Day 8, Group B – AN Brescia (ITA) v CN Marseille (FRA) 15-13
Before this match, Brescia conceded 14 goals in total in their previous three home matches, twice four and once six. Add that they limited Marseille to five goals ten days ago while winning by eight… So the first eight minutes were somewhat stunning as the French hit four right away. Brescia jumped to a 2-0 lead, but their rivals replied with four connecting goals, including three in 1:46 minutes, to go 2-4 up before Stefano Luongo netted an extra 27 seconds from time.
It continued similarly for a while, Marseille went ahead two more times before Vincenzo Dolce buried a penalty for 6-6 and 42 seconds later he added one more from action to retake the lead shortly before halftime. The Italians had an easy chance, a 6 on 3 to make it 8-6 to kick off the third – and after the two Montenegrin goalies came up with some fine saves at both ends, finally Brescia could score again to expand the gap to three goals. With 2:45 remaining they still led 10-7 when Andrija Prlainovic converted an extra and in 45 seconds Thomas Vernoux reduced the gap to one with a great centre-shot. However, this time it was Vincenzo Renzuto’s turn to score twice in quick succession, in a span of 47sec he netted two extras for 12-9 to put the writing on the wall for the French.
Brescia missed two man-ups in the fourth, Ugo Crousillat converted a penalty for 12-10, but another 6 on 4 offered another easy finish for the hosts and Luongo made no mistake. Prlainovic blasted one for 13-11 and there was still 4:12 minutes to play, but Brescia responded well once more. Jacopo Alesiani scored from action in the next possession, then Marseille missed a crucial 6 on 5 and in 33 seconds Dolce reset the four-goal difference at 15-11. The French could halve the gap, however, their last came with 24 seconds on the clock, way too late.
Even though they managed to score almost as many goals as Brescia’s previous three rivals combined in this pool, that may not be that uplifting for the French as they are still bottom-ranked in this group.
How they saw it
Alessandro Bovo, coach, Brescia
“It was a very physical match with many exclusions. We did great while attacking six on six, did good positioning and also did great in counterattacks. We had some problems in defence, but don’t forget that Marseille is a very good team with great players.”
Milos Scepanovic, coach, Marseille
“It was a really tough game and even though we lost, I’m proud of the team. We had a good reaction after all the troubles in the Champions League this season. Of course, it was really tough to play once more against an amazing team but at the end we did well, I think.”
