Second victories for Zagreb and Veszprem

Like Hamburg and Barcelona before on Thursday, Zagreb and Veszprem took their second victories in their second matches of the VELUX EHF Champions League.

Group A

RK Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb (CRO) vs. Bosna BH Gas Sarajevo (BIH) 33:19 (16:9)

It was a demonstration of power by the Croatian champions, as Bosna was much too weak to endanger Zagreb. Thanks to some great goals and passes of Ivano Balic in the very beginning, Zagreb increased the margin goal by goal in the first half. As Bosna did not have the power in attack to break the Croatian wall, the game had been decided very early.

After the break Zagreb coach Ivica Obrvan changed his team completely, gave the experienced players time to rest – and the young guns even extended the lead to ten goals for the first time at the score of 23:13 in minute 43. Luka Stepancic scored the goal of the day by a Kempa trick with the final whistle.

Best Zagreb players were Zlatko Horvat with seven goals and Marko Kopljar with six goals, Medic and Cakic scored each five times for Bosna. As the Bosnian still wait for their first point, Zagreb have the optimum of four points on their account.

Statements of the coaches:

Danijel Ridic (Bosna): We play much weaker than last season, mostly due to our smaller budget and the fact that six key players left. As we started our preparation very late, the team is not well-rehearsed and lacks power and fitness.

Ivica Obrvan (Zagreb): We expected those two points, as our team is stronger. After the break I gave the chance to our youngsters, as we need our powers already on Thursday when we play in Schaffhausen.

Group B

MKB Veszprem (HUN) vs. Bjerringbro Silkeborg (DEN) 33:25 (17:11)

Thanks to eight goals of their unstoppable shooter Marko Vujin Veszprem remain with a clear spot after two matches.

The Hungarians started perfectly in defence and consequently in attack, led 4:1 and 9:5, before the Danes had found their rhythm – but despite this improvement Veszprem was more aggressive and increased the gap to six goals at the break.

In the second half the closest margin was five goals, the average were eight goals, so Bjerringbro did not have any chance – in total contrast to their first match, when they were close to beat Atletico Madrid. Fredrik Petersen scored six times for the guest. The attack of the Danes was not clever enough to go through the MKB defence.

Statements of the coaches:

Lajos Mocsai (Veszprem): I like to see the style Danish teams play, but today my team was better thanks to the great cooperation of defence and goalkeeper, the team spirit and the great support of our fans.

Carsten Albrektsen (Bjerringbro): It was a well-deserved Veszprem victory, especially due to their performance before the break. I am partly satisfied despite our second defeat – this is our first season in the VELUX EHF Champions League. In my opinion Veszprem and Madrid will fight for the first place in our group.

Group C

Cimos Koper (SLO) vs. Wisla Plock (POL) 27:24 (14:13)

Milorad Krivokapic was the match winner for the Slovenians with ten of 27 goals for Cimos Koper. Even the five goals of Toromanovic could not bring the points to Plock.

Due to this result everything is open again, as both teams now have two points on their account. Koper was in lead from minute 29 on, as Plock had started better but Cimos Koper always could catch up to the Polish champions. The decisive stage was between the minutes 38 and 48, when Cimos Koper extended the lead from 17:15 to 24:18 and decided the game.

Group D

Ademar Reale Leon (ESP) vs. Partizan Beograd (SRB) 33:28 (20:12)

Ademar is back on track after losing their opener in Montpellier, as the Serbian youngsters from Beograd still wait on their first point in the Group Stage.

Leon showed their two faces in the two halves: Before the break the Spaniards played fast and highly concentrated in attack, and their defence stood strong. Beograd did not have any chance in the first 30 minutes – and the game was already decided at the halftime buzzer.

But when the Spaniards became weaker minute by minute after the break, Beograd could reduce the gap to five goals in the end – but never could endanger Leon.

With six goals Denis Krivochlykov (Leon) and Nenad Maksic (Beograd) were the top scorer of the game with each six goals.