FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.05.2010 17:54

Off to Cologne! (33-34)

Cristina Collado

Barca Borges have won a place in the European Final Four in Cologne with a 33-34 win over Veszprèm after taking the first leg 33-27.

The six goal lead from the first leg proved decisive as Barca were put under a lot of pressure at the full Veszprèm Arena, finally coming through to claim the first Final Four spot after the hosts had pulled the tie level.

Minute 22: tie drawn

Despite Veszprèm having their key scorer Sulic off the court for much of the early part of the game, Barca were unable to take much advantage of their numerical superiority and when he came back, the hosts took a 7-6 lead on 10 minutes.

The Hungarians then began to open a gap up as they strove to make up for their six goal deficit from the first leg with some good play between the sticks from ex-Barca man Dejan Peric and sharp stuff at the other end from Ivancsik, something they managed on 22 minutes when the scoreboard read 15-9

Wide men make the difference

However, just when the tie was in the balance, Barca ‘s two wide men Juanin and Victor Tomas turned up with their goals and Barca pulled themselves back to 19-15 at half time. Veszprém came back strong after the break and two quick strikes took them into a six goal lead again(21-15). But Victor Tomas, who beat his Champions League scoring record with 11 goals, and Juanin Garcia, who added 8 goals to the 13 he notched up in the first leg, turned the result round again as the half went on and after. Garabaya had pulled them level at 32-32, Iker Romero finished off the Hungarians with the goal to make it 33-34 at the end of the game.