The cold wave that caused the first snowflakes over Barcelona moved to the Sant Sebastià pool in the Barceloneta neighborhood, usually an oasis of victories, this Tuesday a stage shaken by the gale of Pro Recco, the ten-time champion of Europe. Elvis Fatovic’s team, undefeated leader, ceded their privilege to the Italian team, a cast of individuals that behaves like the best of teams under the guidance of young coach Sandro Sukno. Now there is a triple tie at the top of the table between the Catalan team, Olympiakos and Pro Recco, all of them with one foot in the final to eight where they will meet again.
The first quarter served as a touchdown. Atlètic-Barceloneta understood from the outset that Pro Recco was going to be fully employed in defense, distributing the exclusions and being aggressive and effective in the defense of less. It was not until the seventh superiority that the cenebistas scored, who started behind on the scoreboard after a left-footed shot from Zalanki that was quickly equalized by Munarriz. The Australian Aaron Younger, also a Hungarian national, closed the first set with the partial victory of Recco. An advantage that would only increase.
In the following eight minutes the match was decided thanks to a 2-5 run in favor of the Italians that left the match at 3-7, an almost insurmountable difference. Pro Recco brought out the best offensive repertoire. Former Spanish international Gonzalo Echenique struck twice, one of them with an excellent Vaseline, while Younger pierced the short stick of Unai Aguirre, who started by saving a penalty but then couldn’t do anything before Recco’s torpedoes. Canella, an Italian international, scored another two goals to make it 1-7 on the scoreboard. Pavillard’s left foot gave Barceloneta some life with two goals.
With that advantage, Sukno’s team dedicated themselves to managing efforts, controlling Barceloneta’s best shooters and squeezing possessions. Pavillard and Larumbe, after a great pass from Perrone, scored for the Spanish and made up for Di Fulvio’s goals from outside, in a violent launch next to the head of Aguirre, and Canella, who has taken the measure of the Spanish teams. There was no further news at the meeting. Atlétic-Barceloneta could not give him one more march and ended without aim and without goals in the last period, with a streak of 2 of 15 in superiorities. Zalanki and Ivovic, the eternal defender of the buoy, closed the account of the Italian gale. There will be a rematch in the final eight, where both teams really play the season.