Barcelona march on as Szeged sink Kolding

Defending champions FC Barcelona Lassa stayed on course to win Group B with a convincing performance in France, showing all their resilience in front of a partisan Montpellier HB crowd.

In Hungary, the home side prevailed as MOL-Pick Szeged thrived in a high-scoring match to brush aside KIF Kolding Kobenhavn keep up the pressure on Barcelona, with the wildly entertaining group still up for grabs.

The results mean that Barcelona, KS Vive Tauron Kielce, Rhein-Neckar Lowen, Szeged and Vardar have secured knockout stage berths, while Montpellier face a battle with IFK Kristianstad for the section’s sixth and final spot.

Group B  

MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN) vs KIF Kolding Kobenhavn (DEN) 34:23 (18:13)

Szeged powered in the business end of Europe’s premier club competition with an emphatic home victory over KIF Kolding Kobenhavn on Sunday.

The Hungarian side’s players danced in delight on centre court after the lopsided contest, in which their highly efficient attack blew away their Danish rivals.

There was little to suggest the match would turn into a rout as Kolding held their own in the opening 15 minutes, with Szeged only 10:9 ahead midway through the first half.

The home team then seemed to move up two gears as they kept hitting the back of the net from all angles, while Kolding started to run out of ideas at the other end.

With their Polish goalkeeper Piotr Wyszomirski in stunning form, Szeged opened up a five-goal lead at the interval and then started the second half with six unanswered goals to build an insurmountable 24:13 advantage.

Only then did the visitors slightly shore up their defensive leaks but it was too little too late.

The unrelenting hosts kept going at full throttle until the final whistle, delighting their passionate fans who joined in with the celebrations.

Szeged’s flawless team performance was epitomised by the fact that all 13 of their outfield players scored, with Antonio Garcia Robledo leading the charge on six goals from eight shots.

Lasse Andersson and Bo Spellerberg netted five each for Kolding, who could not keep up with Szeged’s torrid pace and superb transition of the ball in attack.

Head coach of KIF Kolding, Antonio Ortega said after the game: "First of all, congratulations! We only played good for 15 minutes, after Szeged changed to 6-0 defense and we made a lot of mistakes and Szeged were able to break through us. I had no time with my team, we have only had 6 training sessions so far and it is a problem that we have players over 33 or very young, except Igroupolu.  I hope that in one month, I will be able to see my work on the team but it is clear that we have to focus on Danish League."

From winning side, right back Gabor Ancsin, shares his thoughts on the match: "I am very happy that I was able to contribute to this victory, the most important thing that what we achieved as a team. I was able to play well, score goals, when my post mate Balogh is injured but I am sure when he returns we will play well together on this poisition."

Montpellier HB (FRA) vs FC Barcelona Lassa (ESP) 23:31 (11:15)

Reigning champions Barcelona stormed into the VELUX EHF Champions League knockout stages and remain in the group’s driving seat after a typically ruthless performance against battling Montpellier.

The result also left the French side tussling with Kristianstad to avoid a group stage exit, as they are two points ahead of the Swedish outfit.

Barcelona grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck from the offset, engineering an 8:4 lead early on, as their Macedonian right back Kiril Lazarov fired on all cylinders.

The gap soared to 14:8 after a brief Montpellier fight-back but the home side refuse to roll over.

Backed by the enthusiastic home crowd, they reduced the deficit to 17:15 shortly after half-time, taking advantage of a flurry of fast breaks.

However, the last 20 minutes belonged to Barcelona as the depth of their roster and the superior individual quality of a star-studded outfit became palpably obvious.

Having tightened up their defence, Barcelona unleashed a barrage of unstoppable attacks, applying fast breaks and set-plays alike, with Lazarov finishing on nine goals from 12 attempts.

Victor Tomas added five from six and the Icelander Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson netted four goals from as many attempts, underlining Barcelona’s wealth of resources.

The outstanding Dragan Gajic amassed eight goals from nine shots for Montpellier but his valiant solo effort lacked adequate support from his team mates.