The handball team was defeated by Melsungen with 32-28 in Germany in the first leg of the third round of the EHF Cup. The Reds played without Karvatski, Tsilis and Nomikos and having the support of the 50 supporters, faced a team with a 5-million budget and were very competitive at the start of the match. Finally, the Germans won with 4 goals and Olympiacos hopes to qualify in the rematch at Renti sporting hall on Sunday 24 November. 

 

 

Melusngen: Sjostrand, Maric, Kuhn 3, Lemke 1, Reichmann 1, Ignatow 8, Kunkel 10, Simic, Danner 1, Schneider 1, Allendorf, Sidorowicz 2, Hafner 1, Salger 1, Pavlovic 3, Gruber

 

Olympiacos (Giorgos Zaravinas): Arapakopoulos 2, Bagios, Bogunovic 3, Kandylas 5, Mallios 2, Michailidis, Mougits, Sanikis 1, Spikic, Lemos 11, Liapis 2, Terlecki, Delichristos, Tsilimparis, Tziras 1, Karabourniotis 1

 

Statements: 

 

The Head Coach Giorgos Zaravinas stated: "Congratulations to the players for the effort. I am very pleased with their performance, except for some minutes in the first half where we gave the German team the chance to make a difference. The second game follows and we will try to claim the best with our fans on our side."

 

Petros Kandylas mentioned: "Congratulations to the whole team. We fought against one of the best teams in the German league until the end. We need to have the same concentration in the second game in order to compete for the qualification. Hope that the fans will help us to qualify."

 

Harris Mallios underpinned: "I think it was an excellent performance by the whole team which makes me feel proud. I had also stated when I signed to Olympiacos that if a team can continue in the European competition, it’s only Olympiacos. We are looking forward to playing a sold-out game on Sunday and celebrating the qualification. Melsungen is the favorite but today, we showed our strength. I would like to thank our fans who supported us”.