Spandau shocks Ferencvaros; Novi Beograd keeps top spot

Spandau has made the biggest surprise in the 2022/23 Champions League so far.

The Berliners beat Ferencvaros 11:10 in a thrilling game in Berlin in the 5th round in Group B.

The Hungarians were favorites, despite not being complete in the capital of Germany (a few important players had to miss the match). But Spandau proved that it could play at a high level from the first whistle until the final buzzer. The hosts led for most of the match. Ferencvaros chased the rival and leveled at the finish (10:10). Spandau scored a winner in its last attack in the match.

With this win, Spandau got into the race for the F8 berths because it had already caused some surprises this season (ties with Sabadell and OSC in away matches). Considering all the results so far, Spandau’s success is a surprise, but it isn’t a sensation.

The favorites recorded victories in other matches. The group leader Novi Beograd beat Marseille in a 30-goal match (17:13). Brescia demolished OSC Budapest (14:6). Jug downed Sabadell (11:8) and climbed to 4th place.  

2022/23 Champions League, Group B, Day 5

Spandau – Ferencvaros 11:10 (4:3, 2:2, 3:3, 2:2)

Spandau 04: Baksa, Gbadamassi, Prioteasa, Cuk, Tkac 1, Bozic 1, Strelezkij 1, Marziali 1, Chiru, Kholod 3, Restovic, Shepelev 4, Vernet Schweimer. Head coach:Kechagias.

Ferencvaros: Szakonyi, Molnar, Pohl, Merkulov, Argyropoulos 4, Ubovic 1, Fekete 2, Ven.Vigvari, Nemet, D.Varga 1, Nagy 1, Vadovics 1, Sipos. Head coach: Zs.Varga.

Ferencvaros arrived in Berlin without two key players. Goalkeeper Soma Vogel will be out of the team for a while due to injury.  Szilard Jansik, the MVP of the European Championships, and Luca Damonte could not help their teammates either.

Still, Ferencvaros started well. The Hungarians earned a penalty shot in their first possession. Argyropoulos converted it to a 1:0 lead. But, Spandau replied with three goals and gained a 3:1 advantage. That was followed by a new turn. Ferencvaros produced a 4:1 series. Denes Varga gave the visitors a 5:4 lead in the 14th minute. However, the hosts netted two goals in the last 69 seconds of the first half (Kholod and Tkac) and had a 6:5 advantage at the middle break.

Roman Shepelev doubled the hosts’ advantage after 25 seconds of play in the fourth quarter. But, Fekete made it 9:10 immediately after, by converting a man-up. After that, defenses dominated. There were a lot of blocks, saves and missed shots at both ends of the pool. A minute and 19 seconds before the end, Argyropoulos equalized with an extra man. But, just 20 seconds later, Roman Shepelev, one of the heroes of Spandau’s win, found the net from six meters for his fourth goal and 11:10. Ferencvaros had a nice chance to level the score once more, but Spandau’s goalie Laszlo Baksa posted two saves in the Hungarians’ last attack. After the second save,30 seconds were left on the clock. The only that Spandau had to do was to keep the ball and wait for the final buzzer to celebrate a big win.

The statistics say some interesting facts about the game. Spandau scored just two goals with a man-up (2/7) and converted two penalty shots. On the other side, Ferencvaros had an excellent percentage of extra player shots (6/9), but it scored only three goals from 6 on 6, and one from a penalty shot.

Marseille – Novi Beograd 13:17 (4:5, 2:4, 3:3, 4:5)

Marseille: Lazovic,Cuckovic 2, Crousillat 2, Spaic, Prlainovic 3, Vernoux 1, De Nardi, Bouet 1, Marion Vernoux 2, Bodegas 1, Daube 1, Vanpeperstraete, Hovhannysian. Head coach: Scepanovic.

Novi Beograd: Filipovic, Martinovic, Mandic 3, Granados 5, Vucinic, Pijetlovic,Drasovic 1, Jaksic 1, Perkovic 1, Vlachopoulos 4, Skoumpakis 2, Shushiashvili, Fernandez. Head coach: Gocic.

Novi Beograd played without Strahinja and Viktor Rasovic. Marseille head coach Milos Scepanovic could count on an American Hannes Daube for the first time this season. Daube arrived from the USA during the winter break, according to the plans, and debuted for the French club this evening.

Although Marseille led in the opening minutes (1:0 and 2:1), Novi Beograd controlled the match and was ahead for most of the time. But, Marseille didn’t surrender and Novi Beograd couldn’t relax and celebrate too early.

In the 7th minute, the visitors gained a 2-goal advantage for the first time (Granados for 5:3). But, an experienced Andrija Prlainovic closed the first quarter and Marseille was still in the game.

At the finish of the second quarter, Angelos Vlachopoulos stretched the margin by scoring a nice goal for 8:5. Cuckovic made it 6:8, but Alvaro Granados beat the buzzer and Novi Beograd was 9:6 up at halftime.

The teams traded the goals in the third period; Marseille cut the deficit three times. Still, the Serbian team regained a 3-goal lead shortly after each of these goals, and had a 12:9 advantage before the final quarter.

Novi Beograd, led by its Greek legionaries, built a 15:9 lead midway through the fourth quarter (Vlachopoulos scored two and Skoumpakis one goal in that 3:0 run). But, Marseille stroke back with a 4:0 series. A minute and 46 seconds before the final buzzer, Vernoux converted a man-up (13:15) and boosted the French’s hopes. However, Novi Beograd refound its rhythm. Mandic made it 16:13, and Granados set the final score in the very last second. 

Novi Beograd’s coach Zivko Gocic said:

“It was a tough game, but we knew that we would have a demanding task. Marseille is a very quality team, despite the fact that it has won only four points so far. My players put an enormous effort into this win. The victory isn’t important just because of three points but also because we opened the year with an important win in the way we wished.”

Marseille’s coach Milos Scepanovic:

“Novi Beograd displayed a great performance this evening and proved that it was one of the best teams in the world. We were behind throughout the match and it was really very hard to come back in the game against a team like Novi Beograd. There were some good things in our play, but also some bad things we must improve.”

Jug – Sabadell 14:10 (4:3, 3:3,4:2, 3:2)

Jug AO: Popadic, Mozara 1, Fatovic 4, Zvono, Jokovic, Vukojevic, Biljaka, Lazic 2, Krzic 3, Kakaris 2, Grgurevic, Zuvela 2, Jurisic. Head coach: Kobescak.

Sabadell: Lorrio, Sanahuja 3, Gil, M.Teclas, Veich, Valera 3, Bertran, Cabanas 2, Averka 2, Banicevic, Bonet, Bustos, X.Teclas.  Head coach: Colet

Jug scored two goals in the first 82 seconds, but Sabadell quickly responded and equalized (2:2). Jug rebuilt a 2-goal lead three times in the first half of the game (4:2, 6:4, 7:5). Still, Sabadell trailed by a goal at halftime. Sanahuja scored with an extra man for 6:7 with 28 seconds to go. Sabadell had an excellent percentage of power play shots in the first two quarters (4/7), while Jug’s conversion in the first 16 minutes was 1/4. 

In the 19th minute, the score was 8:7. Then the home team produced a 3:0 run in 01:41 minutes, which determined the outcome. Lazic opened the series with a power-play goal. Fatovic found the net from a distance, and Krzic finished Jug’s quick extra-man attack for 11:7. Sabadell put a lot of effort into a comeback. In the middle of the fourth quarter, they halved the deficit (10:12) and had a chance to come even closer, but Popadic saved a shot from Sanahuja. Immediately after, Loren Fatovic added his fourth goal for 13:10 at 03:28 and the match entered a peaceful finish.

Brescia – OSC Budapest 14:6 (4:2, 3:1, 3:1, 4:2)

Brescia: Tesanovic, Dolce 1, C.Presciutti 1, Gianazza 1, Lazic, Vapenski 3, Renzuto3, Kharkov, Alesiani, Luongo 1, Di Somma 3, Gitto 1, Baggi Necchi. Head coach: Bovo

OSC Budapest: Levai, Angyal, Manhercz, Varnai 1, E.Csacsovszky 1, Dala 1, Szucs, Vin.Vigvari, Burian 2, Bundschuh 1, Aranyi, Bisztritsanyi. Head coach: Da.Varga.

The defense was essential in all of Brescia’s wins this season. Today, the defense of the Italian team was at a high level once more, .The attack was up to the task,too, and Brescia recorded a convincing win.

OSC leveled just once, it happened in the early stage of the game. In the 5th minute, Csacsovszky made it 1:1. But Brescia finished the first quarter excellently. They scored three unanswered goals within 01:18 minutes to earn a 4:1 lead. Di Somma netted the fourth goal for the hosts 25 seconds before the first break. Burian netted a late goal for 2:4. Dala cut the deficit to one (3:4) in the 11th minute. But, OSC’s hopes didn’t live for long. Brescia broke the Hungarians in the following minutes. By the end of the first half, the home team netted three goals and went to 7:3.

Brescia dominated in the second half and left no chance to OSC, which suffered its second big loss this season (Novi Beograd defeated the Budapest-based side by eight goals – 9:17).

After a defeat in Brescia and Spandau’s victory over Ferencvaros, OSC and Spandau share 5th and 6th place with five points each.

1.Novi Beograd 5 -13
2.Brescia 5 – 12
3.Ferencvaros 5 – 9
4.Jug 5 – 7
5.OSC Budapest 5 – 5
6.Spandau 04 5 – 5
7.Marseulle 5 – 4
8.Sabadell 5 – 1

Day 6

Group A (January 24): Olympiacos – Vouliagmeni, Barceloneta – Pro Recco, Dinamo T – Waspo Hannover, Jadran S – Radnicki.

Group B (January 25): Spandau- Brescia, Ferencvaros – Novi Beograd, Sabadell – Marseille, OSC Budapest – Jug.