OSC Budapest and Jadran Split are very close qualifying for the Main Round of the Champions League, as they recorded convincing wins in the first leg of playoffs, played today. Jadran demolished Strasbourg 13:5, while OSC defeated Vouliagmeni 11:3.
In the other two encounters, everything is still open. Brescia barely beat Sintez 13:12. Terrassa was better than Oradea 10:7.
Champions League playoffs, 1st Leg
Brescia – Sintez 13:12 (4:2, 1:2, 4:5, 4:3)
Brescia: Cannella 4, C. Presciutti 2, Nikolaidis 2, Alesiani 2, Balzarini 1, Bertoli 1, FIgari 1.
Sintez Kazan: Dereviankin 2, Andryukov 2, Vasilyev 2, Zakirov 2, Lazarev 1, Zinnurov 1, Lisunov 1, Latypov 1.
Terrassa – Oradea 10:7 (2:2, 1:2, 2:2, 5:1)
Terrassa: Mora 3, Alarcon 2, Guiterrez 2, Sanahuja 1, Aguilar 1, Sanchez 1.
Oradea: Dragomirescu 2, Szabo 2, Inaba 1, Popoviciu 1, Colodrovschi 1.
Jadran Split – Strasbourg 13:5 (5:1, 2:2, 1:1, 5:1)
Jadran: Buric 2, Viskovic 2, Delic 2, Setka 2, Zovic 1, Bego 1, Butic 1, Power 1, Duzevic 1.
Strasbourg: Sutic 2, Letica 1, Denux 1, Markovic 1.
OSC Budapest – Vouliagmeni 11:3 (4:1, 3:0, 0:0, 4:2)
OSC Budapest: Randjelovic 4, Seman 3, Manhercz 2, Erdelyi 1, Ubovic 1.
Vouliageni: Aftoudakis 2, Vukcevic 1.
Brescia, which played at the Final Eight in the last three editions of the Champions League, will have a hard exam in the return leg. The Italians narrowly beat Sintez Kazan at home. – 13:12. Brescia led 5:2 early in the second period, but the Russians started climbing back end equalised 24 seconds before the last break – 9:9. They even took an advantage deep into the fourth period (11:10, and 12:11), but Brescia scored two goals in the last 82 seconds for a slim 13:12 win.
Terrassa managed to defeat Oradea, despite the Romanians controlled the match for three quarters. They entered the last period with a 6:5 lead. Oradea kept the slim lead until the middle of the last period (7:6). Terrassa “woke up” in the last 3:02 minutes and nailed 4 goals for a 10:7 victory.
Jadran Split earned a 7:1 lead in the 12th minute of the match against Strasbourg. The French responded with three goals to come close (4:7) , but the Croats dominated the last quarter and posted a big 13:5 win.
OSC Budapest, also, could prepare for the Main Round, as it earned an 8-goal advantage before the return match against Vouliagmeni. After an opening 1:1, OSC kept Vouliiagmeni scoreless for 23:47 minutes, while they scored eight goals and went 9:1 up before Vouliagmeni scored found the net for the second time in the match.
The second leg is on Wednesday. The winners of the four duels will qualify for the Main Round, while the losing teams will play in the Euro Cup.
