October 20, 2019 - Croatian water polo clubs Jug, Jadran, and Mladost played their second-round LEN Champions League games over the weekend.
HRT reports that Jug AO registered their second win in the second round of Group A after topping Spain's Barceloneta 13-15 (2-4, 3-3, 6-3, 4-3) in Dubrovnik. Paulo Obradovic was massive for Jug with six goals.
Barceloneta led 3-2 two minutes before the end of the first quarter and held the lead for a long time - and on two occasions, they were up by three goals. But in the third quarter, Jug scored six consecutive goals, coming from 5-8 to an 11-8 lead.
Barceloneta scored two goals in the last minute of the third quarter and Jug entered the final quarter with a minimal lead of 11-10. A minute and a half into the last quarter, goals by Paul Obradovic and Loren Fatovic pushed Jug to 13-10, and by the end of the match, Jug’s victory was no longer in question.
Paulo Obradovic was the best for Jug with six goals, while Loren Fatovic scored three. Alvaro Ortega led Barceloneta with four goals.
The second Croatian representative in Group A, Jadran Split, won their first point against Berlin club Spandau 04 with a 12-12 (4-5, 2-3, 4-3, 2-1) result in Split.
At no point in the game did the Jadran have an advantage. The German side also led by three goals during the second and third quarters - and Jadran’s first equalizer only came thanks to Buric's goal for 11-11 in the middle of the final quarter.
Spandau led again, though Buric equalized with a goal with just over 3 minutes to go to make it 12-12. By the end of the match, both teams missed several chances to win, the last of which was Jadran’s Butic, though his last-second shot was defended by Spandau's goalkeeper.
Zvonimir Butic scored three goals for Jadran, with two added by Rino Burić, Nathan Power, and Antonio Dužević. Tiberiu Negrean was the best for Spandau with four goals.
After two rounds in Group A, Jug, the Olympiacos, and Szolnoki have the maximum six points.
Mladost met Dinamo Tbilisi 21:11 (8: 2, 3: 1, 6: 4, 4: 4) in the 2nd round of the Champions League Group B on Saturday in Zagreb.
Cosmin Radu was the best for Mladost with five goals, while Lovre Milos, Josip Vrlic, Milos Cuk, and Konstantin Kharkov each scored three.
Zagreb-born Marko Jelaca was the best for Dinamo with four goals.
Recall, Mladost lost to OSC in Budapest at the start of the Champions League 10:13.
In Group B, Ferencvaros leads with six points, while Mladost, Pro Recco, Terrassa, and OSC Budapest have three, though Mladost has one match more.
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