The Hungarian side had a great start, backed by an impressive Tobias Thulin in goal, but they could not hold their forces for the whole 60 minutes. Barça built a comeback, and from being down by three celebrated a 27:24 win.
QUARTER-FINALS, FIRST LEG
OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs Barça (ESP) 24:27 (10:9)
- goalkeeper Thulin denied more than half Barça's attempts in the first period, but Szeged failed to capitalise on his saves — they were levelled and ultimately only just had the lead at the break
- Barça's French back-court line, driven by Timothey N'guessan and Dika Mem, took charge as the title holders had trouble finding the back of the net, recording a 42 per cent shooting efficiency
- Szeged's biggest lead in the game was three — the first time they hit it was in minute 35 as Imanol Garciandia netted for 13:10, and they held the same difference at 14:11, 15:12, 20:17 and 21:18
- when Barça levelled at 21:21 in the 50th minute, there was no turning back; three minutes before the final whistle they had four-goal cushion, assuring victory
- eight goals from Mario Sostaric (five from the penalty line) and Thulin's save rate of almost 40 per cent late into the match were not enough for Szeged
- Dika Mem hit a double-digit tally, netting 10 times from 14 attempts, including three in the closing moments as Barça built the lead; Luis Frade added six goals as well as a strong performance in defence
Reigning champions fight back
Never write off Barça, no matter the first-half struggles and no matter the stats. Although this was not their best performance of the season, and they have recently had two rare defeats in the Spanish league — the first time since the 2009/10 season — they showed they are a star-studded machine in the second half.
Just six days after securing their 32nd league title, Barça arrived in Szeged ready to fight for their seventh straight EHF FINAL4 appearance and will leave Hungary with the upper hand ahead of the rematch in Spain next week. But for much of the first half, Thulin turned into their nightmare, recording a 53 per cent save rate, including two penalty stops, and leaving Barça trailing by one at the break.
Barça regrouped after the break, and found their fulcrum in Nielsen, whose six saves in the second half proved the cornerstone for the turnaround, while Frade and Mem powered ahead in the attack. With sharper ball movement and better shot selection, Barça turned the half-time deficit into a commanding three-goal lead, reminding everyone they are the reigning champions. Szeged will now have to pull an even better performance if they are to surprise in Palau Blaugrana and take the aggregate win.
The support from the fans; the fact that they were chanting my name — it was an incredible feeling. They gave us so much energy. It was a special day for me, and I thank them for that. On the other side, [Emil] Nielsen showed why he’s the best goalkeeper in the world. But in handball, a three-goal deficit isn’t huge. We’ll have our chance in the second leg.
Credit goes to the Szeged team and their fans as well — it was a great feeling to play handball in such an atmosphere. We delivered an excellent performance in defence, and in attack we played smart, with few mistakes. We didn’t allow Szeged any easy goals, and that was key to our success. We've won the first half of the battle — now we need to finish the job in Barcelona.
