Champions League Men | 30 Oct 2013

Battle for MECL Group D top spot

This Friday and Saturday Men’s ECL Round 3 will be held, as four out of five games will be covered live by LAOLA1.tv. The seeds of each group with three teams are free this time (Orenburg in A, Werder in C and Borussia in D) and, maybe the most interesting game could be one at Schwechat where the 2008 winner expects the 2013 finalist: SVS Niederosterreich – Chartres!

In Group A Vaillante Angers will meet the 2009 runner-up LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen in battle for second place which provides quarter final ticket. Both sides are sure that reigning champion Orenburg is almost booked its place in next stage. German side is careful knowing how good was Panigiotis GIONIS on recent 2013 European Championships at Schwechat, where he took the bronze.

“No doubt, we have to win at Angers to preserve our chances to reach the quarterfinals. I hope Kirill SKACHKOV who was hurt and missing last Sunday in Bundesliga will be all right again on Friday. This would be important for us. We count on a very difficult match and we didn’t forget about the great performance of GIONIS at Schwechat.”, stressed Kristijan PEJINOVIC, president of TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen.

AS Pontoise and Saarbrucken (both 1-1 score in Group B) will also fight for second spot in that group. These teams are very ambitious in last couple of years, playing MECL semi-finals. Pontoise`s coach Peter Peter FRANZ says: “The match against Saarbrücken will be one of the most important matches for us this season. Both of us would like to qualify for the quarterfinal of the MECL. I expect a very tough and close match. Even Saarbrücken is the higher seeded team I believe it is a 50-50 match and I hope we can use our home advantage to get in good position for the second half of the MECL. All of our players are prepared and available for this match. Guess this will be a great match for all spectators in the hall”.

Saarbrucken`s team manager Erwin BERG agrees that upcoming match could be crucial: “After the two won matches in TTBL and good 2013 European Championships outcome, we are very confident for the match against Pontoise. We know that the French team will be a tough opponent and we are facing a match on the same level. We have to be in good shape to win against Pontoise. This match will be very important for us because it could be a preliminary decision who reaches the quarter finals of MECL”.

In other Group B encounter, leading team UMMC (2-0) expects unique club without win, Swedish Eslov (0-2). Russian champion is very close to confirm its place in the best eight clubs.

After surprising victory at Bremen (3:1), MECL newcomer from Austria Walter Wels has unexpected chance to provide second consecutive win in row at Group C, playing very first MECL game in front of its fans. On the other side, French team Hennebont must win to keep its chance for quarter final.

Finally, Group D offers a clash between rivals who have big aims in main club’s competition. Niederosterreich knows how looks like feel to lift MECL trophy, whilst Chartres is actual runner-up. It will be a game for the top spot of the group, because 10 times European champion Borussia already has two losses. “After the good result of the first match vs Düsseldorf, Chartres ASTT goes to Wien, with the hope to make a good result, but the match will probably be very tough”, explains Loïc BREHU, president of French champions.

MEN`S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND 3

Group A: Vaillante Angers – LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen (November 1st, 19h30 CET)
Group B: UMMC – Eslov (November 3rd, 14h00 CET, live on LAOLA1.tv); AS Pontoise Cergy – Saarbrucken (November 1st, 19h30 CET, live on LAOLA1.tv)
Group C: Walter Wels – Hennebont (November 2nd, 19h00 CET, live on LAOLA1.tv)
Group D: SVS Niederosterreich – Chartres (November 1st, 17h20 CET, live on LAOLA1.tv)

Alex MILETIC, EWT, Alex MILETIC, EWT