Four teams have qualified for the Champions League after two days of qualification tournaments: Novi Beograd, Oradea, Brescia and Panathinaikos.
Four teams remain in contention for the final two berths. They will face each other in do-or-die games tomorrow. In Tbilisi, A-Polo Sport Management and Sabadell will battle for second place in Group B.
Novi Beograd and Oradea advanced to the Top 16 Round from the Group A in Oradea. Novi Beograd secured its place with an impressive 21:14 victory over Spandau 04 today. Oradea joined the Serbs after beating Strasbourg 10:8 in what was, by today’s standards, a low-scoring game.
Brescia secured the top spot in Group B in Tbilisi. The Italians defeated hosts A-Polo Sport Management 21:14, producing a furious finish to seal the victory. Sabadell kept its hopes of reaching the Group Stage alive by sinking Budva 20:12.
Today’s only game in Group C in Split produced just 16 goals. Panathinaikos defeated Honved 9:7 to finish its tournament campaign with two wins—the exact result they had come to Split hoping to achieve. Panathinaikos secured a place in the Champions League Group Stage for the first time in the club’s history.
2027 Champions League Qualifications, Day 2
Group A (Oradea)
(quarters 6:6, 7:3, 5:3, 3:2)
Novi Beograd: Urosevic 4, Martinovic 4, Shushiashvili 2, Cuk 2, Sulc 2, Meszaros 2, Perkovic 2, Bajic 1, Pljevancic 1, Hofmeijer 1.
Spandau 04: Andruszkiewicz 5, Caraj 3, Culina 2, Boskovic 2, Bauer 1, Vujcic 1.
The first quarter and a half suggested that the encounter between the Serbs and the Germans would be an exciting one. The Berliners offered strong resistance and stayed level with Novi Beograd at 8:8.
However, Novi Beograd then built a crucial lead, avoiding a thrilling finish. The Serbs tightened their defense and went on a 4:0 run in 181 seconds to take a 12:8 lead in the 15th minute. From that point on, Spandau never seriously threatened Novi Beograd’s advantage.
Milos Cuk fought a hard battle with Spandau defense Photo: CSM Oradea
In the second half, the Serbs gradually extended their lead, steadily widening the gap until the final buzzer.
The Serbs played excellently with a man-up, converting 10 out of 14 shots with an extra player. Their man-down defense was perfect, as Spandau didn’t score a single goal on 6-on-5 chances (0/5). Novi Beograd scored three goals, and Spandau scored five goals from penalty shots.
(quarters 1:3, 2:3, 0:2, 5:2)
Strasbourg: Stojanovic 2, Crippa 2, Furman 1, Vitrant 1, Gusakov 1, Kujacic 1.
Oradea: Negrean 2, Fulea 2, Velkic 2, Oltean 1, Kholod 1, Gusarov 1, Vancsik 1
Oradea earned three points thanks to an excellent defense.
The Romanians were always in front, but the French were just behind them in the first quarter. Two and a half minutes before halftime, Stojanovic scored Strasbourg’s third goal on a counterattack, making it 3:4. However, Oradea started dominating shortly after.
Dmitrii Kholod (Oradea) Photo: CSM Oradea
The home side kept Strasbourg goalless for 11 minutes. During that interval, Oradea netted five unanswered goals. Petar Velkic opened the final period with a power-play goal for 9:3. Strasbourg’s attack woke up and produced a quick 3:0 run, reducing the gap to 6:9. Midway through the fourth quarter, Vancsik scored with a nice lob – 10:6. The home side couldn’t add another goal, but it kept an advantage and will play in the Champions League.
Standings: 1. Novi Beograd 6, 2. Oradea 5, 3. Spandau 1, 4. Strasbourg 0.
Group B (Tbilisi)
(quarters 7:5,6:2, 5:2, 2:3)
Sabadell: F. Valera 5, Carrio 3, Corres 3, Cabanas 3, Perez 3, Saboya 1, De Toro 1, Bonet 1.
Budva: Mrsic 7, Cagalj 1, S.Cetkovic 1, Vukcevic 1, Stanojevic 1, Franeta 1.
Sabadell recovered from a narrow loss to Brescia and kept realistic chances of advancing to the Champions League, while Budva’s Champions League dreams ended. The Montenegrins will play in the Euro Cup.
The Spaniards will clash with A-Polo in a decisive game for 2nd place.
Budva took the slim lead five times in the first quarter. In the 6th minute, the best scorer Marko Mrsic converted a penalty, giving Budva a 5:4 lead. However, Sabadell then took control and went on a stunning 5:0 run between the 6th and 10th minutes, jumping to 9:5. Budva reduced the gap to three goals twice, but after Mrsic added another penalty shot goal (7:10), Sabadell responded strongly, with four goals in a row. Early in the fourth period, Sabadell widened the margin to seven (14:7) and never looked back.
Sabadell’s defense was up to the task in key moments Photo: Tamuna Kulumbegashvili
Budva suffered significantly from its poor power play conversion. Sabadell committed 25 personal fouls, and six players were out before the game ended (Budva committed 14 personal fouls). Although the Montenegrins converted five of six penalty shots, they scored only three goals from their 14 man-up shots.
(quarters 5:4, 5:5, 4:4, 3:8)
A-Polo Sport Management: Moskov 6, Vuksanovic 3, Bitadze 3, Alekseev 2, Vico 1, Draskovic 1, M. Gardasevic 1.
Brescia: Leinweber 6, Giri 4, Del Basso 4, Ferrero 3, Guerrato 3, Alesiani 1.
A-Polo showed it didn’t enter the tournament as an underdog. The Georgians were on course for a surprise victory over the favorite, but Brescia secured three points in the final several minutes.
The Georgians have good goalkeepers, but they still have to work to improve their defense (yesterday, they conceded 16 goals in a victory over Budva).
Stefano Guerrato (Brescia) Photo: Tamuna Kulumbegashvili
The teams were neck and neck in the first half. A-Polo imposed its rhythm in the third period and earned a three-goal lead (12:9, 13:9 and 14:11). However, Brescia, led by newcomer Oliver Leinweber, took control at the finish of the third quarter, going on a 4:0 run to take a 15:14 lead. Nikola Moskov answered with his 6th goal to level at 15:15. Then the teams quickly traded goals, and they were tied at 16:16 in the 28th minute. Brescia then scored five consecutive goals to jump to 21:16, securing the victory and 1st place in the group.
The game featured 38 goals and 44 exclusions (23 for A-Polo and 21 for Brescia). The Italians had a slightly better man-up conversion (9/15 compared to A-Polo’s 8/11)
Standings: 1. Brescia 6, 2. Sabadell 3, 3. A-Polo 3, 4. Budva 0.
Group C (Split)
(quarters 2:1, 2:1, 3:3, 2:2)
Panathinaikos: Chalyvopoulos 3, Papasifakis 2, Skoumpakis 1, Kalogeropoulos 1, Nikolaidis 1, Kopelaidis 1.
Honved: Vadovics 2, Vickovic 2, Sugar 1, Araya 1, Ekler 1.
After a hard-fought win over Jadran yesterday, Panathinaikos needed time to break Honved’s resistance.
The Hungarian team kept up with Panathinaikos for three quarters, playing excellently on defense, which was led by national team goalkeeper Kristof Csoma.
Panathinaikos rushed to a 2:0 lead in the first two and a half minutes, but after that, it struggled to find the net. Honved leveled at 2:2. At the finish of the first half, Kopelaidis converted a man-up to end Panathinaikos’s 12-minute goalless phase. Skoumpakis added another goal, and the Athens-based team headed into the second half with a 4:2 lead.
Nikolaos Papasifakis (Panathinikos) Photo: VK Jadran Split
In the third period, the teams traded goals, with Panathinaikos keeping a 2-goal advantage until the last break (7:5). The Greeks doubled their advantage in their first two possession in the fourth quarter – 9:5. Still, the contest wasn’t over yet. Honved tried to come back, but it only halved the deficit.
Statistically, converting extra-man shots made the difference. The Hungarians didn’t score a single power-play goal (conversion 0/7), while Panathinaikos found the net three times from seven 6-on-5 shots.
Jadran bye
Standings: 1. Panathinaikos 6 (2 games), 2. Jadran 0 (1), 3. Honved 0 (1).
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