Jadran Split reaches Champions League after 24 years

The 3rd qualification round for the main phase of the Champions League saw one big surprise. Jadran Split upset Jadran Herceg Novi. Thanks to a win in the 1st match and today’s draw in the return leg, the Croatian team reached the Champions League for the first time since 1994. In other encounters, there were no surprises. Ferencvaros, Sport Management, and Brescia didn’t have hard tasks today, as they posted big wins in the 1st leg.

For the first time, three countries (Hungary, Italy and Croatia) will have three clubs in the main round.

Jadran Split, two-times European champion (1992 and 1993), was far from the European top in the past decade. Jadran Herceg Novi was the favorite in the Adriatic derby.  But, after an 11:9 win in the first match, the Split-based side stunned the Montenegrin champion in today’s game played in Herceg Novi. After the 1st period, the visitors had a 2:0 lead. They earned a 3-goal advantage early in the third quarter (4:1). Jadran Herceg Novi started climbing back when it was too late. The hosts managed to equalize (5:5) 3:22 minutes before the end. Both sides scored a goal apiece in the remaining time for a 6:6 draw.

Sport Management (Italy) demolished French champion Strasbourg in both games. The Italians posted a 10:4 win in France. Today, they beat the French with a 10-goal margin 16:6. The man of the match was Sport Management’s captain Stefano Luongo, who found the net 6 times. In the 1st leg, he scored 5 goals. Luongo led Sport Management, the 2018 Euro Cup runner-up, towards the 1st appearance in the Champions League.

Euro Cup title-holder Ferencvaros enjoyed an easy cruise in Greece, as it beat Vouliagmeni 12:7. The Hungarians came to Athens with a 6-goals advantage earned in Budapest (10:4), so nobody expected thrills in the 2nd match.

Brescia was defeated by Terrassa today (8:9). The Italians posted an 8:4 victory in the home pool and they led 8:6 after the 3rd quarter in Terrassa. The visitors slowed down in the last eight minutes, as they already had cleared the last hurdle on their way to the main round.

Jadran Herceg Novi, Strasbourg, Vouliagmeni and Terrassa will continue their European journeys by playing in the Euro Cup.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, 3RD QUALIFICATION ROUND, 2ND LEG

VOULIAGMENI 7:12 FERENCVAROS
(2:4, 1:1, 3:4, 1:3) – 1ST LEG 4:10

Vouliagmeni: Afroudakis 4, Basic, Buha, Solanakis.
Ferencvaros: Vamos 2, Jaksic 2, Varga 2, Jansik 2, S. Mitrovic 2, Pohl, Younger.

JADRAN HN 6:6 JADRAN S
(0:2, 1:1, 1:2, 4:1) – 1ST LEG 9:11

Jadran Herceg Novi: Spaic 2, Gardasevic 2, Obradovic, Da. Radovic.
Jadran Split: Kunac, Zovic, Popovic, Delic, Power, Setka.

SPORT MANAGEMENT 16:6 STRASBOURG
(2:3, 4:2, 5:1, 5:0) – 1ST LEG 10:4

BPM Sport Management:Luongo 6, Alesiani 3, Damonte 2, Drasovic 2, Dolce, Bruni, Casasola.
Team Strasbourg: Bratic 3, Jablonski, Kintsurashvili, Babic.

TERRASSA 9:8 BRESCIA
(3:3, 3:3, 0:2, 3:0) – 1ST LEG 4:8

CN Terrassa: Sanahuja Carne 4, Mora Belmonte, Alarcon Tevar, Sanchez Campos, Barroso Macarro, Pericas Eixarch.
Brescia: C. Presciutti 2, Rizzo 2, Gallo, Muslim, N. Presciutti, Janovic.

2018/19 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, MAIN ROUND

A GROUP
Pro Recco (Italy)
Barceloneta (Spain)
Eger (Hungary)
Dynamo Moscow (Russia)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Crvena Zvezda/Red Star (Serbia)
Brescia (Italy)
Ferencvaros (Hungary)

B GROUP
Olympiacos (Greece)
Jug Dubrovnik (Croatia)
Szolnok (Hungary)
Spandau 04 Berlin (Germany)
Waspo Hannover (Germany)
Mladost Zagreb (Croatia)
Sport Management (Italy)
Jadran Split (Croatia)

Schedule for Day 1 (17 October)
Group A
Barceloneta – Eger
Steaua – Brescia
Crvena Zvezda – Pro Recco
Ferencvaros – Dynamo Moscow

Group B
Szolnok – Jadran Split
Mladost – Hannover
Sport Management – Olympiacos
Spandau – Jug