GOG 23-30 Barça: Winning return in Europe

A good win for Barça away to GOG (23-30). The blaugranes had a superb Emil Nielsen between the sticks, who made 20 saves in the 25:26 minutes he played. The win continues the smooth progress in the Champions League this season.

Home side very solid in the first half

Barça played a Danish side who clearly aimed to remain in the game and it took the visitors a minute and a half to score first through Carlsbogard. The home side were proving very resilient and the lead was only +2 after 10 minutos, only extending to +4 when Ariño scored with 17:28 on the clock.

However, GOG scored three without reply to claw back the Catalans' lead. Richardson proved vital during this period to ensure the blaugranes remained in front, scoring four goals from four shots.

Back in his home country, Barça's number 13 formed the proverbial wall, Nielsen making 11 out of 25 saves in the first 30 minutes. His counterpart Thulin was proving less effective, enabling Barça to go in 14-17 up at halftime.

Win confirmed

Barça kept up the tempo in what was proving a very physical game, but a 5-0 for the home side was somewhat concerning for the visitors after they had been 15-21 up. The blaugranes reacted though, Dika Mem finding his scoring touch again this half, ably assisted by Pol Valera, and the lead was extended again.

Aleix Gómez had a barnstorming performance in both attack and defence, first with a great recovery after 49 minutes before completing the perfect counterattack just moments later. Barça ultimately saw out the game to confirm the 23-30 win against GOG to virtually seal their Champions League quarterfinal spot.

Next up, a trip to the Pabellón Municipal Vicente Trueba to take on Bathco BM Torrelavega in the domestic league (7.00pm CET, LaLiga+).

GAME STATS

GOG 23
Barça 30

GOG: Tobias Thulin (4), Emil Madsen (6), Nicolai Pedersen (3), Oskar Rasmussen (2), Alexandre Blonz (5), Hans Mensing (4), Henrik Jakobsen (1) - starting seven - Matthias Dorgelo (8), Frederik Clausen (0), Anton Lindskog (0), Hjalte Likke (0), Anders Zachariassen (0), Kasper Kildelund (0), Lauritz Legér (0), Linus Persson (1), Joachim Lyng (1)

Barça: Emil Nielsen (20), Dika Mem (5), Jonathan Carlsbogard (4), Thiagus Petrus (0), Aleix Gómez (3), Aitor Ariño (1), Luis Frade (3) - starting seven - Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas (1), Melvyn Richardson (6), Timothey N'Guessan (3), Petar Cikusa, Pol Valera (2), Hampus Wanne (0), Blaz Janc (1), Haniel Langaro (0), Javier Rodríguez (2).

Partial scores: 3-3 / 5-7 / 7-9 / 8-11 / 12-14 / 14-17 / halftime / 15-19 / 18-21 / 19-24 / 20-27 / 21-29 / 23-30.

Referees: Mirza Kurtagic and Mattias Wetterwik.