Spectacular away wins, the fifth in as many matches \u2013 both the players of Pro Recco (ITA) and Jug Dubrovnik (CRO) should enjoy a merry Christmas as unbeaten leaders of the respective groups. Brescia (ITA) added another important win over Dynamo (RUS), just as Ferencvaros against Eger in the all-Hungarian clash in Group A. Two thrilling draws, between Szolnok (HUN) and Olympiacos (GRE), and Mladost (CRO) and BPM (ITA), demonstrated the extreme tightness of Group B.<\/p>\n
The big match of the day between the two unbeaten sides of Group A offered the very best of water polo. Host Barceloneta took a quick 2-0 lead, Recco responded with five connecting goals and by halftime the Italians were 4-10 up. What came next was a breath-taking surge from the Spaniards who scored six goals in eight minutes to set up an exciting finish. Though for a while it stood 11-12 in the fourth, Recco scored the last three goals and secured its fifth win.<\/span><\/p>\n The other Italian side Brescia earned three more points by beating another close rival: two weeks ago they defeated Eger, now kept the game against Dynamo under firm control. After a balanced first half the hosts gain a three-goal lead in the third and never looked back.<\/span><\/p>\n Ferencvaros stayed close to the top ranked sides by pushing aside fellow Hungarian club Eger. The Super Cup winners enjoyed a fine evening and just as in their previous three encounters this autumn, they pulled off a multiple-goal victory. Steaua (ROU) did a clean job against Crvena Zvezda (SRB) to earn its first win in the prelims.<\/span><\/p>\n In Group B Jug went for 5\/5 as the Croats came up with an outstanding performance in Hannover. They staged a 0-7 run in the second period, led 1-10 in the third before the future host team of the Final 8 started climbing back to settle for a relatively nice score-line.<\/span><\/p>\n The battle of the champions turned into a thriller: 2017 winner Szolnok and title-holder Olympiacos was never separated by more than one goal in the game and exchanged the lead from time to time. It stood 5-5 after three periods, then came an action-packed closing session with four goals apiece. For a while the Greeks seemed to have it at 7-8 but Gergo Zalanki blasted two for Szolnok, the second came with 11 seconds to go. However, Evgenios Gounas\u2019 free-throw somehow slipped in from Viktor Nagy\u2019s back with 0:02 on the clock so the game finished in a draw (the second in a row for the Hungarians).<\/span><\/p>\n Though it wasn\u2019t a satisfying outcome for the two sides, the late news from Zagreb might console them a bit since neither Mladost (CRO), nor BPM (ITA) could get three points. It was a tremendous fight, the Croats took a 4-2 lead in the first half but the visitors hit back with five goals in the third while Mladost missed a series of man-ups (including a 6 on 4). An early extraman goal from Cosmin Radu brought the game to even once more and this goal turned out to be the lonely one scored in the final period.<\/span><\/p>\n This was the 5<\/span>th<\/span> draw in this group in as many rounds and to further demonstrate its tightness another game was decided by a single goal: Spandau (GER) earned its first win by upending Jadran (CRO). The Croats had a better spell in the first half but with three connecting goals the Berliners took an 8-6 lead in the third. Jadran came back to 8-8 and 9-9 but Spandau managed to build a two-goal lead again and the visitors could only pull one back with a minute remaining but had no real chance to save the game to a draw. <\/span><\/p>\n Enough to have a look at the ranks in this group to see that 2019 promise a rather exciting hunt for the three available F8 spots as Hannover, currently sitting on the last place, already qualified as the host.<\/span><\/p>\n Champions League, Day 5<\/b><\/p>\n Group A<\/b><\/p>\n Atletic Barceloneta (ESP) v Pro Recco (ITA) 11-15 Standings:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v ZF Eger (HUN) 16-9
\n<\/span>AN Brescia (ITA) v Dynamo Moscow (RUS) 10-8
\n<\/span>Steaua Bucharest B. A. (ROU) v Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 8-3<\/span><\/p>\n