Familiar finals foes aim for the trophy

In Saturday's semi-finals, Kiel and Montpellier — two of the three former EHF Champions League winners in Hamburg — open the Winamax EHF Finals 2026, followed by the all-German duel, Flensburg versus Melsungen. 

SEMI-FINALS

Montpellier Handball (FRA) vs THW Kiel (GER)

Saturday 30 May, 12:30 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 4-0-11
Last match: THW Kiel vs Montpellier Handball, 2 December 2025 (27:18 (14:11)

• last year, Montpellier were beat Kiel 32:31 in the semi-final in Hamburg thanks to a buzzer beater from now Veszprém back Ahmed Hesham, but a day later the French side were chanceless in the final against Flensburg (25:32)
• the sides have already met in the group phase of this European League season; Kiel won both matches — 30:28 and 27:18
• THW won all their matches up to the quarter-finals, then lost the first leg to RK Nexe 30:33, before booking the ticket to Hamburg with a 34:29 win following a penalty shootout on home ground; their overall season balance is 11 wins and one loss
• Montpellier lost five matches on the “Road to Hamburg” and won nine, eliminating Elverum Håndball in the play-offs (67:59 on aggregate) and HC Vardar in the quarter-finals (57:50 on aggregate)

• the teams combine for six trophies in the EHF Champions League: Kiel have won it four times (2007, 2010, 2012 and 2020); Montpellier twice (2003 and 2018)
• Kiel also won the former format of the EHF European League, the EHF Cup, four times (1998, 2002, 2004 and 2019) and now appear in the final stage of the European League for the second time; Montpellier were EHF Cup finalists in 2014, but lost against Szeged
• on both participations in the EHF Finals, MHB always faced German teams — they were defeated by Berlin and Göppingen in 2023, then faced Kiel and Flensburg in 2025; in 2026, this series continues, with a guaranteed two more encounters against German clubs  
• the sides’ top scorers in the European League are Bence Imre, with 59 goals for THW, and Jack Thurin, who has netted 53 times for Montpellier
• while Kiel still hope for their first title of the season, Montpellier just won the French Cup, beating HBC Nantes in the final in Paris
• in their national leagues, neither side has the chance to finish as champions: Montpellier are third in France, while Kiel are fifth in Germany

MT Melsungen (GER) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)

Saturday 30 May, 15:30 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 0-0-1
Last match: MT Melsungen vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 24 May 2025 (34:35 (15:16; 28:28))

• it is the second time Melsungen and Flensburg duel on the international stage after the 2025 semi-final, which Flensburg won 35:34 after overtime; in the current Bundesliga season, Flensburg won both matches (35:32 and 40:30)
• since the implementation of the European League, Flensburg were the first team to defend the trophy, both times in Hamburg: In 2024, they beat Füchse Berlin in the final; in 2025, they defeated Montpellier
• after a clean sweep in the group phase, Flensburg lost three of four main round matches, against Kiel and Montpellier, then eliminated SAH Aarhus in the play-offs (71:65 on aggregate) followed by domestic rivals Hannover-Burgdorf in the quarter-finals (82:74 on aggregate); their 43:35 win in leg two was the all-time high score for a single team and for both teams in the European League quarter-finals
• MT Melsungen missed a direct ticket to the quarter-finals after losing both main round matches against HC Vardar, then were close to elimination against Fredericia HK (29:35; 35:26) in the play-offs before eliminating FC Porto 47:46 on aggregate in the quarter-finals

• the two coaches, Aleš Pajovic (Flensburg) and Roberto Parrondo (Melsungen), were EHF Champions League winners together with Ciudad Real in 2008 and 2009; Parrondo has also won the top-flight trophy as coach, with HC Vardar in 2019
• scoring 502 goals in 14 matches, including 40 or more goals three times, Flensburg have by far the most effective attack of the competition, while Melsungen scored 90 goals fewer (412) in the same number of matches
• two Flensburg players are among the top four scorers of the competition: Marko Grgić, who is second with 77 goals — 21 behind leader Axel Månsson from IFK Kristianstad, and Johannes Golla (73); Melsungen’s top scorer is Florian Drosten (38)
• six Flensburg players — Kevin Møller, Emil Jakobsen, Lukas Jørgensen, Simon Pytlick, Lasse Møller and Niclas Kirkeløkke — became EHF EURO 2026 champions with Denmark in January, beating their teammates Grgić and Golla, playing for Germany, in the final
• Flensburg is the only club to have won five different EHF competitions: The City Cup in 1999, the EHF Cup in 1997, the Cup Winners’ Cup in 2001 and 2012, the Champions League in 2014 and the European League in 2024 and 2025
• Melsungen still wait for their first trophy, domestic or international; their biggest successes were three German Cup finals in 2020, 2024 and 2025

Photos © Laura Etienne, Sascha Klahn, Alina Kaesler, Ingrid Anderson-Jensen