Radnicki Kragujevac has been the biggest surprise of the Champions League Qualifications for now. The Serbian Cup winner collected seven points on the first two days of the tournament in Budapest, although it had a very hard schedule. Radnicki leads the race in Subgroup B1. If there are no surprises on Day 3, Radnicki will battle with OSC for the top position in this subgroup.
Radnicki played three matches within 21 hours. Yesterday, the Serbs upset Sintez Kazan (16:14). In today’s morning session, the Kragujevac-based side shared the points with French Tourcoing (7:7). This evening, Radnicki has continued its excellent series with a convincing win over Terrassa (13:8).
Besides Radnicki, three teams have collected two wins each in the first two days – Barcelona, Ortigia, Jadran Split, and OSC. Today, Barcelona staged a power demonstration in Syracuse. Ortigia beat Jadran Split 11:7 in the big match of the day in Subgroup A1. OSC, the host of the tournament in Budapest, found it hard to defeat Sintez Kazan today (12:11). Jadran has two wins, but it lost to Ortigia. This defeat significantly reduced their chances of winning first place in the subgroup.
There were ten games on today’s schedule
2020/21 Champions League Qualifications, Day 2
Group A, Syracuse
Subgroup A1
Round 2
Jadran S – Steaua 14:12 (5:4, 4:2, 4:3, 1:3)
Jadran Split: Buric 2, Butic 2, Pejkovic 2, Milradovic 2, Delic 2, Duzevic 2, Marinic Kragic 1, Setka 1.
Steaua: A. Gheorghe 4, Negrean 2, Fulea 2, Prioteasa 2, Ghiban 1, M. Gheorghe 1.
Barcelona – Primorac 12:3 (3:0, 3:1, 3:1, 3:1)
Barcelona: Tahull 3, Esteller 2, Flores 2, Van den Burg 1, Durik 1, Delgado 1, Estrany 1, Lopez 1.
Primorac: Crepulja 1, Matkovic 1, Sekaric 1.
Round 3
Ortigia – Jadran 11:7 (1:2, 2:0, 3:2, 5:3)
Ortigia: Gallo 5, Giacoppo 2, Di Luciano 1, Ferrero 1, Mirarchi 1, Napolitano 1.
Jadran: Buric 2, Marinic Kragic 1, Butic 1, Milradovic 1, Setka 1, Duzevic 1.
Barcelona – Steaua 11:4 (3:2, 3:1, 2:0, 3:1)
Barcelona:Durik 2, Delgado 2, Van den Burg 1, Power 1, Flores 1, Esteller 1, Goma 1, Estrany 1, Tahull 1.
Steaua: Fulea 3, Dinca 1.
Barcelona recorded two convincing wins in its first two European matches in the season 2020/21. In the morning session, the Spaniards trashed Primorac 12:3. Barcelona faced Steaua in the third round. In the middle of the second period, the Spaniards had a slim 4:3 lead. But, after that, they held Steaua goalless for a long time. Barcelona produced a 7:0 run for an 11:3 lead. The Romanians scored a consolation goal in the last minute.
Jadran Split played two matches today, as well as Barcelona, but the Croats recorded only one win. In the opening match of the day, Jadran defeated Steaua. The team from Split was building the advantage step-by-step and had a 13:9 lead before the final period. Steaua “woke up” too late – in the fourth quarter.
Host Ortigia and Jadran clashed in the derby of the day. The home team entered the match as a favorite, but the Sicilians had to work hard to beat Jadran. The first quarter belonged to the Croats (2:1), but Ortigia took a lead before the middle break (3:2) . Jadran equalized twice in the third period (3:3, 4:4). In the last two minutes of this quarter, Ortigia scored two quick goals to earn a 2-goal lead for the first time (6:4) and controlled the match until the final buzzer.
1.Barcelona (ESP) 2 – 6
2.Ortigia (ITA) 2 – 6
3. Jadran (CRO) 3 – 6
4. Steaua (ROM) 3 – 0
5. Primorac (MNE) 2 – 0
November 13: Ortigia- Barcelona (16.00), Primorac – Steaua (18.00)
Subgroup A2
Round 1
Mladost – Pays d’Aix 16:13 (2:2, 6:5, 4:3, 4:3)
Mladost: Lazic 4, Kharkov 4, Milos 3, J. Vrlic 2, Radu 1, Buslje 1, M. Vrlic 1.
Pays d’Aix: Popadic 3, Djerkovic 3, Khasz 2, Dino 2, Gluhaic 2, Bakircilar 1.
Szolnok – Ydraikos 10:0 (technical score)
Regional League winner Mladost defeated Pays d’Aix in the first match of Subgroup A2. Pays d’Aix opened the game quite well and earned an early 2:0 lead. The Croats, who arrived in Syracuse without a few key players (including goalkeeper Marcelic and the best scorer Bukic), took control after the first break. Mladost led for most of the time. In the 2nd minute of the final period, Mladost gained a 3-goal advantage for the first time (13:10) and kept the distance until the end.
1.Szolnok (HUN) 1- 3
2.Mladost (CRO) 1 – 3
3.Pays d’Aix (FRA) 1 – 0
4.Ydraikos (GRE) 1 – 0 *
November 13: Szolnok – Pays d’Aix (14.00)
*Ydraikos withdrew from the competition. LEN announced that the club had been disqualified from the current European season (it can’t enter the LEN Euro Cup) and will be fined according to the LEN rules.
Group B
Subgroup B1
Round 2
Terrassa – Sintez Kazan 10:17 (1:2, 3:3, 3:8, 3:4)
Terrassa: Barroso 3, Carrillo 2, Prieto 2, Gutierrez 2, Rodriguez 1.
Sintez Kazan: Latypov 4, Ryzhov-Alenichev 4, Dereviankin 3, Bychkov 2, Andryukov 2, Odintsov 1, Lisunov 1.
Tourcoing – Radnicki 7:7 (3:1, 0:3, 2:0, 2:3)
Tourcoing:Canonne 2, Rocchietta 1, Krizman 1, Randjic 1, Banicevic 1, Kujacic 1.
Radnicki: Ukropina 3, Lukic 2, Stanojevic 1, Brankovic 1.
Round 3
Radnicki – Terrassa 13:8 (7:3, 4:1, 0:2, 2:2)
Radnicki:Stanojevic 4, Rasovic 3, Ukropina 2, Brankovic 1, Pljevancic 1, Lukic 1, Radulovic 1.
Terrassa: Carillo 3, De Lera 3, Prieto 1, Alcaron 1.
Sintez – OSC 11:12 (1:2, 5:5, 2:2, 3:3)
Sintez: Ryzhov-Alenichev 3, Dereviankin 2, Lisunov 2, Zinnurov 1, Bychkov 1, Latypov 1, Shepelev 1.
OSC Budapest: Erdelyi 4, Burian 4, Harai 2, Dala 1, Toth 1.
The second competition day in Budapest was opened by an encounter between two teams that played in the 2019/20 Champions League Main Round, Terrassa and Sintez. Terrassa kept up with the Russians until 4:4. Fifteen seconds before the end of the second quarter, Sintez gained a 5:4 lead. After the middle series, Sintez continued its string of goals and earned a 9:4 advantage. Before the final period, the gap between the sides was six goals (the Russians led 13:7), and Terrassa couldn’t come back.
Tourcoing and Radnicki shared the points in the match that had a lot of twists and turns. Before the final period, Tourcoing led 5:4. The French doubled an advantage shortly after the last break (6:4), and it seemed that they were on the road to victory. But, Radnicki proved its quality and didn’t give up. The Serbs equalized – 6:6 with five minutes to go. Three minutes from the end, the French went in front again, but not for a long time. Nemanja Stanojevic converted a man-up in the 31st minute for the final score – 7:7.
Five hours after the match against Tourcoing, Radnicki faced Terrassa, which came to Budapest as one of the favorites. But, the Spaniards didn’t show their best, while the Serbs played another very good game. Radnicki got off to a great start and scored eight goals in the first nine minutes. Less than 30 seconds in the second quarter passed, and Radnicki already had an 8:3 lead. By halftime, the distance between the teams increased to seven (11:4), which was crucial for the final score.
As expected, OSC Budapest defeated Sintez, but Sintez proved that nobody should underestimate the Russian champion. Sintez’s Bychkov scored the first goal in the match, but OSC responded with three goals in a row and earned a 3:1 lead. From that point on, OSC was in front, but the hosts’ advantage was never bigger than two goals. Sintez didn’t surrender and didn’t let OSC celebrate the win too early. Finally, the Russians equalized when Lisunov converted a man-up for 11:11 with 01:57 to go. However, Erdelyi replied with an extra-man goal for 12:11 just 42 seconds later. In the remaining time, OSC water polo players managed to maintain a slim advantage and keep their Champions League hopes alive.
1. Radnicki (SRB) 3 – 7
2. OSC Budapest (HUN) 2 – 6
3. Sintez Kazan (RUS) 3 – 3
4. Tourcoing (FRA) 2 – 1
5. Terrassa (ESP) 2- 0
November 13: Tourcoing – Sintez (17.00), OSC – Terrassa (19.00).
Subgroup B2
Round 1
Enka Istanbul – Vouliagmeni 0:10 (technical score)*
Oradea – Brescia 1:18 (0:4, 0:2, 0:6, 1:6)
Oradea: Colodrovschi 1.
Brescia: Vlachopoulos 5, Alesiani 4, Renzuto 2, Cannella 2, Dolce 1, C. Presciutti 1, Lazic 1, Balzarini 1, Di Somma 1.
Brescia ran over Oradea in the first game of Subgroup B2. Oradea its only goal scored 59 seconds before the end. But, considering circumstances, this result isn’t a big surprise.
In the past few weeks, both teams had problems with coronavirus cases, but Brescia managed to overcome these troubles. All players tested negative before the trip to Budapest.
Oradea had only 12 players on the roster for today’s match. Until the end of the past week, eleven players and a staff member were in a 14-day quarantine, and the team didn’t train in that period. At the testing before the trip to Budapest on Tuesday, only eight of the “A” team members tested negative for coronavirus. But, Oradea didn’t withdraw from the Qualifications and came to the tournament without preparations and with a rejuvenated team (there are four U20 players on the team, a 15-year old boy is the youngest of them)
On the other side, Brescia played without this summer’s big reinforcement Maro Jokovic, who got injured. He misses the tournament.
1.Brescia (ITA) 1 – 3
2. Vouliagmeni (GRE) 1 – 3
3.Oradea (ROM) 1 – 0
4. Enka (TUR) 1 – 0*
November 13: Vouliagmeni – Oradea (21.00).
*Enka withdrew from the competition. LEN announced that the club had been disqualified from the current European season (it can’t enter the LEN Euro Cup) and will be fined according to the LEN rules.
