Zagreb have taken their first point this season in the Champions League, but the Croatian side’s players will probably wake up tomorrow with a bitter taste in their mouth.

They led by six in the first half, but did not manage to take the two points, as their opponents strengthened their game in the second half.

GROUP A

HC PPD Zagreb (CRO) vs Elverum Handball (NOR) 27:27 (14:11)

• Zagreb were six goals up after only 13 minutes, with Elverum having only scored four, mainly because of Dino Slavic, as the Croatian goalkeeper stopped six shots out of ten in the first quarter of the game.
• After improving on both sides of the court, the visitors came back within two a few minutes later, leaving everything open for the second half.
• The second half was a proper thriller, as both teams traded goals and took the advantage without ever managing to kill the game. In the end, the hosts had the opportunity to finish on top but Sandro Obranovic saw his last free-throw stopped.
• Ivan Cupic ended as top scorer of the game thanks to his seven goals while Dominik Mathe netted five for Elverum.

Zagreb finally take their first points

Two weeks ago, on home soil, Zagreb managed to stay level with Aalborg for thirty minutes before running out of energy after the half-time break. This time, things seemed to again go down for them in the second part of the game, but the Croatian players managed to remain focused enough to finally take their first points. Dino Slavic was instrumental between the posts, but Ivan Cupic’s cold-blooded experience was the key for Zagreb in the second half.