There was a fine balance between the two teams and indeed their supporters at the start of the game, as a number of Hungarians had made the trip with their team. Both sides knew what was at stake and their defences seemed to be on top. Rutenka, a player who could turn out to be decisive in the final stretch of the season, got the first goal, but
The movement of Sulic (who got 5 goals) and the direction of Csaszar( with 4) showed the danger the Hungarians could pose.

The exclusion of Lushnikov, reflecting the tough tackling of the visitors’ defence, was exploited by Barça to open a two goal lead as Víctor Tomás and Juanín thrilled the Palau by rounding off two quick counter attacks. Vujin, the Hungarians’ leading Champions League scorer, stopped Barça from stretching away though, bringing the visitors level at 7-7.

Saric fright

Barça Borges got just one goal in 10 minutes and Saric, who had been playing great till then, was injured making a fantastic double save. Although he stayed on court to save the resulting penalty, he had to make way for Sjöstrand, who put any worries the fans might have had to rest with another stellar performance.

Veszprém were enjoying their best moments now, but Barça held on and worked hard to take a narrow 14-13 lead into the break, thanks to a late flurry of three goals when they were 11-13 down.

Sjöstrand stands tall

The second half began with Barça Borges dominating as Sjöstrand made some brilliant stops and the team’s attack began to click. The first time they stretched their lead to three goals(17-14), Vujin led a Veszprém fightback, but the visitors were unable to respond at 19-16 and Barça pushed to a 21-17 advantage. Veszprém were working hard to limit the damage though, knowing that a narrow defeat would not be such a bad result to take back for the second leg, but with 9 minutes to go, Juanín again put Barça four goals ahead and then Víctor Tomás stretched that out to seven, as Sjöstrand’s great saves began to demoralise the tiring visitors.

Iker Romero converted a last minute penalty after he’d been fouled himself and then on the buzzer, Ivancsik scored for the final 28-21 that Barça will take into the return game.