Kiel in quarter-finals; Porto and Plock set up crucial last clash

In group B, FC Porto held on to their hopes for a play-off spot with a 32:30 win against RK Celje Pivovarna Laško. Orlen Wisla Plock drew 32:32 with GOG to be one point ahead before their direct duel for the last spot with Porto.

• THW Kiel won the thriller in Szeged to become the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals – the biggest gap in an equal second half was two goals
• Aalborg did not do more than they had to to take the points in Bitola
• Szeged remain fifth in group A, with sixth-placed Zagreb set to play Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday
• in group B, Plock showed a great comeback, taking an extremely important point from GOG
• Pelister and Celje remain on zero points

GROUP A

OTP Bank-PICK Szeged (HUN) vs THW Kiel (GER) 27:28 (14:16)

With their ninth win in 13 matches, THW Kiel qualified for the quarter-finals – and are very close to winning the group, while OTP Bank-PICK Szeged still have to wait for their ticket to the play-offs. The visitors turned a 4:6 deficit with a 5:0 run and continued to lead until the break. The biggest gap in the first half was four goals at 12:8, with Kiel’s Swedish left back Eric Johansson proving his firepower with four goals before the break. But the hosts struck back, boosted by current Champions League top scorer Mario Sostaric, who was on fire again. The match was on the edge throughout the second half as Kiel took the lead and Szeged levelled. Eight minutes before the end, the hosts managed to break the spell to take their first lead in 40 minutes at 25:24. In the last two minutes, THW turned the page again, when Johansson and Nikola Bilyk secured the win and the ticket to the quarter-finals. Johansson and Sostaric were top scorers with eight goals each.

HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD) vs Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) 28:33 (14:17)

Aalborg remain in the hunt for top spot, trailing Kiel by two points before the final round. Despite the victory in Bitola and having 18 points now, the Danish side are not through to the quarter-finals, as Paris Saint-Germain still can pass them. Eurofarm Pelister showed one of their best performances of the season, but were defeated for the 13th time in the same number of matches. The hosts were on an equal level until 10:10 in the 17th minute, then Aalborg accelerated and profited from a 5:2 run. The match was effectively decided by the 39th minute, when Kristian Bjørnsen netted for a 24:17 lead for Aalborg. Although Eurofarm Pelister managed to improve, the victory was never endangered. Top scorer of the match was Filip Kuzmanovski with nine goals for the hosts, who had lost the reverse fixture much clearer (23:38).

GROUP B

GOG (DEN) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) 32:32 (17:14)

Orlen Wisla Plock made another huge step towards the play-offs thanks to a great comeback, and put the pressure on FC Porto. With nine points now, they are three ahead of the Portuguese side, who they face in the final round. GOG gave their sixth win of the season from their hands in the last 10 minutes and remain in fifth. Abel Serdio was Plock’s hero, netting for the draw with the final whistle. As in the reverse fixture, when GOG took their only away win so far (30:26), the Danish side was stronger at both ends of the court in the first 50 minutes – especially in the goalkeeper position, where Tobias Thulin (14 saves) won the duel against Plock’s duo Marcel Jastrzebski and Mirko Alilovic. When Alexandre Blonz netted for the sixth time for 26:20, the winner seemed to be confirmed – but in the final stages, the Polish side showed great morale, while GOG lacked precision in attack. Thanks to a 4:1 run, Plock reduced the gap to 29:30. Suddenly, the previously one-side match had become a thriller, and the first equal result was with the final buzzer. The top scorer was GOG’s Emil Madsen, who added nine goals to his tally to reach a total of 82 for the season.

FC Porto (POR) vs RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (SLO) 32:30 (14.11)

FC Porto arranged everything for the great final for the last spot of the play-offs. After Plock had taken the point in Odense, the hosts needed to win – and they delivered. But head coach Carlos Resende’s team decided the close encounter only in the last minutes. Unlucky Celje again lost a game they could have won, and remain on zero points. Before the break, the hosts were ahead several times by four goals and when they managed to score for the 19:14 lead less than 10 minutes into the second half, they seemed to be on the winners’ way. But then Celje struck back and shocked Porto with a 10:4 run to take the lead at 24:23 10 minutes before the end. Porto woke up and turned the match around again, but needed to wait until the last minute, when Nikolaj Læsø finally decided the match at 32:30 with his sixth strike. The top scorers were Antonio Areia with nine goals for Porto and Uros Milicevic with 10 strikes for Celje.

Main photo © Eliza Sólya