For the first time ever in its history, two teams from the same city took on each other in the most elite handball league, the Champions League. Led by Timur Dibirov and Igor Karacic who scored 9 and 7 goals respectively, HC Vardar won the first game with 27:22. The advantage was already made in the first half, when Vardar left at break with 14:9, and had the largest lead in the 47th minute – 20:14. Pavel Atman was Metalurg’s best with 7 goals – but had little support from his co-players. The return match is in 10 days.
In the other two games, Barcelona beat Dinamo Minsk with 35:25, while Rhein-Neckar Lowen were too strong at home against HC Zagreb and won easily 34:26.
