After the forcefulness with which he resolved the first leg (25-37) against Elverum, the Barça I had to cover the return procedure to certify access to rooms. But in the team of Xavi Pascual The word relaxation does not exist and the Norwegian team once again suffered a harsh correction in the Palau Blaugrana (39-19), where the two matches have been played due to the impossibility of traveling to Norway due to the covid. The difference of 32 goals in total makes the difference between two teams with very different aspirations in the tournament very clear. Closed the file brilliantly, the Barça Now wait to meet the rival with whom he will meet in the quarterfinals (May 12 and 19), who will come out of the tie between the Brest and the HC Motor, with a provisional advantage for these by two goals.
OBSERVE: It is a day of great saves. @KamKevin has stopped more than half of @ElverumHandballshots 😮@FCBhandbol #ehfcl #showtimeforplayoffs pic.twitter.com/MRiGHDqZtW
– EHF Champions League (@ehfcl) April 5, 2021
It was a very comfortable meeting for him Barça, that he was able to afford to involve all the bench players and of little physical weariness, since many of the goals in counterattack actions. Between the azulgrana goalkeeper Kevin Moller, protagonist of the evening with his 16 saves (47% effective), and the physical deployment and speed in the transitions of the Catalans, everything was seen for judgment already at halftime (20-10).
Diocou, protagonist
At the resumption, the Elverum, with some important casualties such as the French international Luc Abaló, raised the white flag and the Barça coach dedicated himself to testing relays for the far left Alex Pascual, the only one available after the injury of Ariño and used the Croatian central Cindric on defense in the second half, with Paschal only playing in attack, although that did not diminish Barça’s effectiveness and allowed the young left-handed winger to show off Mamadou Diocu, trained in the Barça quarry, who showed talent and speed and finished as the top scorer with 6 goals
LOOK: Mamadou Diocu is flying tonight with a series of brilliant goals, what do you think of this one? 🔥@FCBhandbol #ehfcl #showtimeforplayoffs pic.twitter.com/3iaCcgCrAI
– EHF Champions League (@ehfcl) April 5, 2021
“The goal to play two good games and move forward, because the challenges will be increasingly difficult and I think we have achieved it,” explained the captain. Raúl Entrerríos, author of three goals, who showed no preference for the rival in the quarterfinals. “The two are very tough teams physically. But if we want to reach the ‘final four’, we have to have confidence in our game, rather than focus on the rival ”.
Data sheet
It may interest you
FC Barcelona: Möller (1); Aleix (2,1p), Mem (4), Fábregas (4), Entrerríos (3), Lángaro (4), Pascual (2) -initial seven-. Cindric (1), Dolenec (5.2p), Diocou (6), Sorhaindo (-), Palmarsson (1), Petrus (1), Makuc (2), Frade (3) and Pérez de Vargas (ps).
Elverum: Imsgard; Hedberg (1), Mathe (6), Langaas (2), Sorensen (-), Fringen (-), Nilsen (-) -starting seven- Grondahl (5,2p), Pujol (-), Pettersen (3), Solstad (1), Blonz (-) and Svensson (1).
www.elperiodico.com
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.