Metalurg took a hard-earned and close victory, which leaves chances to both teams in the second leg. The first 20 minutes were something like a re-match of the EHF EURO 2012 semi-final Serbia vs. Croatia, when the Croats fought hard with extraordinary easily the best European goalkeeper Darko Stanic. And he was the reason why the match had not been decided early. With his saves Stanic kept Metalurg's hopes alive.
Both teams were extremely focused on their defence sides, which resulted in the fact that at the break only 16 goals had been scored. After Metalurg had the better start with 3:2, Zagreb took control as their defence stood like a wall and the Macedonians lacked the means to get through. In the 22' minute Zagreb was in front 7:4, but Metalurg reduced the gap to two goals at the break.
And the result remained nearly equal until the middle of the second half, still with strong defence sides. When Metalurg scored a 3:0 series the hall “Boris Trikovski” went crazy, as the host had turned the game and grabbed back the lead at 14:13.
And as Zagreb became nervous Metalurg increased the lead to16:14 and 18:16. When goalkeeper Petar Angelov saved a penalty shot of Marko Kopljar the gate was open for a clear victory, however the referess proved somewhat harsh against the Macedonian team when they gave a 2 min. suspension to Markovic which immideatelly had an impact on the score. Zagreb with a player plus on the field, reduced the lead to 19:18. With 30 seconds to go, Metalurg coach Lino Cervar took his time-out, but the final attack of his team was blocked.
