Only 5 goals in one half: HC Linz are shown their limits in Bucharest

2023-11-25 18:34:00

HC Linz AG’s chances of making it into the European Cup round of 16 have fallen drastically with the 23:33 (5:19) on Saturday in Bucharest.

The game got off to a very bad start: after just four minutes, Kaiper overstretched his damaged left knee. During treatment by physio Franz Kainz, the 28-year-old team goalkeeper, who still has a chance at the European Championships in January, holds his face distorted in pain. Four minutes later, Kaiper returns to the field with a slight limp. Even before the international break, the knee in which he had damaged his cruciate ligament in the spring had returned to the former West Viennese player – which was also in Romania at the time.

Linz’s problem area will initially be at the other end of the pitch on Saturday anyway. Against the physically strong defense, the guests seem unimaginative. Mislav Grgic – the top scorer in the domestic league – practically doesn’t get through. After 13 minutes, Linz were down 3:7 and brought playmaker Lucijan Fizuleto onto the field for the first time. This doesn’t have any effect – at 3:9 Milan Vunjak takes the first timeout after 15 minutes.

But it continues in the same tone. When Linz breaks through, the final stop is usually with the Romanian national team goalkeeper Ionut Iancu. By the break Steaua pulled ahead to 19:5. A show of force.

The people of Linz are still lucky: Since the two-time winner of the European national championship cup (1968, 1977) is in a protracted crisis and started the season this year with nine defeats in a row, only around 200 spectators got lost in the Concordia on Saturday. Hall. Despite the home team’s run, the family crowd never becomes a factor.

Picked up four goals

After the break, HC Linz recovered and made the game more balanced, also because Arnad Hamzic – Linz’s best thrower of the game – scored all of his seven goals after the break.

David Zwicklhuber also made a few saves. Kaiper is no longer used at all – probably a precautionary measure.

Captain Christian Kislinger capped off a respectable second half with a seven-meter penalty to make the final score 23:33.

The ten goal deficit is a heavy burden for the second leg next Saturday in Linz-Kleinmünchen.