Kolstad take big points, easy wins for Veszprém, Montpellier
Round 7 of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League started with two home wins for Kolstad and Montpellier, as well as a clear away victory for Veszprém against bottom side Celje. While the two victorious hosts climb in the ranking, the Hungarian record champions consolidated their top position.
- for the third time in seven group matches, Telekom Veszprém scored 40 or more goals, winning 40:34 at Celje Pivovarna Laško
- 12 players scored for the new group leaders Veszprém, with Frenchman Hugo Descat leading the list with eight goals
- for the third time in a row, Kolstad’s super star Sander Sagosen faced his former club – winning for the second time after beating THW Kiel and losing to Aalborg Håndbold
- Kolstad’s new arrival Magnus Rød was on fire against PSG, finishing as a top scorer with 11 goals
- again, their overall top scorer Sebastian Karlsson proved to be match-winning factor for Montpellier against Porto, this time by finding the way to the net 10 times
GROUP A
Kolstad Handball (NOR) vs Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) 36:31 (14:16)
Thanks to an incredible second half, Kolstad Handball took their third straight home victory – and all against experienced sides (Szeged, Kiel, and now PSG). With 36 goals scored, they’ve managed to come only inches away from their record 37 goals - from the 37:24 win over Szeged. PSG were the better team in the first half, backed by the goals of Kamil Syprzak, who finished with seven goals (just as Elohim Prandi) and who is currently leading all scorers in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League with 49 goals. Ten minutes in the second half decided everything with Kolstad turning a 20:23 deficit into a 30:26 lead. Simen Lyse and Magnus Rød were the driving forces in attack, while goalkeeper Torbjørn Bergerud took care of business on the defensive side of the court. The hosts did not allow the team from Paris to get back into this one finishing strong with a 4:1 run to level themselves with PSG in the standings as the two teams now have eight points each.
There were lot of technical mistakes by both teams in the first half, in the second half we managed to minimise the faults on our side, and Paris did some technical mistakes, so all in all we took the win today. An amazing Torbjørn Bergerud in the back, and the supporters came around and I would really like to thank them today, they did good.
Today we were not able to fight them for 60 minutes. Kolstad kept the intensity all the time, and we were missing passes and missed open shots. Kolstad are an amazing team, but before next week we will analyse them and hopefully we will beat Kolstad in Paris.
GROUP B
Celje Pivovarna Laško (SLO) vs. Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) 34:40 (17:22)
Celje Pivovarna Laško will have to wait some more for their first point in the group phase, with Telekom Veszprém securing their sixth victory, for in a row. It has been 16 years since Celje last celebrated against Veszprem, and it was clear that it was unlikely for the streak to snap on Wednesday after the goal machine from Lake Balaton netted 22 in the first half only. The duel of the Marguc brothers - Gasper (Veszprém/three goals) and Mai (Celje/five), and their teams, was decided after a 4:0 run to 31:22 with all the goals being scored by the French players: Hugo Descat (two), and Ludovic Fabregas (two). Within two consecutive rounds, Veszprém managed to beat both Janc brothers - first Blaz and his Barça with a 41:36 on the road, and now Mitja and Celje.
We played good today, it was a match with lots of goals. We had some good periods, but that wasn't enough to beat a team like Veszprém. We will now focus for the domestic league we play on Sunday.
We prepared really well for RK Celje Pivovarna Laško. We know they are a good young team, and we took the match very seriously. The results show that, and we are happy with the win. It is a tough hall to play in, but today we had a really good support from our fans.
Montpellier HB (FRA) vs. FC Porto (POR) 35:24 (18:13)
In round 6 Montpellier HB suffered an unlucky loss in Magdeburg, and FC Porto took an extremely lucky home win against GOG. Now everything but luck decided this one-sided encounter. Porto’s number of mistakes in the last 45 minutes of the match was simply too high to have a chance against the solid hosts. A 5:0 run for the 14:9 lead was Montpellier’s first step towards their third group match victory, and right from the start of the second half, and boosted by 10 goals from Sebastian Karlsson, the hosts were able to take full control of the match. The deal was finally sealed seven minutes into the second, with another 6:0 run to up the lead to 24:13. The rest of the match was an easy walk in the park for Montpellier.
I’m very satisfied with both the result and the attitude of the players tonight. The performance in one match does not necessarily reflect the true value of the two teams, and it’s always difficult after an international break. It’s particularly satisfying to see players getting great pleasure from defending, showing great commitment, solidarity and tactical awareness.
The start of the match was tough, as was the start of the second half when we made mistakes that you just cannot make at this level of competition. It’s very difficult to lose by 11 goals, but we must learn and try to be better.
