No home party, but a third and decisive match in France: Ostend has not (yet) qualified for the 1/8th finals in the Champions League tonight. The Belgian champion had won the first match, but had a taste of his own medicine in the return. The decider will be played at Nanterre next Wednesday.
Was there stress or a bit of laziness after the victory last week? Ostend was weak in the first quarter, Nanterre showed a different face and was hyper efficient.
While the home team piled up the loss of possession, the French were very busy with offensive rebounds and scores from turnovers. The gap of more than 15 points spoke volumes.
Ostend put too little pressure, did not defend intensely enough and could not stop Nanterre’s passing. Despite a better second quarter, the difference was clear halfway through: 36-45.
Dario Gjergja’s umpteenth thunder sermon had the desired effect after the short reflection.
With a 7-0 intermediate sprint, a sharper Ostend almost leveled the score, but the French answer did not take too long to arrive. Although Nanterre also clearly found it difficult to continue the pace set before half-time.
With a deficit of 6 points, everything was still possible for Ostend when the last quarter started, but it missed its start completely and collapsed painfully.
A French victory and a decisive match was the logical verdict after a match in which a disappointing Ostend played too little as a team.
“We didn’t show up enough, they were just better,” Simon Buysse summarized the match simply. “Nanterre played more physically than us and kept us under 70 points. Not many teams have done that against us.”
“We were allowed to lose, they had to win. I don’t know if that played a role, but something like that creeps into the back of your mind. Although it should not be an excuse.”
Next week it’s make or break. “Today was a better chance to finish it, but we have already won in Paris. So it is not impossible. It is still in our own hands.”
