FC Barcelona Lassa v Frigoríficos Morrazo: Powering into the final (34-21)

Cangas: Salazar, Rubén Soliño (2), Suso (2), Dacosta, Pousada (3), Fernando Eijo (1), Rosales (6) –starting seven–; García Barreiro (2), Cerqueira (2), Casares, Krook, Otero (3) & Yeray

FCB Lassa: Saric, Entrerrios (1), Jallouz (7), Kopljar (2), Ariño (3), Sorhaindo (2), Tomás (2) –starting seven–; Noddesbo (4), Lazarov (6), Sarmiento (2), Sigurdsson (1), Dujshebaev (1), Syprzak (3) Gurbindo & Viran

Periods: 4-1/ 7-2/ 11-6/ 14-8/ 18-9/ 19-10 (Descans); 21-12/ 23-13/ 26-15/ 30-17/ 33-19/ 34-21

Barça Lassa have beaten Frigoríficos Morrazo 34-21 in the semi-finals of the Copa Asobal as they chase to win the title for the fifth year in a row and the eleventh in total. The Catalans dominated from start to finish, with the added bonus of Sarmiento returning from injury.

It was already 5-1 after just four minutes. Jallouz was outstanding, the scoring seven in a first half that ended with Barça comfortably leading 19-10. After the break, it was Lazarov who took over the goalscoring baton, adding six goals while some wonderful keeping by Saric , great midcourt play from Noddesbo and Syprzak, and some powerful counterattacking from Ariño and Tomàs all helped Barça fly to a 30-17 lead with ten minutes left to play.

Thing eased off towards the end, but the 13-point lead remained intact, and the 34-21 win goes down as Barça’s 100th in a row in domestic competitions. Quite some feat for this exceptional handball team!