The Champions League Qualification Round 1 was completed today in Sabac (Serbia) and Barcelona (Spain).

The top four teams from each group advanced to the second round: Sabac (Serbia), Crvena Zvezda (Serbia), Dynamo Moscow (Russia), Oradea (Romania), Barcelona (Spain), Sintez Kazan (Russia), Pays d’Aix (France), Steaua (Romania).

The second round will be played between 13 and 15 September. 16 teams will be split into four groups

The eight teams which successfully finished the first round will join the squads which are directly qualified for the second round: Jadran Split (Croatia), CN Terrassa (Spain), Team Strasbourg SNS (France), Lokomotiv Tbilisi (Georgia), OSC Potsdam (Germany), Vouliagmeni (Greece), A-Hid OSC Budapest (Hungary), AN Brescia (Italy).

Champions League, Qualification Round 1, Day 4

Group A (Sabac)

Dynamo – Apollon 16:15 (2:4, 5:5, 5:4, 4:2)

Dynamo Moscow: Usov 5, Bychkov 5, Magomaev 3, Balakirev 1, Suchkov 1, Ekomazov 1.
Apollon: Moskov 10, Papageorgiou 2, Al Dughther 2, Alamanos 1.

Galatasaray – Oradea 5:13 (1:2, 3:4, 0:3, 1:4)

Galatasaray: Krstic 3, Ozbek 1, Olcay 1.
CSM Digi Oradea: V. Georgescu 5, Szabo 2, Ilisie 1, Dragomirescu 1, Popoviciu 1, Colodrovschi 1, R. Georgescu 1, Czenk 1.

Sabac – Crvena Zvezda 10:11 (4:2, 2:3, 2:3, 2:3)

Sabac:Vasic 3, Vucinic 3, Repanovic 1, Radiuovic 1, Velkic 1, Erakovic 1.
Crvena Zvezda: Jankovic 5, Vukicevic 2, Gusarov 2, Tankosic 1, Radovic 1.

Before the last round, Crvena Zvezda and Sabac secured first two places, while the race for the 3rd and the 4th place was still open. Dynamo Moscow, Apollon Smyrnis and Oradea were in a hunt for the remaining two tickets for the second round.

The first match of the day, Apollon – Dynamo decided the 3rd place. Apollon opened the game very well. The Greeks were leading throughout the first three periods. Apollon had a 4-goal advantage in the 2nd quarter (7:3, 8:4, 9:5). By the end of the 3rd period, Dynamo reduced the gap (12:13). The Russians finally equalized early in the fourth (13:13). Apollon earned a lead once more (14:13). The Russians responded with three goals in a row for 16:14 with 62 seconds remaining on the clock. Apollon managed to score consolation goal, but the Russians kept the win – 16:15. The Russians secured the 3rd place, while the Greeks lost their last hope. Apollon’s Montenegrin Nikola Moskov was outstanding today, he netted 10 goals! Roman Usov and Igor Byckhov netted 5 goals each for Dynamo.

As expected, Oradea easily beat Galatasaray 13:5, and confirmed the 4th place.

The last encounter of the day was a re-match of the 2019 Serbian national championship final. Last season, Sabac was better than Crvena Zvezda in the best-of-3 final series (Sabac won 2, Crvena Zvezda 1 match). Crvena Zvezda took revenge today. The Belgrade-based side celebrated a win and finished the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record.

Sabac was ahead for most of the time. Deep into the third period, the hosts had an 8:7 lead. Crvena Zvezda, led by Marko Jankovic, who arrived in Crvena Zvezda from Sabac this summer, produced a 3:0 rush and went in front 10:8. Sabac cut the deficit in the remaining time, but 2013 European champion posted the win – 11:10.

1 Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 5 – 15
2 Sabac (SRB) 5 – 12
3 Dynamo Moscow (RUS) 5 – 9
4 CSM Digi Oradea (ROM) 5 – 6
5 Apollon Smyrnis (GRE) 5 – 3
6 Galatasaray (TUR) 5 – 0

The top four teams advanced to the Qualification Round 2

Group B (Barcelona)

Pays d’Aix – Sintez 10:12 (3:4, 5:2, 1:4, 1:2)

Pays d’Aix Natation: Espanol 3, Gluhaic 3, Monneret 2, Gagulic 1, De Lera 1.
Sintez Kazan: Latypov 3, Odintsov 2, Ryzhov-Alenichev 2, Lazarev 1, Vasilyev 1, Bugaychuk 1, Krasnov 1, Andryukov 1.

Steaua – Barcelona 8:7 (2:2, 0:1, 2:2, 4:2)

Steaua: Fulea 3, Marinic Kragic 2, Popescu 1, Goanta 1.
Barcelona: Delgado 2, Flores 2, Van den Burg 1, Idarraga 1.

Banja Luka – Enka 2:21 (0:7, 2:3, 0:6, 0:5)
Banja Luka: Stevandic 1, Vujkovic 1.
Enka Istanbul: Alkan 5, Gurdenli 5, Can 4, Yutmaz 4, Isik 2, Kaharman 1.

Barcelona, Sintez, Pays d’Aix and Steaua booked their tickets for the second round after Saturday’s matches.

Barcelona took the first place, despite the hosts were defeated by Steaua today (7:8).
Barcelona and Sintez finished the tournament with 12 points each, but the Spaniards finished atop because they defeated SIntez on Friday (11:9).

After a lot of twists and turns, Sintez defeated Pays d’Aix 12:10. The Russians grabbed an opening 3:0 lead, while the French were 8:6 up at halftime. Sintez retook control after the middle break and collected three points.

1 Barcelona (ESP) 5 -12
2 Sintez Kazan (RUS) 5 – 12
3 Pays d’Aix Natation (FRA) 5 – 9
4 Steaua Bucharest (ROM) 5 – 9
5 Enka Istanbul (TUR) 5 – 3
6 Banja Luka (BIH) 5 – 0

The top four teams advanced to the Qualification Round 2