Advantage Alkaloid after an away win in final’s first leg

FINAL, FIRST LEG

AEK Athens HC (GRE) vs HC Alkaloid (MKD) 25:29 (14:16)

• in a tight first half, AEK had the biggest lead at two goals twice after two and 24 minutes, but the visitors managed to turn the match around right before half-time with their first two-goal lead of the evening (14:16)
  
  
• Alkaloid managed to hold on to that lead during the second half, even extending it in crunch time, taking home an impressive 29:25 win in Athens
  
  
• HC Alkaloid’s goalkeeper Ivan Galevski faced six penalty shots and saved five of them
  
  
• Dylan Garain (AEK) and Martin Serafimov were top scorers of the match with six goals each; Serafimov boosted his goals tally to 68 goals and now trails the competition’s top scorer Diano Neris Cesko (HC Izvidac) by nine goals
  
  
• AEK lose a first leg at home for the first time this season, winning the previous four; Alkaloid end their campaign undefeated in first legs away from home, winning twice and drawing once
  
  
• HC Alkaloid will host the return leg next week – also on Sunday (25 May) at 20:30 CEST in Skopje

Offensive struggles headline first leg

Both finalists have put up incredible attacking numbers this season. However, in the first leg of the final, both teams had some difficulties finding the way to the net and avoiding making crucial turnovers.

For instance, AEK had a shooting efficiency of only 49 per cent. One painful factor for the Greek side was their shaky hand from the seven-meter line, as they missed five from six penalty shots.

Alkaloid had solid numbers, scoring 66 per cent of their shots, but could not reach their incredible season average of 72.5 per cent. Both teams finished the match with double-digit technical faults: AEK 13 and Alkaloid 14.