Kielce and Barça look to tighten grip on top spot

Kielce have the opportunity to increase their advantage on top of group A in the EHF Champions League Men as they take on Elverum on Thursday.

In the battle for the third place, important points will be at stake, both on Wednesday and Thursday. Paris, Meshkov and Szeged all have an eye on the third spot, with the team from Belarus clinging on as they head to Paris.

In group B, Barça can confirm top spot with only one point against Nantes and can extend their series of 42 unbeaten EHF Champions League home matches in a row. Barça’s hunters Veszprém and Motor meet, while Nantes hope to extend their current winning streak at Aalborg.

Both THW Kiel home matches against Aalborg and Celje, scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, were postponed due to a COVID-19 case in the defending champions’ squad.

GROUP A

Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) vs HC Meshkov Brest (BLR)
Wednesday 17 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Meshkov won the first meeting between the two teams in round 3, 32:31
• the club from Belarus are currently third in the group with eleven points (11 games played) while Paris are back in fourth with eight points (7 games played)
• Brest gathered ten of their eleven points at home, they only managed to get one point away, in Flensburg (29:29)
• Paris’ Mikkel Hansen is currently second in the top scorers’ ranking, with 56 goals, while Meshkov’s Marko Panic is third with 52 goals
• Paris have won their last three games in the EHF Champions League. They are also undefeated in the French Lidl Starligue, after winning their 14th game on Saturday against Creteil (28:24)

MOTW: MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN) vs HC Vardar 1961 (MKD)
Thursday 18 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• the sides met as recently as Sunday in Skopje and Szeged won 28:26
• the Hungarian side is currently fifth in the group, with eight points, while Vardar remain last with three points
• Vardar have yet to take their first point away from home this season, while Szeged gathered six of their eight points on home court
• Bence Banhidi, Szeged’s best scorer this season, has netted 38 times, twice more than Vardar’s top scorer Timur Dibirov

Lomza Vive Kielce (POL) vs Elverum Handball (NOR)
Thursday 18 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• the reverse fixture was a one-sided matter as Kielce won 31:22 in Elverum
• the Polish side currently lead the group with 15 points, while Elverum are second from bottom with four points
• Kielce are undefeated at home in the competition since October 2019 and have won all their home games this season
• Kielce’s Alex Dujshebaev is currently the top scorer in the competition with 57 goals
• this game will be the first, in any competition, for Elverum in 2021

GROUP B

Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) vs. HC Motor (UKR)
Wednesday 17 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Veszprém are second in this group with 15 points, three points ahead of Motor
• Motor have won only one of seven matches against Veszprém in the competition’s history, back in 2014, followed by five straight defeats.
• Veszprém won the first leg at Zaporozhye 37:34 after a 18:17 deficit at the break
• Motor won their last six matches in 2020, before they were defeated 34:23 in their 2021 opener at Kiel
• with 50 goals to his name (including 10 from the first leg), Petar Nenadic is the top scorer for Veszprém, four goals ahead of Viascheslau Bokhan (Motor).

Barça (ESP) vs. HBC Nantes (FRA)
Wednesday 17 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Barça have won all eleven group matches so far and have an outstanding goal difference of +81
• one point against Nantes is enough to confirm the first place in this group for Barça
• Nantes won two matches last week, including their first home victory of the season, a 38:29 against Aalborg, followed by a 34:24 win at Zagreb
• Nantes have taken six from eight points in away matches, including a victory at Kiel
• two Spanish wings are the top scorers of both sides: Aleix Gomez with 51 goals for Barça and Valero Rivera (former Barça player) with 47 goals for Nantes

Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) vs. HC PPD Zagreb (CRO)
Thursday 18 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Aalborg have taken ten points from ten matches, while Zagreb are still on zero after the same number of matches.
• The hosts lost their last three home matches against Barça, Veszprém and Kiel and only scored one victory from their last six matches
• it is the first EHF Champions League home match for Aalborg’s newly crowned world champions Magnus Saugstrup, Henrik Møllgaard, Nicolaj Laesø and Benjamin Jakobsen and the Swedish silver medallists Mikael Aggefors, Felix Claar and Lukas Sandell
• in Zagreb, Aalborg turned a 15:12 half-time deficit into a last-second 27:26 victory