Summary: Elverum stun PSG with draw; Veszprém take biggest first-leg win
The EHF Champions League Men 2021/22 entered its knockout phase with the first leg of the play-offs on Wednesday and Thursday. Flensburg and Veszprém were the winners of their respective ties, while two other games ended in a draw.
It was an amazing match and we are players to play these types of games. Champions League is the highest competition and we are here for this. It was amazing to play for these fans. Unfortunately we couldn’t win, but we made a great result and now we start both at 0:0 and then see who is going next round.
21:21 HALF-TIME | PORTO VS MONTPELLIER 13:14
Montpellier take the narrowest of leads into the half-time break at Porto. One important element in Montpellier's improved performance has been the entry of goalkeeper Kevin Bonnefoi, who has saved at 50 per cent against eight shots.
In Porto's goal, Sebastian Frandsen made some memorable saves and notched up a tally of six.
Below, check out a rundown of the leading scorers in the opening 30 minutes.
21:12
We seem to be following the same recipe as the first of tonight's games, which saw home side Vardar leading early before Veszprém turned the tables late in the half and finished with a commanding win.
Porto's advantage has melted to nothing, with the score now level at 10:10 and eight minutes to go until the break. The comeback was driven by the back court — mainly Diego Simonet — in combination with line player Arthur Lenne, who netted two straight goals that brought the difference to one.
Can Porto prevent the same fate as Vardar? Hard to believe the Portuguese side could crumble so much as to lose decisively, but Vardar were not far behind their opponents until late in the first half either...
21:05
Into the second quarter of the game, Porto have opened a lead of 9:6. Victor Iturriza remains one of the Portuguese team's keys in attack, with three goals now.
Enjoy one of his best so far below, with a gorgeous assist from Djibril Omar Mbengue.
20:55
Nine minutes played and it's a level game so far at Porto, with the home side just in front at 4:3.
Both teams have two players with two goals from two shots so far — for Porto, line player Victor Iturriza; for Montpellier, back Kyllian Villeminot.
Twice MVP of youth age championships playing for France, Villeminot is now 23 but has been developing at Montpellier as part of their Champions League squad since 2015/16. His first Champions League goals were scored in the 2017/18 season, when Montpellier won the title, and he is now one of the side's most valuable attackers with 50 goals this season prior to the opening play-off tonight.
My team has been working hard for the last two months, but today we only played in the first 15 minutes, but that is proof that after the changes it is difficult to reach the level needed for such matches in a short period of time. Vardar will continue to work, to progress. The players take their work seriously and I believe that we will reach the required level in time.
Nothing is over. We will approach the second match as seriously as possible. I want to thank the fans who cheered us on despite the defeat.
I have great respect for Vardar and [David] Davis for everything he does with the team. At first, David Davis was my coach, and then he helped me a lot in the beginning of my coaching career.
I did not expect such a result in Skopje. We know that they play great — especially at home in this atmosphere. The first 15 minutes were not good for us. We started the dispute with a lot of standing. We changed the game in defense to 5-1 and I think it was crucial that we led at half-time with four goals. We had a lot of help from the goalkeepers [Rodrigo] Corrales and [Vladimir] Cupara. We are satisfied with the victory, but this is only the first half.
There are no weak teams in the Champions League, so if we are playing the play-off to access the quarter-finals we have to expect the greatest games. We will fight and do our best to continue in this competition. Montpellier is a great team but FC Porto also. They have their weapons and so do we. We are excited to play this game.
It was the hard game we expected. It was a very good game from both defensive lines and both goalkeepers. First of all, we are very happy with the win. We know there is coming a very hard game in Szeged with a full hall so we would have liked to have two or three goals more.
22:26 | RESULT: FLENSBURG VS SZEGED 25:21 (14:10)
It was four at the break, it is four in the end: Flensburg take a useful, but far from decisive lead over Szeged in their play-off tie. Hampus Wanne and Imanol Garciandia the best scorers, with five each.
22:17
Team timeout Flensburg. They are four up (25:21) with one minute to play. Can they make it five ahead of the return game in Hungary next week?
22:11
Spin it like Steinhauser:
22:06
Szeged avoided defeat earlier this season in two group matches against another German team, THW Kiel, winning 30:26 at home and drawing 32:32 in the away game.
Can they keep their record intact tonight?
21:55
Precision matters!
21:49
Szeged are getting back into this. Also thanks to Mirko Alilovic, who comes on to save a Marius Steinhauser penalty. The difference remains only two.
21:26 | HALF-TIME: FLENSBURG VS SZEGED 14:10
Better start for Szeged, better finish for Flensburg: the German side come from behind to take a four-goal lead at the break. Should make for an interesting second half!
21:18
Flensburg take control and build a five-goal lead near the end of the first half, thanks to goals like this one:
21:09
Team timeout Szeged. Coach Juan Carlos must talk to his players, who were 3:1 up early on but are meanwhile a few goals behind Flensburg.
21:01
He has let slip that one (see 20:55), but Roland Mikler is doing Roland Mikler things again tonight:
20:55
Save Roland Mikler... or not? This one just rolls over the line as Flensburg and Szeged are at 3:3 after eight minutes.
20:39
The play-offs could hardly have started any better, but there is no time to waste as we travel to Germany for the second game of the night: SG Flensburg Handewitt versus Pick Szeged.
The head-to-head stats tend to favour the hosts tonight: Flensburg and Szeged faced each other eight times in the EHF Champions League since 2011. The German side won six confrontations; Szeged one. (And, yes, well counted, there was one draw.)
It was a crazy game. I am just proud of my team. We were fighting for 60 minutes and it paid off with a draw.
20:11 | RESULT: MOTW ELVERUM vs PSG 30:30 (13:15)
What. A. Comeback. Elverum recover from five goals down early in the second half to take a draw against PSG in the MOTW. A last-second rocket from Eric Johanssen ends their eight-match losing streak - and what a time to do it! It marks the first time in five matches against PSG that they do not lose.
20:03
It have been goals like these that helped Elverum back into this MOTW:
20:00
Wow, respect for Elverum, who were five down but have completely closed the gap and are back on level terms with PSG in this MOTW, with 10 minutes to go!
19:53
It is the MOTW of the line players so far. This one from Kamil Syprzak:
19:42
Team timeout Elverum. PSG have quickly gone five up (20:15) in the second half so Elverum need to react rather sooner than later - especially in attack, you feel.
19:38
Here is that strike from Elohim Prandi just before the half-time buzzer:
19:29
Eric Johansson = P.O.W.E.R.
19:24
Let's hear about the first half of this MOTW from EHF journalist Björn Pazen:
"How would PSG tactically cope with the long-term injury of top star and top scorer Mikkel Hansen? This was the main question before the MOTW. And who could replace injured Dominik Máthéin Elverum’s attack?
In the first, quite nervous minutes, both questions could not be answered, but suddenly tall Polish line player Kamil Syprzak became the key player in the PSG squad, playing in an unstoppable way, and Luc Steins showed his one-against-one class.
And as on the other end of the court, Yann Genty was in a stable form, Paris pulled ahead quite easily, as the respect of the host was too huge, and they might had in mind that they had lost the last eight group matches. Endre Langaas is Elverum’s strongest weapon in attack, but some of his teammates lacked efficiency in their shots.
But still, the gap is only two goals. Elverum still can take their first ever points against PSG."
19:19 | HALF-TIME: MOTW ELVERUM vs PSG 13:15
A last-second strike by Elohim Prandi gives PSG a two-goal lead at the break. But nice to Elverum keeping up with the pace in this MOTW.
And, interestingly, eight goals from Elverum from the line, evenly devided between Endre Langaas and Thomas Solstad. PSG's Kamil Syprzak, though, the best scorer with five.
19:08
Trademark Luc Steins:
18:59
Meet the MOTW top scorer of the first 14 minutes... Endre Langaas with four!
18:54
Elverum a bit sloppy on their shooting in the opening minutes as PSG go 4:2 up early on.
18:45
Let the play-offs begin!
18:37
Both teams are missing a key player for the rest of the season - and both these players will move to another club in the summer.
PSG top scorer Mikkel Hansen, who netted 75 times in the group phase, is ruled out after undergoing right knee surgery and suffering from subsequent complications. He will return to Denmark to join Aalborg next season.
And Elverum’s Hungarian right back Dominik Máthé underwent left knee surgery but should be fit again for the next season when wears the jersey of... PSG!
18:31
We already saw that PSG have won all four previous duels with Elverum - most recently in March 2021, when the French side took a 44:29 win in Norway.
The historical stats, for whatever they are worth on a match day, are even better for PSG, who have never lost a European Cup game against a Norwegian opponents, claiming a win by at least three goals each time. Impressive!
18:24
Of course, PSG are aware of their role of the favourites. In this interview on their Twitter page, Mathieu Grébille warns his team to be cautious and to take nothing for granted. Rightly so!
18:06
Whatever happens tonight, it won't be happening because of a lack of motivation at Elverum. They are labelling the MOTW "a magical night" on their Twitter page:
17:58
So, what to expect from our MOTW?
Elverum were always going to be the dark horse in this pairing, but even more so when you realise they have lost their last eight (!) EHF Champions League matches in a row. Their last win came at the end of October 2021 in Brest, so they will be eager to finally stop the rot tonight.
However, what will PSG allow them to do? The French champions have won five of their last seven matches, though they lost their most recent one - against Veszprém on the closing night of the group phase earlier this month.
The head-to-head comparison is clearly in favour of PSG: four matches, four wins.
17:53
Similar jackets, different teams: Elverum and PSG have arrived at the Terningen Arena:
17:03
What better way to start a playing night than Match of the Week? Elverum and PSG are getting these play-offs underway at 18:45 CEST in what is the featured MOTW in the first leg of the play-offs.
It has become a good tradition that we catch up on Instagram Live with two players on the eve of a MOTW, and this week is no exception as Markus Floth has chatted with Elverum's Emil Imsgard and PSG's Henrik Toft Hansen.
See what the guys had to say here on our official Instagram channel:
16:54
Have you noticed?! You don't have to miss a single minute of the first-leg action this week! The four games are spread out nicely: two games today at 18:45 and 20:45 CEST respectively, and the same schedule for tomorrow.
While we cover Vardar vs Veszprém and Porto vs Montpellier here on the blog tomorrow, we are going to Norway and Germany tonight:
16:51
A good starting point to get up to date on all matches that are coming your way is our preview, with bullet point-style info on each play-off game in the first leg:
16:45
Only two more hours and the EHF Champions League Men 2021/22 is back again!
Good afternoon to the live blog, where we are guiding you through all the action on Wednesday and Thursday. We are heading into the knockout phase with the first leg of the play-offs. Here is what we have on offer for you tonight and tomorrow:
