Celje stronger, but not strong enough
After their clear 24:39 defeat in the first leg in Veszprém, RK Celje Pivovarna Laško were much stronger on home ground – but, as expected, could not manage a second win this week after beating Zagreb on Tuesday. On Thursday night, the Hungarian side took two points after a well-deserved 29:25 win and extended the gap ahead of third-ranked HC Motor to three points.
Celje remain on six points, but, with the recent decision that all teams qualify for the Last 16 in mind, the biggest pressure has lessened.
GROUP B
RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (SLO) vs Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) 25:29 (14:16)
- after their 29:28 victory against Zagreb on Tuesday, Celje stood strong for almost 45 minutes, but were ultimately chanceless. In the end, it was Veszprém’s 14thvictory in now 16 matches against Celje
- Celje’s last lead was a 5:4. The smallest gap after the break was two goals, 21:23
- Celje had to replace Croatian back Josip Saric, who was the top scorer against Zagreb, while Veszprém added two top stars to the squad that lost 30:37 in Barcelona on Tuesday: Petar Nenadic and Kent Robin Tönnesen
- from the score of 8:7 on, Veszprém were constantly ahead, extending the gap to five goals for the first time at 22:17 in minute 41
- next week, Veszprém host HC Motor, while Celje travel to Champions League 2019/20 winners Kiel
The older Marguc wins the duel of brothers
After his younger brother Gal won the Marguc brothers duel in the first leg, with seven goals to four, Gasper struck back on Thursday night. The older brother (aged 30) was Veszprém’s top scorer in his homecoming match in Slovenia, with five goals; Gal (24) netted four times. The overall record for the season looks almost the same: Gasper has 29 goals in his tally so far, while Gal is on 24.
For us it was a complicated match – second one this week, and with a lot of players tired from the World Championship, it is hard to play sexy handball. It is good that we have finally won, although we were not on a top level. It was difficult to win – first half was tied all the time and in the second we managed to get a few goals difference and deserved to win at the end.
