The postponed second day of the WSE Champions League Men between Sporting and Benfica took place on Wednesday evening. A derby that did not betray expectations because it kept the final outcome uncertain until the last minute with some decisive episodes, including the last two decisive goals of 6-5 and 7-5 between minutes 17 and 18 by Souto and Romero. The Argentine was the real star of the evening with three goals. Girao blocks Benfica’s return in the final seconds including a powerplay as well as a direct shot for the final 7-6, gaining the leadership of the Group B with 7 points.
Most of the WSE Cup games are still very open to be considered concluded. Only three teams have a clear lead which however they will have to maintain in the last 50 minutes of the Round of 16 of the WSE Cup. The current champion Voltregà Movento Stern will be a guest of the French team Noisy and they will start with an 11-2 lead. The Portuguese debutants of Murches will lead for five goals on the rink of the Swiss Diessbach, while the Italian Follonica will have a 6-1 advantage on German soil at the home of Germania Herringen. However, everything was canceled out between Coutras (France) and Braga (Portugal) after the 2-2 tie in the 1st leg in Portugal: whoever wins goes through to the quarter-finals, in a match between the 2023 semi-finalists. There are therefore three Italian teams that have a minimum advantage of one goal to maintain in the “return” matches, fruits of the victory in the first 50 minutes. TeamServiceCar Monza will have to face the highly rated Noia Freixenet, launched in Spain in second place, Edilfox Grosseto will be the guest of the young talents of Igualada, while Valdagno will play in La Roche Sur Yon against the ambitious La Vendeenne. PAS Alcoi, which is performing well in the OK Liga, will try to progress to the difficult stage of the Italian Sarzana (fourth in Serie A1), having a one-goal advantage to guard.
Rodriguez (CP Voltregà Movento Stern) in the game against Noisy – Credit Photo: Alba Tarres
PODCASTS AND HIGHLIGHTS
In our WSETV all the complete matches and the highlights of the every match http://europe.worldskate.tv/channel/?channelId=1370-wse-cup-2023-2024.html
WSE Cup – Knockout Stage
2nd Leg | 20/01/2024
17:30 (CET) 16:30 (GMT) – RHC Diessbach (SWI) x GRF Murches (POR) – 1st leg: 4-9 | LIVE WSETV | Referees: Claudio Ferraro (ITA), Alfonso Rago (ITA)
18:00 (CET) – SK Germania Herringen (GER) x Follonica Hockey (ITA) – 1st leg 1-6 | LIVE WSETV | Referees: Nuno Melo (FRA), Jordi Steff (SWI)
19:30 (CET) – CE Noia Freixenet (SPA) x TeamServiceCar HRC Monza (ITA) – 1st leg 2-3 | LIVE WSETV | Referees: Joaquim Pinto (POR), Pedro Silva (POR)
20:30 (CET) 19:30 (GMT) – Coutras RH (FRA) x HC Braga (POR) – 1st leg 2-2 | LIVE WSETV | Referees: Alberto Lopez (SPA), Daniel Pico (SPA)
20:30 (CET) – CS Noisy RS (FRA) x CP Voltrega Movento Stern (SPA) – 1st leg 2-11 | LIVE WSETV | Referees: Pedro Figueiredo (POR), Silvia Coelho (POR)
20:30 (CET) – Igualada Rigat HC (SPA) x Edilfox Grosseto (ITA) – 1st leg 2-3 | LIVE WSETV | Referees: Rui Torres (SPA), Carlos Correia (POR)
20:30 (CET) – HC La Vendeenne (FRA) x HC Valdagno (ITA) – 1st leg 3-4 | LIVE WSETV | Referees: Alvaro De La Hera (SPA), David Cantos (SPA)
21:00 (CET) – Gamma Innovation Sarzana (ITA) x PAS Alcoi (SPA) – 1st leg 3-4 | LIVE WSETV | Referees: Miguel Guilherme (POR), Joao Catrapona (POR)
Quarter-finals | 1st Leg – 17/2/2024 | 2nd Leg – 16/3/2024
Winner GRF Murches (POR) x RHC Diessbach (SWI) against Winner Follonica Hockey (ITA) x SK Germania Herringen (GER)
Winner CP Voltregà Movento Stern (SPA) x CS Noisy RS (FRA) against Winner HC Braga (POR) x Coutras RH (FRA)
Winner PAS Alcoi (SPA) x Gamma Innovation Hockey Sarzana (ITA) against TeamServiceCar HRC Monza (ITA) x CE Noia Freixenet
Winner Edilfox Grosseto (ITA) x Igualada RIgat HC (SPA) against HC Valdagno (ITA) x HC La Vendeenne (FRA)
Final Four PBD | Semifinals – 13/4/2024 | Final – 14/4/2024
WSE Champions League Men – Group Phas
Matchday 2
17/1/2024 – Group B – 19:30 (GMT) – Sporting CP (POR) x SL Benfica (POR) = 7-6
Standing (after the third matchday)
Group A: Barça (SPA) 9points, OC Barcelos (POR) 6 points, Centro Porsche Firenze Versilia H.Forte (ITA) 3 points, Deportivo Liceo (SPA) 0 points
Group B: Sporting CP (POR) 7 points (3 gp), SL Benfica (POR) 6 points (3 gp), CP Parlem Calafell (SPA) 4 points, Reus Deportiu Virginia (SPA) 0 points
Group C: FC Porto Fidelidade (POR) 6 points, Hockey Trissino (ITA) 6 points, SC Tomar IPT (POR) 4 points, Finques Prats Lleida (6PA) 1 point
Group D: UD Oliveirense Simo6des (POR) 9 points, AD Valongo Colquimica (POR) 4 points, SCRA Saint-Omer (FRA) 3 points, Amatori Wasken Lodi (ITA) 1 point
