FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.11.2008 19:03

Afternoon of goals and good handball (38-27)

Verònica Díez

Barça Borges have thrashed Drammen, their final European group rival, at the Palau (38-27). Barrufet and Losert both had tremendous afternoons as they proved nightmares for the Norwegians, while Iker Romero led the scoring with six.

The visitors came with good intentions, as the Palau witnessed handball played at its very best. Both sides enjoyed a vibrant encounter, but Barcelona were just too good in the end. Things got off to a stuttering start, especially in positional offence, but Manolo Cadenas’ side eventual gave a master class in good handball. Great goalkeeping, efficient attacking and solid defending combined as Barça grew in confidence as the game wore on.

Iker Romero once again gave a display of his very finest play, scoring six goals, his first in this edition of the Champions League.

Unsteady start

The Catalans were somewhat unsure of themselves in the early minutes, making mistakes in attack and making life easier for the visitors with poor positioning. Venio Losert’s goalkeeping was mainly to thank for keeping the home side in control, with the first half never seeing Barça go any more than one goal ahead.

Breakthrough

Ben Amor made it 6-4 in the eleventh minute, and that marked the start of better things from Barça Borges. They then scored four on the trot to make it 9-4, and held strong until the break. Cristian Ugalde for the home side and Marius Hovde Andersen for the visitors were the most decisive players at this point, and the half ended with a 3-goal streak to leave Barcelona in a commanding position at 17-11.

Unstoppable

The second half saw Barça playing devastating handball, and a constant barrage of attacks on the Drammen goal. Another fine streak of 4-0 put things at 30-19, which was as good as game over. Barrufet took over from Losert, but maintained the same high goalkeeping standards, making a fine save with his very first intervention, and there were more to come after that. Mikkel Hansen looked more comfortable and once again stunned everybody with trademark right-hander. Jesper Noddesbo scored four goals of his own in what was a veritable exhibition from Barça of how handball was always meant to be played.