Hungary outclass Austria to secure second spot in Silver #EuroLeagueM Finals
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On Sunday, Team Austria lost their final match of the men’s CEV European Silver League pool stage in straight sets to Hungary, 0-3 (18-25, 20-25, 18-25). In just 91 minutes, Hungary – coached by Peter Nagy – delivered a dominant performance at the Johann-Pölz-Halle in Amstetten, thereby securing second place in the standings and a spot in the finals against group stage winners Sweden.
While the Hungarian side celebrated their crucial win, there was disappointment on the Austrian bench. Head coach Radovan Gacic didn’t hold back: “Our worst game in the past five years. There was no energy, no fight. This performance was simply unacceptable.”
Gacic added: “I said before the game: we can’t label matches as important or unimportant. Every game – especially at home – matters. Even if we were already out of contention [for a spot in the finals], this must not happen.”
Hungary had a clear objective: a 3-0 win was needed to overtake Luxembourg for second place. Coach Nagy expressed satisfaction in his post-match interview:
“We had to win 3:0 to reach the playoff. Yesterday’s match against Sweden was disappointing, but today I’m satisfied. Sweden has a strong team, and we didn’t perform well against them – now I’m looking forward to the playoff.”
Austria’s players also expressed frustration. Outside hitter Noel Krassnig said: “We let it slip. We definitely gave it a try, but maybe we underestimated them – especially since we played quite well against Sweden, unlike Hungary. Today, even the simple things didn’t work.”
Austria’s top scorer was Lukas Glatz with 11 points, followed by Michael Czerwinski with eight. Hungary’s standout performers were Kristóf Horváth (15) and Kristóf József Szalai (12).
In the final League Round standings, Sweden finished first with a perfect record of six wins from six matches. Hungary and Luxembourg each had five wins and one loss, with Hungary taking second place due to their higher match points ratio. Austria ended in fourth place out of eight nations with a balanced 3-3 record.