FC Barcelone’s winning streak in the 2024/25 EHF Men’s Handball Champions League has come to a halt.
Barcelona drew 31-31 with HBC Nantes in the 7th round of Group B held at the H Arena in Nantes, France on October 31 (local time).
Although Barcelona’s winning streak has ended, they are still in first place with 6 wins, 1 draw (13 points), and are continuing their undefeated streak. With this win, Nantes rose to second place with 4 wins and 1 draw (9 points), with Szeged (OTP Bank – PICK Szeged) trailing behind by 1 point.
news/cms/202411/02/news-p.v1.20241102.7db3cf5a1896470493c9d2e988843d1f_R.jpg" data-width="600" data-height="399" /> Enlarged photo 2024/25 EHF Men’s Handball Champions League match between Barcelona and Nantes, photo source = Nantes
On this day, there were many goals scored in a clean, no-frills game, providing an extremely enjoyable time for the spectators. There weren’t many turnovers, and the shooting success rates were similar, so it was a tight game overall. The match was a memorable one for Nantes fans, as Barcelona led by close to 90% before allowing a comeback in the final minutes and ending in a dramatic draw.
Nantes led the attack with 7 goals from Minne Aymeric, 6 goals from Bos Julien, 5 goals from Briet Thibaud, and 5 goals from Biosca Garcia Ignacio. The goalkeeper made 14 saves, including 11 and Ivan Pesic three. In particular, Ivan Pesic made a save in the final crisis, resulting in a draw.
Barcelona had a strong presence in goal with goalkeeper Emil Emile making 17 saves, Mem Dika scoring 9 goals, Janc Blaz and Luiz Diogo Sousa Frade. Luis Diogo led the attack, scoring 5 goals each.
For the first 10 minutes, it was a tight match with goals being exchanged. Then, Barcelona scored four goals in a row to take a 9-6 lead. Afterwards, Barcelona was ahead by 3 or 4 goals and ended the first half with a score of 17-14.
In the second half, Makuc Domen’s consecutive goals increased Barcelona’s lead to 19-14, but Nantes scored four goals in a row to trail by one goal, 22-21, in the 39th minute. Afterwards, Barcelona was ahead by 2 or 3 goals until the 50th minute, but Nantes went up to 29-28 with consecutive goals from Emerick Minne, and then three goals in a row led to a dramatic comeback to 31-30. However, with 10 seconds left in the game, Blaz Janz allowed the tying goal, ending the game at 31-31.
In particular, Nantes faced its biggest crisis as they were given the opportunity to turn the tables at the end. Nantes was outnumbered due to a two-minute red card, and had an opportunity to attack with 7 seconds left in the game, so the prevailing opinion was that it was at least a draw.
At that moment, there was a call for operational time, and Rok Ovnicek was overcome with emotion and pressed the red button. However, according to Champions League regulations, only the coach can request a time-out, so Ovnicek was sent off for two minutes, and the attacking opportunity was also given to Barcelona.
In a desperate moment when four defenders had to make a stop, goalkeeper Ivan Pesic made the most important save of the three saves of the day, resulting in a dramatic draw.
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