Barça survive stern Aalborg test
Barça secured their eighth win in their eighth group match on Wednesday night with a 35:32 win against Aalborg Håndbold and remain on top of group B, three points ahead Veszprém.
The Danish side produced a great performance against the record EHF Champions League Men winners, who scored three consecutive goals from 32:32 to secure the two points. One week after winning at Veszprém, Aalborg again proved that they can keep up with the best teams.
GROUP B
Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) vs Barça (ESP) 32:35 (15:19)
- in contrast to the 75 goals scored in their first meeting that Barça won 42:33, this was almost a low-scorer
- at the break, the fans had already seen 10 scorers for both sides - though none scored more than three goals
- the first half was balanced until Barça pulled ahead from 14:13 to a four-goal lead, 19:15
- Aalborg remained in close proximity and even levelled the score in the final stages at 31:31 and 32:32
- in the end, two goals from former Champions League winners Luka Cindric and Aron Palmarsson decided this thrilling encounter, giving Barça their 21st consecutive Champions League win
Aalborg’s clear improvement
Five years ago, when they lost 31:11 in the Last 16 on home ground, Aalborg were taught a tough lesson by Barça.
With more international experience now, the Danish champions have clearly improved. This is shown not only by Wednesday's narrow 35:32 loss, but by the fact that they have already five victories this season and are three points ahead of three-time EHF Champions League winners THW Kiel in the standings.
I think it was a really good game for both teams. For us it was a really important win today. Aalborg played really good defence and we had problem in our defence with their seven against six. Now we are in a good position in the group.
