From the seriousness that Barça showed from the throw-off in their 38:31 victory over FC Porto, coach Antonio Carlos Ortega must have explained to his players that three games without a win is a long, long time for the Spanish club in the EHF Champions League Men.
Despite an average performance from their goalkeepers, who made only four saves in the first half, the hosts utilised their fast breaks to lead by seven goals at the break. In their best offensive performance this season, Barça followed the same pattern in the second half.
GROUP B
Barça (ESP) vs FC Porto (POR) 38:31 (20:13)
- it only took a couple of minutes for Barça to settle into the game. Thanks to a couple of strong defensive efforts, the hosts were already ahead 4:0 after five minutes
- with Aleix Gómez scoring six in the first 30 minutes alone, Barça had the game well in hand at the break
- while Barça only reached the 10-goal advantage mark once in the second half, they scored on almost all of their attacks to keep Porto out of reach
- Aleix Gómez was the best scorer of the game with 12 goals, three more than Fabio Magalhaes, Porto’s best scorer.
- thanks to this win, Barça are fourth in group B with 11 points, tied with Paris Saint-Germain, while Porto are seventh with five points
Focus was the key for Barça
After drawing in Porto and losing twice against Kielce, Barça's players were extra focused on Thursday night against Porto. From the off, Barça's defence stopped almost all of the Portuguese side's efforts.
Goalkeeper Leonel Maciel played a key role after replacing Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, ending the game with 10 saves. Backed by such a strong defence, Barça looked somewhat liberated as they played without any second thoughts in attack.
