Three-horse race in Group B continues; favorites struggle, but win

Favorites recorded wins in today’s matches of the Champions League, but there were no many easy victories.

Pro Recco keeps its perfect record after a 10:8 victory over Marseille. Jug defeated Spandau 04 12:10 in today’s second match in Group A. Olympiacos and Ortigia closed today’s program. The Greeks recorded a 10:8 victory and kept 3rd place in the group. Ortigia remains 6th in the group.

The three-horse race in Group B continues. The top three ranked sides – Barceloneta, Brescia, and Ferencvaros – collected points today. Brescia and Ferencvaros recorded convincing wins, while Barceloneta secured a win over Jadran in the fourth period of the game.

Today’s results

Group A (Day 6): Marseille – Pro Recco 8:10, Jug AO –Spandau 04 12:10, Olympiacos – Ortigia 10:8.
Standings after 6 days: 1.Pro Recco 18, 2. Jug 15, 3. Olympiacos 9, 4. Marseille 4, 5. Spandau 4, 6. Ortigia 3.

Group B (Day 5): Brescia – Hannover 19:11, Dinamo – Ferencvaros 4:11, Jadran HN – Barceloneta 9:12
Standings after 5 days: 1. Barceloneta 12, 2. Brescia 12, 3. Ferencvaros 12, 4. Hannover 3, 5. Jadran 3, 6. Dinamo 3.

2020/21 Champions League, “Bubble” 2

Group A (Ostia), Day 6

Marseille – Pro Recco 8:10 (2:4, 1:3, 2:2, 3:1)

Marseille: Crousillat 4, Izdinsky 3, Djurdjic 1 (Lazovic 11 saves)
Pro Recco: F. Di Fulvio 2, Figlioli 2, Younger 2, Echenique 2, Ivovic 1, S. Luongo 1 (Bijac 5 saves).

Extra player shots: Marseille 3/9, Pro Recco 4/8. Penalty shots: – .

After two convincing wins over favorites (Olympiacos 14:8 and Jug 18:3), Pro Recco struggled to defeat Marseille, but it succeeded to continue the winning streak.

Pro Recco led throughout the match (Marseille equalized only once, in the 4th minute – 1:1), but the Italians couldn’t relax until the end. Marseille, led by left-handed players Ugo Crousillat and Michael Izdinsky, and an excellent goalkeeper Dejan Lazovic, kept up with the Italians. Marseille had a chance to take a point after being four goals down.

Pro Recco built a 3-goal lead in the first quarter (4:1), but the French reduced the gap early in the second period (3:4). The group-leaders responded with three goals and entered the second half leading 7:3. They maintained the difference until the end of the third quarter (9:5). Still, Marseille didn’t give up. The French were the better rival in the final quarter. Two minutes and 10 seconds before the end, Ugo Crousillat hit the back of the net from the right wing for 8:9. After that, Pro Recco failed to score in two consecutive attacks, because Lazovic posted two nice saves (he blocked shots by Echenique and Younger).

But, Marseille made a big mistake 30 seconds before the end. After an unsuccessful Recco’s attack (Younger sank the ball), all Marseille’s field players started swimming towards Recco’s half of the field. But, they forgot the ball and Aaron Younger. The Australian was left alone in front of Lazovic and Marseille’s goal.  He easily sent the ball into the net for the final score.

This match was very similar to the encounter between the same rivals on Day 1 when Marseille recorded an 11:9 win.

Jug – Spandau 12:10 (3:3, 3:2, 3:2, 3:3)

Jug AO: Fatovic 4, Papanastasiou 4, Benic 1, Obradovic 1,Loncar 1, Merkulov 1 )Popadic 9 saves).
Spandau 04: Kholod 3, Stamm 2, Cuk 2, Gielen 1, Dedovic 1, Restovic 1 (Baksa 6 saves=.

Extra player shots: Jug 3/9, Spandau 5/8. Penalty shots: Jug 1/1, Spandau –

Jug recovered from a shocking 3:18 loss to Recco, but it still hasn’t healed all the wounds. The Croats overcame a lot of troubles to earn three points today.

Jug started very well. Loren Fatovic scored two quick goals for 2:0. But, Spandau responded with two goals (2:2). In the 6th minute, Merkulov gave Jug a 3:2 lead. Spandau took control soon. The Germans produced a 3:0 run and earned a 5:3 advantage. After that, both sides missed a few chances.

Jug coach Vjekoslav Kobescak called a time out in the 14th minute, and it turned out that that break was a turning point. The pieces of advice given by the coach during the time-out helped Jug to come back. The Croats retook control and scored three goals in two minutes for 6:5. Early in the third period, Spandau equalized (6:6), but Jug responded with a new 3:0 run for 9:6. Jug made a 6:1 series within nine minutes, and that proved crucial for the outcome. Loren Fatovic and Alexandros Papanastasiou did a good job in the attack.

Alexandros Papaastasiou (Jug) Photo by P.Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Inside

In the fourth period, Spandau managed to cut the deficit twice (8:9, 10:11). Hrvoje Benic found the net for 12:10 in the 30th minute and Jug’ kept the advantage in the remaining time.

Ortigia – Olympiacos 8:10 (2:3, 2:2, 2:3, 2:2)

Ortigia: Ferrero 2, Gallo 2, Cassia 1, Mirarchi 1, Rossi 1, Napolitano 1 (Tempesti 9 saves)
Olympiacos: Daube 2, Dervisis 2, Irving 2, Argyropoulos 1,Kakaris 1, Mourikis 1, Kapotsis 1 (Zerdevas 5 saves)
Extra player shots: Ortigia 3/10, Olympiacos 6/13. Penalty shots: Ortigia -, Olympiacos 0/1

Olympiacos started well in this season’s Champions League, with victories over Ortigia and Spandau. But, the Greeks suffered three consecutive losses in the next three rounds. Today, they got back on the right track. They claimed a very important victory, and their chances to reach F8 are still big.

Olympiacos was in front for most of the time. Ortigia leveled the score three times in the early phase of the game (1:1, 2:2, 3:3). The Greeks played patiently and with no hurry. Olympiacos made more chances for a goal than Ortigia in the first half, but Stefano Tempesti displayed an excellent play, especially in the second quarter.

Marios Kapotsis (Olympiacos) Photo by G.Scala/Deepbluemedia/Inside

Early in the third period, Ortigia leveled the score for the last time (5:5). That was followed by Olympiacos’ crucial 3:0 run. A minute and a half before the last break, Olympiacos had an 8:5 advantage. The difference between the sides was three goals for the first time.

Ortigia managed to cut the deficit to two goals a few times (6:8, 7:9, 8:10). Still, Olympiacos controlled the game and deserved the win.

Group B (Budapest), Day 5

Brescia – Hannover 19:11 (2:0, 6:5, 5:3, 6:3)

Brescia: Vlachopulos 3, E. Di Somma 3, Canella 3, Nikolaidis 2, Renzuto-Iodice 2,C. Presciutti 1, Lazic 1, Jokovic 1, N. Gitto 1 (Del Lungo 9 saves for three quarters and a half, Gianazza 1)
Waspo Hannover: Nagaev 4, A. Radovic 2, Muslim 1, Real 1, Dar. Brguljan 1, Kubisch 1, Schutze 1 (Scheklel 7 saves for 3 quarters, Benke 2 saves)

Extra player shots: Brescia 4/4, Hannover 4/10. Penalty shots: Brescia 2/2, Hannover-.

Brescia opened the match excellently. The Italians had a 3:0 lead in the 9th minute. But, the persistent German team didn’t surrender and tried to keep close to Brescia as possible. Brescia even had a 4-goal advantage in the middle of the second period (6:2), but the German champion halved the distance shortly after (2:6). Then, an exchange of goals started – Brescia was earning a 3-goal lead, but Spandau was responding and cutting the deficit to two. Hannover trailed 7:9 in the 19th minute, and then came the crucial moments. Brescia produced a 3:0 series. The Italians jumped to a 12:7 lead and Hannover couldn’t come back.

GIacommo Canella (Brescia) Photo by G.Scala/Deepbluemedia/Inside

Brescia built an 8-goal advantage (17:9) in the 28th minute. After that, both sides scored two goals each.

Dinamo – Ferencvaros 4:11 (0:5, 1:3, 2:1, 1:2)

Dinamo: Vapenski 2, Bitadze 1, Vasic 1 (Razmadze 7 saves)
Ferencvaros: Vamos 2, Ven.Vigvari 2, Jansik 2, Constantin-Bicari 2, Sedlmayer 1, Zalanki 1, Fountoulis 1 (Vogel 10 saves)

Extra player shots: Dinamo 3/12, Ferencvaros 6/6. Penalty shots: Dinamo-, Ferencvaros 1/2.

As expected, Ferencvaros found it easy to defeat Dinamo Tbilisi. Comparing to yesterday’s match against Barceloneta, Ferencvaros played with two experienced players – Constantin-Bicari and Vamos, who missed yesterday’s game. Soma Vogel was between the bars. Yesterday, he was replaced by Gardony

The first quarter determined the rest of the encounter. Ferencvaros rushed to a 5:0 lead. Dinamo opened the second period with a goal for 1:5. However, the Hungarians increased the margin to seven by the middle break (8:1). The second half saw a balanced battle, but Dinamo couldn’t endanger Ferencvaros’ victory.

Jadran HN – Barceloneta 9:12 (2:2, 2:2, 2:3, 3:5)

Jadran Herceg Novi: Averka 4, Petkovic 3, Murisic 1, Vujicic 1 (Tesanovic 11 saves)
Barceloneta: Granados 4, Munarriz 3, Mallarach 3, Bodegas 1, Perrone 1 (Lopez 10 saves)

Extra player shots: Jadran 3/7, Barceloneta 6/7. Penalty shots: Jadran 2/2, Barceloneta 1/2

A young team of Jadran Herceg Novi proved its talent once more, but Barceloneta didn’t let the Montenegrins surprise.

Jadran dictated the pace in the first quarter. Their defense, commanded by Petar Tesanovic, worked well while they displayed solid offensive play and earned a 1:0 and 2:1 lead. In the 10th minute, Barceloneta took the lead for the first time, after Granados scored a nice goal from a distance (3:2). But, Jadran managed to catch up with the great rival (3:3 and 4:4).

Petar Tesanovic and Vasilije Radovic (Jadran) Photo by G.Scala/Deepbluemedia/Inside

Barceloneta started breaking Jadran’s resistance in the third quarter. Led by Mallarach and Granados, the Spaniards finally made a 2-goal difference (6:4, 7:5), but they had a slim 7:6 advantage before the final eight minutes.

Alvaro Granados found the net twice in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter to give Barceloneta a 9:6 advantage. The Montenegrins didn’t come back after that, although they didn’t give in until the final buzzer.

However, Jadran deserved praise, as they did a very good job today.

Today, all the referees at the matches in Budapest and Ortigia had black armbands as a sign of mourning – FINA water polo referee Nenad Golijanin, from Serbia, passed away at the age of 51 in Belgrade today.

March 4

Group A (Day 7)

15.15 Marseille – Jug
17.45 Olympiacos – Spandau
20:15 Pro Recco – Ortigia

Group B (Day 6)

14:00 Brescia – Dinamo T
16:30 Barceloneta – Waspo Hannover
19:00 Ferencvaros – Jadran HN

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