Hannover (GER) – For places 5-8th

16.30 Jug CO Dubrovnik (CRO) v Banco BPM Sport Management Busto (ITA)
• The two sides met in the prelims, Jug won a tight match at home, 9-8, then they tied 11-11 in Busto.
• Since the introduction of the Final Six/Eight format, this is the first time Jug didn’t reach the semi-finals. In the past four editions they always won on Day 1, but this time they went down against Ferencvaros 10-9. So it’s going to be a new experience for the players to play for the 5-8th places. In fact, Jug is the only former champion in the current finals which didn’t make the top four this time.
• BPM’s first game ever played in the finals ended in one-sided contest which they lost to Barceloneta 12-7.
• Jug scored 9 goals from 24 shots for 37.5%. BPM scored 7 goals from 25 attempts for 28.0%, that was the worst shooting percentage on Thursday.
• Jug was 6 for 15 in man-ups and conceded 2 from 9 in man-downs. BPM netted 5 for 9, got 2 on 11.
• In the goal, Toni Popadic had 8 saves on 18 shots for 44.4%. BPM’s Dejan Lazovic had 10 stops on 19 shots for 52.6%
• As for the team’s top scorers, Jug’s leftie Maro Jokovic had a bad day, scored 1 goal from 6 shots, he has 25 now. Loren Fatovic landed 4 goals, stands with 24, next is Daniil Merkulov with 21 (no goal yesterday) and Anastasios Papanastasiou with 20.
• BPM’s top guns were not on target, Stefano Luongo added one goal (from 7 shots) to have 27, Radomir Drasovic was 1/5 and stands with 17 just as Luca Damonte (he didn’t take a shot Thursday). Cristiano Mirarchi was on fire, he netted 4 goals and now stands with 15.

15.00 Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v AN Brescia (ITA)
• This will the two sides first game in the Champions League, so far they didn’t face each other in either phase.
• The game against Recco was Waspo’s first match in the finals and they did their utmost but still lost 14-10.
• Brescia lost on the first day of the finals for the 4th time in as many occasions. In 2014 they lost to host Barceloneta 4-6 in the QF. In 2017 they were stopped by Eger in the QF (again, by 4-6). Last year they lost to Recco in a penalty shootout (8-8, 4-2), while yesterday they went down against Olympiacos 8-7.
• Waspo’s shooting percentage was 38.5% (10 goals from 38 shots), while Brescia produced 29.2%, (7 goals from 24 shots).
• In man-ups, Waspo was 3 for 10, in man-downs they got 5 from 10. Brescia was 3 for 11, and 2 from 9.
• In the goal, the German national team’s keeper Moritz Schenkel had 8 saves on 22 shots for 36.4%. Italian national team’s goalie Marco del Luongo had 10 saves on 18 shots for 55.6%.
• Regarding the teams’ top scorers, Waspo’s Aleksandar Radovic netted 4 goals (one of three players with 4 goals on Day 1, the others were BPM’s Cristiano Mirarchi and Jug’s Loren Fatovic – all played in losing teams). Now Radovic stands with 34 goals, just one behind the overall leader Konstantinos Genidounias (Olympiacos) who netted 35 so far. In the in-house list of Hannover, Darko Brguljan is next with 27, followed by Alex Georgetti (16) and Julian Real (13).
• Among Brescia’s top scorers in the prelims, only Christian Presciutti could score on Thursday, leader Pietro Figlioli still has 29 goals (he was 0/4), then comes Valerio Rizzo and Presciutti with 19 apiece, and Valentino Gallo with 17.