MOTW summary: Barça beat Zagreb to stay undefeated
The Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 reaches round 5, and Match of the Week heads to Croatia. HC Zagreb are looking for their second win of the season, while visitors Barça want their fifth.
We started really slow, and by the time we managed to find our groove we were already five goals behind. In the second half we were much better, giving our absolute best, but in the end we lacked a bit of strength, focus and luck to completely turn the game around. We can't afford to celebrate losses although we did look good in the second half. We have to find a way to win points and make steps towards the knock-out stage.
We knew what to expect here, how dangerous Zagreb can be in front of their spectators. Zagreb were splendid in the second – defence was on a whole new level compared to the first half, and I feel like we can be happy about this win here in the end.
18:40
Here's the key facts and stats to look out for tonight!
- Barça are leaders of group B with the maximum of eight points, while Zagreb are second to last with two
- last week, Barça defeated Aalborg (35:27) thanks to Emil Nielsen’s stunning performance (17 saves)
- in the meantime, Zagreb were defeated at home by Szeged (35:30), despite Ihar Bialiauski scoring nine, his new record in the EHF Champions League
- the two teams have played 25 times against each other in the competition, Zagreb only won once (in 2012) and one game ended in a draw, in the 1999 final
- Luka Lovre Klarica is Zagreb's best scorer so far this season with 27 goals; Aleix Gómez and Melvyn Richardson have both netted 19 times for Barça
- last weekend, both teams came out victorious out of their domestic confrontations: Zagreb against Rudar (45:25) and Barça against Cangas (45:38)
18:35
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18:30
What are their chances?
