Courtesy: LEN
Sabadell won the Spanish duel though Barcelona came close to an upset – in the Italian derby it was only a prestige battle as Covid decided the outcome with the first game having been awarded to Palermo with 10-0.
Semi-finals, 2nd leg:
Astralpool-Sabadell (ESP) v CN Barcelona (ESP) 8-9, aggregate: 20-19
CC Ortigia (ITA) v Telimar Palermo (ITA) 7-6, aggregate: 7-16
Dates for the finals: 5 and 26 March
The Catalan neighbours produced a crazy game in the first leg – Sabadell looked to have it after winning the third period 1-7, but Barcelona came back with a 4-0 run and could have further narrowed the gap towards the end – anyway, the two-goal win did not grant anything for Sabadell.
Indeed, Barcelona managed to come to even in aggregate by the end of the third when they led 4-6. It was a tremendous fight, Sabadell took a 3-1 lead but their rivals hit three in 1:42 minutes and after 4-4 at half-time they shut out the hosts in the third period. Sabadell’s drought ended after 11:15 minutes but then they equalised for 6-6 as now Barcelona’s offence went off for more than seven minutes.
However, they bounced back with a double in 60 seconds so it was all even again at 6-8. It was Sabadell’s turn, though, Francisco Valera kept his calm and scored twice for 8-8 with 78 seconds to go. Blai Mallarach pulled one back, but it was too late with only 28 seconds on the clock – so Sabadell reached the final for the second time after the ten years.
In 2012, an Italian team, Savona beat them for the trophy – not it’s going to be another Italian test as Telimar Palermo advanced from the Sicilian derby. Too bad that it had to end in that way – after the first game’s walk-over result due to the Covid-infections in the Ortigia camp, it was unimaginable that the second leg could offer any excitements. In a tough battle the hosts fought for their pride and with a late goal from Filip Klikovac they won the derby – but Palermo advanced to the final, for the first time in the club’s history.
