Exciting clashes launch the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25
After a three-month break, the Machineseeker EHF Champions League is back. While many players have been out playing at the Olympics with their respective national teams, the others have been preparing hard. And all have only one thought in mind: to lift the trophy at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 in June.
Reigning champions Barça will be playing in Group B and will travel to Kolstad for their first game of the new season. Aalborg, last season’s finalists, will also feature in the same group and will host HBC Nantes on Wednesday night for the first Match of the Week of the season.
The opening round of group A will see many premieres: Fredericia will have their first international match, the Costa brothers play their first-ever EHF Champions League match with Sporting CP, as well as Mathias Gidsel with Füchse Berlin, who end their 11-year absence with the top duel against Veszprém.
Wisla Plock is a team with much presence in the Champions League and athletes with a lot of experience. But it’s an opportunity for us, we have to enjoy it. It's a very strong team, a team that likes to play slowly because they trust in their team's defensive ability. We have to be patient to take the game to our field.
The EHF Champions League is starting. This is the best handball competition in the world, and as a result we are really looking forward to its start. At the beginning we play against a very difficult opponent. Sporting CP is a team with a lot of players who have been working together for years. It is also a team with young players in the squad who already have experience even at the international level. Lisbon play very well and are extremely close-knit, so they will be a difficult rival for us.
We are visiting one of the most serious candidates for a place in the final tournament and a favourite to win one of the first two places in our group. PSG is well composed and selected by one of the best coaches in the world, Raul Gonzalez. It is our duty to present ourselves in the best possible light. That's the only way we should see our future in the Champions League.
With Veszprém, we have a strong opponent right in front of us. Veszprém is a top international team. We played against them once in preparation and know what to expect. They have a broad squad and can put us under a lot of pressure with their fast-paced play. We are aware that every game in the Champions League is a top game. That is our full focus.
Of course, we travel to Berlin in the opening round of the Champions League to win. If you wear the Veszprém jersey, this is always the goal. We want to start this season in the same way as last year, we want to return home from Germany with two points. We know it will not be easy, but we have been preparing for this moment for almost a month now. I think that if we use our opportunities well, we can play a good game against them.
I am looking forward to be back in the EHF Champions League, for me personally. As a new coach I want the team to be as good as possible and get a good head start. It is still early days and the team needs to find each other. But it is the same for everyone, and I know the players will give everything they have got to take the first win in front of our fantastic home crowd.
Barcelona is of course a team that has achieved much more than Kolstad, over several years. Therefore they will be favourites to win this game. We will try to play our game, and focus on our tasks. Then we will check the scoreboard when the whistle blows.
We know there’s no easy match when it comes to Champions League. For us, the next match is always the most important. We play away and that makes everything more difficult. We have already played some good matches and I think we’re ready.
I have a lot of excitement. I’m very happy to be with the team again. I just hope to enjoy. Of course I’m not at my best level yet, I need minutes in matches and trainings. But it’s very special to be again in a Champions League trip with the squad.
It's a very nice match to start with for us with this - in many ways - new project, where we can play relaxed against one of the best teams in the world that have won the Bundesliga with good control in the last years. We will, of course, give it a try to fight for the two points even though we know that it's a really difficult task ahead of us.
They have a lot of new players, a new coaching team and probably the most modern handball arena in Europe. We are looking forward to the first game of the group stage.
