BM Ciudad Encantada – FC Barcelona: Powerful return (22-33)

Barça kicked of the second half of the season with a victory over Balonmano Ciudad Encantada (22-33). The match started off slowly, but the Balugrana got into gear as time ticked off the clock. At the break Barça led by six goals (9-15) and at the end of the match the Blaugrana were leading by 11 (22-33).

Slow start

Milosevic opened up the scoring for the home team and Entrerríos brought Barça level in the next play. At that point the two teams fell into a rut of errors: loss of possession, offensive fouls and low accuracy in front of goal. The scoreboard didn’t move for the next five minutes. It wasn’t until Nikola Karabatic broke the deadlock with three consecutive goals.

Xavi Pascual set up a 5-1 defence and it worked beautifully. The team managed by Zupo were unable to break through until the 12th minute of the first half.

The Blaugrana increased their lead in the final 10 minutes of the first half thanks to a 2-6 run with goals scored by Víctor Tomás, two from Lazaroc, one from Juanin García and another from Raúl Entrerríos. Barça went to the break with an advantage of six goals (9-15).

Positive second half

Barça pulled further away in the second half. By the 44th minute the Blaugrana had a 13-14 lead and in the final 15 minutes Xavi Pascual sent in players that don’t usually get playing time. Barça cruised through the rest of the match thanks to their 11-goal advantage (22-33).