The two Spanish sides playing on Wednesday evening made no mistake but a huge step towards their objective.
Ademar and Portland win in Round 3
The first two Spanish CL teams, Ademar Leon and Portland San Antonio, won their matches in the third round without problems.
Ademar did not give much chance for the FYR Macedonian Vardar Skopje in Leon, while Portland avoided another surprise in Pamplona after winning against the Slovak Tatran Presov.
Both Spanish teams have a good chance with these victories to make it to the next round of the CL. It also means that the two new coaches, Ribera and Cabanas, will lead their teams to completing their first objective of the season.
Leon in top form
Ademar seem to have two very different faces: a great team winning against Zagreb and a poor one losing in Torrevieja in the Asobal League. They showed their best face against Vardar and the Ribera team played a very complete game.
Saric and the defence performed very well. Jakobsen was the playmaker, Krivoshlikov and Valcic the shooters. A 28-21 victory allowed Leon to have a rest and focus on their domestic competitions for a while.
No more mistake at home
Portland did not give a chance for Tatran Presov. However, the Slovaks started with a hard defence and the Spanish were surprised for a moment. Portland had difficulties to score in the first minutes, but Malmagro and Ruesga (leading the top scorer list at the moment) helped the team. The Spanish defence improved and Cabanas’ team won by many goals at the end: 40-29 for the hosts.
With all probability, Portland and GOG will fight for the first place in their respective groups, while Presov and Bregenz for the third position.
TEXT:
Fernando Urra Goñi