliagmeni was constantly in front, but Pays d’Aix didn’t let the Greek side relax. Just 30 seconds before the last break, Vouliagmeni built its first 3-goal lead (11:8). The French opened the fourth quarter with two goals for 10:11, but the Greeks kept them scoreless after that, while they netted two goals and celebrated a 13:10 win.
On Day 3, Vouliagmeni will play against Crvena Zvezda, while Pays d’Aix and Jadran will meet in the first match of the day.
1 Jadran Split (CRO) 2 – 6
2 Vouliagmeni (GRE) 2 – 3
3 Pays d’Aix (FRA) 2 – 3
4 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 2 – 0
