Luxembourg, November 13, 2019. Wednesday's clash between the reigning national champions of Austria and Croatia, SK Zadruga AICH/DOB and Mladost ZAGREB, respectively, held in Klagenfurt was full of emotions. Last week, the team from Croatia earned a 3-1 home win, so the hosts had to claim the re-match 3-0 or 3-1 to cement their chances to stay in contention for a spot in the group stage. With much support from their home crowd, they managed to earn a hard-fought 3-1 victory, but in the Golden Set the local team made too many own errors and it was Mladost ZAGREB having the initiative. Eventually, the champions of Croatia secured a spot in the third round and will face there the winner of the game OK BUDVA vs. Benfica LISBOA.

SK Zadruga AICH/DOB (AUT) vs. Mladost ZAGREB (CRO) 3-1 (26-28, 25-18, 28-26, 25-23), Golden Set 9-15

• The opener was full of turn of events, ZAGREB led 13-9, but AICH/DOB were able to reduce the gap by putting much pressure on their opponent and jumped to a 20-18 advantage. A thrilling neck-to-neck race followed (26-26), but in the end Mladost were one little step ahead and wrapped it up at 28-26.
• Despite losing the first set, AICH/DOB came out extremely strong at the beginning of the second set (10-5). Though the Croatians showed much determination to get back on track (9-12), the Austrians found their rhythm (22-15) and did not waste their chances, pocketing the second set with a comprehensive 25-18 scoreline.
• The locals stretched that momentum into the early stages of the third set (6-4) by pressuring the Croatian champions. Exciting rallies on both sides delighted the audience as the visitors put much effort in keeping the score in balance (21-21), but this time the luck was on AICH/DOB’s side who could finish it off at 28-26, thus staying alive in the quest for a spot in Round 3.
• Mladost ZAGREB started out strong setting the pace once more (6-2), but the locals fought back narrowing the gap down to one point (13-14) after both teams were forced to take a time-out. Unnecessary errors on both sides marked the fourth set, but with the support of the 1,428 spectators in attendance the Austrian champions could finally make the nearly impossible possible and reach the Golden Set (25-23).
• AICH/DOB tried to stand the Croatian storm at the beginning of the all-deciding set (1-5) by showing some good actions, but Mladost ZAGREB were always one big step ahead (12-8) and finally reached the 3rd Round of the CEV Champions League quite easily with (15-9).
• Home star Peter Mlynarcik finished the match with a personal tally of 31 points to become the top scorer for the hosts. Marino Marelic scored 24 points for Mladost.