It wasn’t easy, especially at the start, on one of the toughest courts in Europe, but Barça Handball claimed their fourth win in five Champions League games. In their first-ever meeting with Eurofarm Pelister, Carlos Ortega’s side won 30–34 at the Boro Curlevski Arena in Bitola (North Macedonia) and remain among the frontrunners in Group B.

Dika Mem and Domen Makuc were Barça’s top scorers with six goals each in a match that began evenly (9–9, min 17), went to halftime at 13–17, and finished 30–34.

Patience pays off

The opening minutes were evenly matched, with neither side pulling more than a goal ahead until 10–11 (min 20). A 0–4 run then gave Barça their first real cushion (10–15, min 26), a lead they maintained into the break (13–17) and extended early in the second half thanks to solid defence and sharp attacking (17–24, min 39).

The advantage allowed Carlos Ortega to rotate his squad, and the difference stayed between five and seven goals almost to the end. The home side, pushed on by their fans, closed the gap late on (30–33, min 59), but Barça held firm to secure the win and move back up to second place in the group.

MATCH STATS

Eurofarm Pelister, 30
Barça, 34

Eurofarm Pelister: Mitrevski, Manaskov, Henigman, Peshevski, Hosni, Hackbarth, Kuzmanovski, Cehte, Widomwski, Tajnik, Ezzeldin, Abutovic, Petar Atanasijevikj, Hadzic, Pavle Atanasijevikj.

Barça: Nielsen, Aleix Gómez, Dika Mem, Fàbregas, N'Guessan, Frade, Dani Fernández, Bazán, Djordje Cikusa, Blaz Janc, Adrián Sola, Óscar Grau, Makuc, Ian Barrufet, Petar Cikusa.

Periods: 2-2, 5-6, 7-7, 10-12, 10-15, 13-17 (HT), 16-21, 18-25, 21-27, 24-30, 27-32, 30-34 (FT). 

Referees: Erdogan, Özdeniz.

Força Barça