What Marseille could not achieve against Ferencvaros earlier, they just did in the home of the other Hungarian side OSC and earned a great win. Recco had some problems in the first half in Hannover but came up with a 14-goal festival in the second. Mladost clinched a crucial victory in Terrassa with a really convincing performance on a day when all four home sides lost.
Group B
Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 10-15, Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v Pro Recco (ITA) 13-21, CN Terrassa (ESP) v HAVK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) 11-14, A Híd-OSC Budapest (HUN) v CN Marseille (FRA) 10-13
Standings: 1. FTC 12, 2. Recco 10, 3. OSC 9, 4. Mladost 7, 5. Marseille 6, 6. Terrassa 3, 7. Hannover 0, 8. Tbilisi 0
Last Saturday Marseille led 8-4 against Ferencvaros in the Super Cup final but couldn’t hold on in the second half and lost that part 3-10. Now the French played with the second strongest Hungarian side OSC, in Budapest, held on for 8-8 in the first half but this time had much more to offer in defence and pulled off a surprising but brilliant win.
The French defence, led by Montenegrin keeper Milos Stepanovic who posted 11 saves, allowed the star-studded home offence a single goal in 15:40 minutes while building a solid four-goal gap after the middle break. While OSC was 6 for 11 in man-up in the first half they dropped dramatically in the second (1 for 9), mostly because of the outstanding defending of the 2019 Euro Cup winners. At the same time, far-far away, Ferencvaros killed the excitements right in the first period in Tbilisi, the title-holders took a 0-5 lead and that gap remained till the end of the match.
Though Recco kicked off the game in Hannover with a 5-goal surge in the first period, the Germans managed to climb back in the following quarter while Recco’s level sank a bit so at halftime the score was 7-7 and some sniffed a similar surprise as in Zagreb where Mladost had drawn with the Italian super-side. However, the second half brought an absolutely different story, Recco showed some of its best, staged a 0-6 rush and decided the match – they stopped at 21 goals at the end. Mladost won a crucial encounter in Terrassa thanks to the middle two quarters when the Croats netted ten goals. They were much more precise in front than the home side, Terrassa had some chances to narrow the gap from time to time but
their misses cost them dearly as Mladost always punished them at the other end.