Courtesy: LEN
The first leg of the Euro Cup semi-finals already brought thrilling matches, so the return leg promises very much the same: tremendous excitements in the clash of Vasas and Panionios and in the all-Italian battle of Savona and Trieste.
Vasas, once the ruler of Europe in the 80s and still a formidable force in the early years of the new millennium, are to reach their first European final since 2002 when they won the penultimate edition of the Cupwinners’ Cup. Three weeks ago, they came back from three goals down in Greece and led 7-8, but Panionios managed to hit two in the last 43 seconds to take a single-goal advantage. Last November they already visited Budapest and suffered a heavy defeat (17-7) against OSC in the Champions League qualifications – now they are determined to do better and to reach the final of the second-tier cup for the third time after 2009 and 2011.
The in-house battle of the Italians is also wide open since the first leg didn’t see a winner. Savona may have the edge over Trieste at home – they had also beaten their rivals in the Italian league twice –, still, this a cup tie where anything can happen. Like in the first leg, where Savona were unable to capitalise on a four-minute-long man-up in the fourth period. The home side claimed this trophy three times already, though their last triumph happened in 2012. On contrary, Trieste are to make history by reaching their first-ever European final.
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Semi-finals, 2nd leg – fixtures
19.00 RN Savona (ITA) v Trieste Pallanuoto (ITA) – first leg: 9-9
20.00 A-Hid-VasasPlaket (HUN) v Panionios GSS (GRE) – first leg: 8-9
