FCBARCELONA.CAT

08.11.2007 17:12

High tension until the end (30-31)

Verònica Díez

FC Barcelona have beaten Astrakhan 30-31. The Russians had the best of the opening minutes of the game but Barça seized the initiative some ten minutes before the break (14-17).

The players, coached by Manolo Cadenas, fought hard throughout the game to achieve their fourth European win this season. Astrakhan controlled the pace in the opening minutes and opened a 4-1 lead. Midway through the first half, the Barça players reacted and by halftime took a three-point lead (14-17). The final score was 30-31 in Barça’s favour but despite the win there is still some work to be done on improving their game.

Behind for 15 minutes

Barça had to wait 15 minutes to draw level. The Russians made maximum use of their solid defence and their pace in attack but eventually Hungarian international Nagy made it 8-8. From this moment on, Astrakhan failed to take the lead again. Jesper Noddesbo put Barça in front (11-12) before Víctor Tomás achieved the maximum lead in the 29th minute (13-16). Laszlo Nagy left the scoreboard at 14-17 at halftime.

Once again, the defences dominated the first half. Noddesbo was excluded twice and Garabaya was shown a yellow card. Iker Romero was top scorer with six goals.

A nervous finish

The second half started well for Barça when Garabaya stretched the lead to four goals (14-18). However, Astrakhan gradually fought their way back into the game causing plenty of nervous moments for the Barça players. Noddesbo was excluded three times and had to go off eight minutes before the end. Gorbaticov brought the Russians to within one goal (30-31) but it was too little too late.

Iker Romero was top scorer with 10 goals while Juanín García scored 6 in the second half. For the Russians, Slatchev was top scorer with 6 goals