A lot of goals and no big surprises – that is the shortest summary of the 1st leg of the eighth-finals of the men’s Euro Cup.
The games featuring Hungarian teams were the most exciting today. The encounter between BVSC and Primorac in Budapest ended in a 16:16 draw. Barcelona defeated Vasas narrowly – 10:9
As for the other matches, six teams came very close to the quarterfinals after the 1st leg.
Four teams collected away wins: Radnicki downed Jug, the 2024 Euro Cup winner, in one of the derbies (15:9). Sabadell was better than Ortigia in Sicily (13:10), Jadran Herceg Novi beat Sabac 13:8, and Brescia defeated Waspo in Hannover (15:12).
As expected, Mladost and Pro Recco, which played in the same group in the Main Phase, defeated their rivals by big margins. Mladost beat Steaua (18:11), and Recco taught a lesson to Dinamo Tbilisi (17:5)
Euro Cup 2024/25, eighth-finals, Leg 1
Ortigia – Sabadell 10:13 (2:2, 1:4, 2:2, 5:5)
Ortigia: Inaba 4, Campopiano 2,Cassia 1, Di Luciano 1, Kalaitzis 1, Scordo 1.
Astralpool Sabadell: Averka 5, Bowen 2, Barroso 2, Bonet 1, Valera 1, Renzuto 1, Corres 1.
Sabadell defeated Ortigia for the second time this season. After a 17:11 victory in the Champions League qualifications, the Spaniards earned a solid 3-goal advantage before the return match.
The second period was crucial for the outcome of the match. Sabadell went on a 4:0 run between the 10th and 14th minutes, jumping from 2:2 to 6:2.
The Sicilians improved their defense after the middle break and nearly caught up with the rival. In the 22nd minute, Campopiano converted a man-up for 5:6. But, after three straight goals by the home side, Sabadell responded in the same way. They netted twice late in the third quarter. The best scorer of the match, Konstantin Averka, converted a penalty early in the fourth, and the visitors regained a 4-goal lead – 9:5. In the remaining time, the teams exchanged goals.
Mladost – Steaua 18:11 (3:4, 7:3, 3:2, 5:2)
Mladost: Bukic 6, Basic 4, Milos 2, Busic 2, Biljaka 1, Lazic 1, Kharkov 1.
Steaua Bucharest: Georgescu 3,Fulea 2, Colodrovschi 2, Vuskovic 1, Neamtu 1,Zivkovic 1, Tepelus 1.
Mladost recorded a convincing win but had to dig deep to reach a 7-goal margin. Even though Steaua arrived at the eighth-finals of the Champions League, the Croatian team was a favorite. The Romanians didn’t come with a white flag and started strongly. Their defense, commanded by Marius Tic, was very good in the first quarter. The attack was also up to the task, and they earned a 4:2 lead in the first period.
Late into the first quarter, the hosts found their rhythm, made a 4:0 run, and went ahead – 6:4. However, Steaua hadn’t said its last word yet. The visitors equalized with two quick goals. Then came another 4:0 series from Mladost (10:6). Steaua halved the gap (8:10) in the middle of the third period. However, Mladost, led by Luka Bukic, stretched the margin to seven and made a big step towards the quarterfinals.
Waspo 98 Hannover – Brescia 12:15 (4:3, 3:3, 3:5, 2:4)
Waspo 98: Strelezkij 3,Lozina 2, Buha 2, Benic 2, Kuppers 1, Bozic 1, Milradovic 1.
Brescia: Balzarini 4, Ferrero 4, Irving 2, Guerrato 2, Gianazza 1, Giri 1, Alesiani 1.
The Germans were in front for most of the first half, but neither team established a two-goal lead in the opening 16 minutes. Brescia was ahead briefly, with scores of 1:0 and 6:5. Hannover made a comeback by scoring twice in the last 60 seconds of the first half, finishing the period with a 7:6 lead.
The third period started strong for Brescia. By the midpoint of the quarter, the Italians had scored three goals, bringing the score to 9:7. This marked a turning point, as Brescia took control of the game and held off any attempts by Hannover to equalize in the last 12 minutes.
Barcelona – Vasas 11:10 (2:1, 4:2, 1:3, 4:4)
Barcelona: Daura 3, Goma 2, Van der Weijden 2, Veich 1, Prat 1, Andrade 1, Gorria 1.
Vasas: Randjelovic 3, Djurdjic 3,Dedovic 1, Dala 1, Batori 1, Gabor 1.
Vasas didn’t take the lead at any point in the game, but it might be happier than the winning team. Only a single goal separates the rivals ahead of their matchup in Budapest, where Vasas will have an extra player in the stands.
Barcelona’s defense was almost perfect in the first half. The Spaniards went to 2:0,and Vasas got on the scoreboard only 11 seconds before the first quarter. The halftime score stood at 6:3, but the Spaniards couldn’t maintain the pace they set in the first 16 minutes. Vasas was a better rival in the second half. The Hungarian team opened the third period with three consecutive goals to level the score at 6:6. Barcelona built a 2-goal lead several times in the fourth quarter (8:6, 10:8, 11:9). Still, the Spaniards didn’t make a significant difference. Vasas’ Sava Randjelovic set the final score with a lobe in the 31st minute.
Jug – Radnicki 9:15 (1:4, 3:4, 3:4, 2:3)
Jug AO: Zvono 2, Zuvela 2, Pavlic 2,Cabanas 1, Krzic 1, Buric 1.
Radnicki: N. Jaksic 3, Dadvani 3, S.Rasovic 2, P.Jaksic 2, Drasovic 1, Vasic 1, Vapenski 1.
For the second time in two months, Radnicki defeated Jug very convincingly in Dubrovnik. In the first part of the season, the Kragujevac-based team celebrated a 17:10 victory in the Regional League, and today, the Serbs did an excellent job again.
The Kragujevac-based team brilliantly opened the game against the reigning Euro Cup title holder – with a 4:0 series. The home team scored its first goal shortly before the first break. Jug reduced the gap to 2:4, but the visitors returned to “+4” by the big break (8:4).
Radnicki continued in the same rhythm in the second half and was at “+6″(11:5) in the middle of the third period. In the final quarter, the Serbian side had an eight-goal advantage (15:7), before Jug scored two consolation goals.
Sabac – Jadran HN 8:13 (1:4, 2:4, 1:3, 4:2)
Sabac Elixir: Kovacevic 2, Repanovic 1, Toholj 1, Pljevancic 1, Macic 1,Korac 1, Novakovic 1.
Jadran M’tel Herceg Novi:Khood 4, Da.Radovic 3, Lazic 3, Vujovic 2,Milojevic 1.
Three days ago, Jadran trashed Sabac in Herceg Novi in the Regional League (18:8). Five goals separated the rivals this evening, but the Montenegrins should be very satisfied. They dominated the match.
Already in the 12th minute, Jadran had a 6:1 advantage. Sabac started waking up but couldn’t stop the Montenegrins, who were 12:4 up early in the fourth quarter, which was their biggest lead in the match. While Sabac managed to close the gap, it was not enough to maintain a realistic chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.
BVSC – Primorac 16:16 (5:4,4:3, 3:3, 4:6)
BVSC-Manna ABC: Konarik 4, Tatrai 2, Csapo 2, Ekler 2, Gal 2, Kovacs 1 Bundschuh 1, Meszaros 1, E. Csacsovszky 1.
Primorac: Matkovic 4, Cetkovic 4, Shuhshiashvili 4, Mrsic 3, Brguljan 1.
There was no winner in a „one goal per minute“ match. Considering what the teams showed today, the question of who will win this duel will be open until the end of the game in Kotor.
BVSC had a solid three-goal lead three times (5:2,10:7, 13:10). Still, Primorac managed to come back into the match on each occasion and to catch up with the Hungarians. Four and a half minutes before the final buzzer, BVSC led 14:12. Two minutes after, Primorac leveled once again (15:15). The hosts took a 16:15 lead after Matyas Meszaros converted a man-up with 01:24 minutes remaining. Dusan Markovic scored from a 6 on 5 in the next possession. That was the last goal in the scoring festival.
Pro Recco – Dinamo 17:5 (7:2, 3:1, 3:1, 4:1)
Pro Recco: Condemi 4, Hallock 4, Fondelli 3, Di Fulvio 2, Cannella 2, Younger 1, Durik 1.
Dinamo Tbilisi: Tankosic 2, Pjesicav 2, Tkeshelashvili 1.
The 11-time European champion continued chasing its first-ever Euro Cup trophy with a comfortable victory over Dinamo.
Pro Recco left no chance to the Georgians. The Italians needed less than five minutes to earn a 4:0 lead. They widened the gap to seven by halftime (10:3). At the start of the final quarter, Recco earned a double-digit advantage (14:4) when Ben Hallock scored his fourth goal this evening. The hosts didn’t stop there and added three goals until the end.
The return matches are scheduled for February 6.
