Sabadel – Olympiacos 16-10 / The “red and white” were defeated by the “queen” in the final

The women’s water polo team of Olympiakos will return from Barcelona with the second place in Europe.

The red and whites failed to dethrone Sabadell from the top, as they were defeated 16-10 in the final of the final-4 of the Champions League.

The Spanish team had two impressive bursts, one in the second and one in the third period, which allowed them to triumphantly win the title, for the seventh time in their history, now only one trophy away from the triumph of the institution Orizonte Catania.

The Greek players did not find offensive solutions at the beginning of the game, with Sabadel opening the scoring with a goal by Giustini, but Ioanna Stamatopoulou kept her team “up”, even repelling a penalty by Bea Ortiz.

In Olympiakos’ second penalty kick, Siouti equalized with a smart shot, but Kasado immediately responded by surprising Stamatopoulou. Thus, the first eight minutes ended 2-1, with Eleftheria Pleuritou having completed two penalties from very early on (as in yesterday’s semi-final).

At the beginning of the second period, the “red and white” managed to take the lead – for the first and only time in the match – with goals from Vassos Pleuritou and Myriokephalitaki, but a nightmarish two minutes followed, in which the Spanish team scored four unanswered goals (6- 3), forcing Dimitris Kravaritis to take a time-out. Tricha gave a solution to the above, but in a similar way Irene Gonzalez formed the 7-4 of the half.

Olympiacos “made” a reaction at the beginning of the third period and reduced to 7-6, with a very nice shot by Vassos Pleuritou and a goal by Hydiriotis on a player above, after an excellent assist by Xenaki. The “red and whites” even had a chance to equalize immediately after, but they did not use the attack with a numerical advantage (an offensive foul was indicated) and Sabadell quickly regained the reins of the match. With Gonzales and Giustini as protagonists, the European champion scored five consecutive goals in 2.5 minutes, escaped 13-7 and effectively “cleaned” the final. The difference even reached +8 (15-7), with Olympiakos somewhat “collecting” it in the last minutes.

The eight minutes: 2-1, 5-3, 6-3, 3-3

The evolution of the score: 1-0 Giustini (p.p.), 1-1 Ciouti (p.p.), 2-1 Kasado (region), 2-2 V. Pleuritou (region), 2-3 Myriokefalitaki ( kicker), 3-3 Giustini (district), 4-3 Garcia (kicker), 5-3 Forca (against), 6-3 Forca (p.p.), 6-4 Tricha (p.p.), 7 -4 Gonzales (p.p.), 7-5 B. Pleuritou (region), 7-6 Hydiriotis (p.p.), 8-6 Gonzales (region), 8-7 B. Pleuritou (p.p. ), 9-7 Giustini (district), 10-7 Gonzalez (district), 11-7 Van der Sloot (penalty), 12-7 Giustini (point), 13-7 Garcia (district), 14-7 Van der Sloot (penalty), 15-7 Giustini (circle), 15-8 Drakotou (bassimo), 15-9 Eleftheriadou (penalty), 15-10 Myriokephalitaki (header), 16-10 Ortiz (point).

Olympiacos had 4/11 with a player over, 1/2 penalty, 2 goals from the perimeter, 2 from the kicker position and 1 with a shot.
Sabadell had 5/7 with a player over, 2/3 penalties, 7 goals from the perimeter, 1 from the kicker position and 1 on the counter.

Eleftheria Pleuritou (2΄36΄΄ before the end of the third period) and Matilde Ortiz (4΄45΄΄ before the end of the game) were expelled with three penalties.

Referees: Ferrari (Italy), Margeta (Slovenia)

The compositions:
CHAMBADEL (David Palma): Esther, Matt. Ortiz, Leighton, Van der Sloot 2, Koenig, Casado 1, Giustini 5, Garcia 2, Forca 2, B. Ortiz 1, Jurado, Gonzalez 3, Carrasco
OLYMPIAKOS (Dimitris Kravaritis): Stamatopoulou, Eleft. Pleuritou, Hydirioti 1, Eleftheriadou 1, Tricha 1, Xenaki, Siouti 1, Marg. Pleuritou, Santa, V. Pleuritou 3, Drakotou 1, Myriokephalitaki 2, Nigro

** In the “small” final that preceded it, Sant Andreu beat Mataro 8-7, thanks to a goal by Crespi 47 seconds before the end, and took third place, in its maiden participation in the final-4 of the Champions League.