Four teams have secured their places in the Champions League group stage after the second day of qualification, with Novi Beograd, Oradea, Brescia and Panathinaikos all booking their tickets to the next phase.
Two places remain available, with decisive games still to come on Sunday.
Novi Beograd and Oradea advance from Group A
Novi Beograd confirmed qualification in emphatic fashion with a 21-14 victory over Spandau in Oradea.
The German side stayed level at 8-8 during the second quarter, but Novi Beograd then took control with four unanswered goals to open a 12-8 advantage.
From there, the Serbian side steadily extended its lead, with Marko Urosevic and Dusan Martinovic scoring four goals apiece.
Novi Beograd were particularly effective with the extra player, converting 10 of their 14 opportunities, while keeping Spandau scoreless from five power plays.
Hosts Oradea joined them in the group stage after defeating Strasbourg 10-8.
The Romanian side led throughout and built a commanding 9-3 advantage early in the fourth quarter after holding Strasbourg scoreless for around 11 minutes.
Strasbourg responded with a late rally, but Oradea had already done enough to secure qualification.
Brescia survive huge A-Polo challenge
Brescia secured first place in Group B after eventually overcoming A-Polo Sport Management 21-17 in Tbilisi.
The Georgian side threatened to produce one of the biggest surprises of the qualification round, leading 14-11 during the third quarter.
Brescia responded with four consecutive goals to move ahead 15-14, although Nikola Moskov — who finished with six goals — quickly restored parity.
The game remained level at 16-16 during the fourth quarter before Brescia finally broke away, scoring five unanswered goals to establish a decisive 21-16 advantage.
Oliver Leinweber led Brescia with six goals, while Francesco Giri and Vincenzo Del Basso added four each.
Sabadell also kept their qualification hopes alive with a convincing 20-12 victory over Budva.
Budva led five times during an entertaining opening quarter, but Sabadell took control with a 5-0 run across the end of the first and beginning of the second period.
Fran Valera scored five for the Spanish side, who will now face A-Polo in a direct battle for the group’s second qualification place.
Brescia sit top with six points, while Sabadell and A-Polo both have three.
Historic qualification for Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos secured Champions League group-stage qualification for the first time in the club’s history after beating Honved 9-7 in Split.
The Greek side had already defeated hosts Jadran on Friday and completed their qualification campaign with a second victory.
Honved made Panathinaikos work for it.
After the Greeks moved 2-0 ahead, the Hungarian side recovered to level at 2-2 and remained within two goals for much of the contest.
Panathinaikos eventually created some breathing room early in the fourth quarter, scoring twice to move 9-5 ahead.
Honved pulled two goals back but could not complete the comeback.
Chalyvopoulos led Panathinaikos with three goals, while Papasifakis added two. For Honved, Vadovics and Vickovic scored twice each.
The clearest statistical difference came on the power play. Panathinaikos converted three of seven extra-player opportunities, while Honved finished 0/7.
With Panathinaikos already qualified, Jadran and Honved will now meet to determine who joins them in the group stage.
Champions League qualification – Day Two results
Group A – Oradea
Novi Beograd 21-14 Spandau
Oradea 10-8 Strasbourg
Standings: Novi Beograd 6, Oradea 5, Spandau 1, Strasbourg 0.
Group B – Tbilisi
Sabadell 20-12 Budva
A-Polo Sport Management 17-21 Brescia
Standings: Brescia 6, Sabadell 3, A-Polo 3, Budva 0.
Group C – Split
Panathinaikos 9-7 Honved
Standings: Panathinaikos 6 (2 games), Jadran 0 (1), Honved 0 (1).
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