FC Porto Sofarma beat Liberbank Cuenc, from Spain, at home, 37-26, for matchday 1 of Group C of the EHF Cup. The team led by Magnus Andersson is in the lead of the group, along with Holstebro, from Denmark, who beat the Romanian team Dobrogea Sud Constanta, 29-25.

On the opening day of the competition, the match started extremely balanced, with both teams playing with caution. The blue and whites gained a first advantage, 3-1, but the Spanish team shortened the distance in the scoreboard and even took the lead by one goal for a while.

The home team again gained a slight momentum and resumed the two goals lead on two more occasions. And then Alfredo Quintana came up. The blue and white goalkeeper did two fantastic saves to two strong shots from the visitors and then, on minute 22, the Dragons finally reached a three goals lead. By then, Quintana had already saved eight shots.

After that, FC Porto Sofarma started building an even bigger gap in the scoreboard and played with more confidence, ending the first-half winning 20-12.

In the second-half, the differences remained and, despite the effort of Brazilian player Dutra Ferreira in the Spanish team, truth is that the Dragons, after ten minutes, reached the biggest difference until then, leading by ten goals (24-14).

The blue and whites managed the lead until the end, winning 37-26. Fábio Magalhães (seven goals), Daymaro Salina (six) and António Areia (six) were the best for the Dragons.

FC Porto Sofarma will return to domestic competitions on Wednesday, February 13, also at Dragão Caixa. Matchday 24 of Andebol 1, against Belenenses, will be anticipated and starts at 20h30, with live broadcast on Porto Canal.

MATCH REPORT

FC PORTO SOFARMA-LIBERBANK CUENCA, 37-26 
EHF Cup, Group C, matchday 1
February 9, 2019
Dragão Caixa, Porto
Referees: Péter Herczeg and Péter Südi (Hungary)

FC PORTO SOFARMA: Alfredo Quintana and Thomas Bauer (g.k.); Víctor Iturriza (1), Yoan Balázquez (2), Miguel Martins (2), Djibril Mbengue (4), Ángel Hernández (2), Rui Silva (2), Daymaro Salina (6), Leonel Fernandes (1), Alexis Borges (1), Diogo Branquinho, António Areia (6), André Gomes, Miguel Alves (3) and Fábio Magalhães (7)
Coach: Magnus Andersson

LIBERBANK CUENCA: Kilian Ramírez and Leonel Maciel (1) (g.k.); Leonardo Dutra Ferreira (10), Martin Doldán (1), Natán Suárez (1), David Mendoza (2), Santiago Baronetto (2), Hugo López, Lucas Moscariello, Thiago Ponciano (3), Adrián Nolasco (1), Oscar Río (2), Kristian Eskericic, Sergio López and Ángel Montoro (3)

Coach: Lidio Jiménez

At halftime: 20-12