Nantes stun Berlin as Briet delivers masterclass

• Industria Kielce’s narrow win at Kolstad was their sixth victory in a row.
• An 8:0 run right before the half-time break paved Aalborg’s way to victory in Veszprém and caused the Hungarian champions’ seventh defeat in 14 matches.
• Thibaut Briet’s 13 goals and Ignacio Biosca’s 12 saves were the key to Nantes’ win in Berlin.
• Francisco Costa scored the winning strike in Sporting’s thriller against Dinamo and netted seven times, just like his brother Martim.
• Mathias Gidsel (Füchse Berlin) finished the group phase as top scorer with 120 goals, including 11 against Nantes.

GROUP A

Kolstad Håndball (NOR) vs Industria Kielce (POL) 26:27 (14:13)

H2H: 0-0-5
Top scorers: Simon Jeppson (Kolstad Håndball) 8/19, Szymon Sicko 7/12, Artsem Karalek 7/8 (both Industria Kielce)

History repeated itself for Kolstad Håndball, but in a different way: as in their first three Machineseeker EHF Champions League matches, they were ahead at the break. However, in contrast to the previous encounters, the Norwegian champions were not overrun by their opponents, but showed character until the final buzzer. After being constantly behind following the 7:7, Industria Kielce took the lead right after the break, but could not extend the gap to more than two goals. The final seconds turned into a real thriller: first Martin Hovde scored for 26:27, then, after a time-out by coach Talant Dujshebaev, Arkadiusz Moryto failed to score for Kielce 11 seconds before the end. Kolstad coach Christian Berge took his time-out, but Simon Jeppson missed the last chance of the match. Thanks to their sixth straight win – the best run alongside Barça – Kielce secured third place in the group and will face OTP Bank – PICK Szeged in the play-offs.

MOTW: One Veszprém HC (HUN) vs Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) 33:38 (16:20)

H2H: 5-0-5
Top scorers: Luka Cindrić (One Veszprém HC) 7/7, Thomas Arnoldsen (Aalborg Håndbold) 8/11
Player of the Match: Niklas Landin (Aalborg Håndbold)

Tenth win for Aalborg Håndbold, seventh defeat (and the second at home) for One Veszprém HC: although the significance of this MOTW was much higher for the hosts, who aimed to climb the table, the Danish champions were far more focused – and underlined why they finished second in the group. Aalborg’s great comeback at the end of the first half was the game changer: thanks to an impressive defence, including goalkeeper Niklas Landin (12 saves in total), and by converting many turnovers into counter-attack goals, the Danish champions turned an 11:15 deficit into a 20:16 half-time lead, including an incredible 8:0 run for 19:15. Veszprém were shocked in this period, but still reduced the gap after the break. However, Aalborg played with high efficiency in attack despite a strong performance from Veszprém’s goalkeeper Rodrigo Corrales. Backed by a combined 14 goals from Sander Sagosen and Thomas Arnoldsen and another 3:0 run for 27:23, Aalborg took control again. It was One Veszprém’s third defeat in four matches in 2026, and for the second time after the 34:38 loss in Berlin, Xavi Pascual's team conceded 38 goals. After defeats against Sporting and Berlin, Aalborg returned to the winning ways and netted their highest score of the season.

Füchse Berlin (GER) vs HBC Nantes (FRA) 34:37 (14:15)

H2H: 4-1-4
Top scorers: Mathias Gidsel (Füchse Berlin) 11/12, Thibaut Briet (HBC Nantes) 13/15

With three consecutive wins, HBC Nantes finally passed Veszprém in the table and caused the second straight home defeat of group winners Berlin. The hosts had a perfect start, leading 8:4, but then completely lost their rhythm. Nantes took control and punished the high number of Füchse mistakes, even though they had to replace their two top scorers of the competition, Noman Leopold (66 goals) and Aymeric Minne (64). Finished by a 6:0 run, the visitors were ahead 14:11; even goalkeeper Ignacio Biosca put his name on the scoresheet, in addition to saving seven shots before the half-time break. But even more important was the great performance of French international Thibaut Briet, who even won the top-scorer duel against IHF World Player Mathias Gidsel. Berlin improved after the break, but Nantes defended well and kept their high scoring percentage. And when it got close, Biosca was there again, as he continues his farewell tour before moving to German side Gummersbach. Briet’s last strike for 35:32 decided the match.

Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) vs Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) 30:29 (14:13)

H2H: 8-0-6
Top scorers: Francisco Costa 7/9, Martim Costa 7/10 (both Sporting Clube de Portugal), Branko Vujović (Dinamo București) 5/10

After Veszprém’s defeat against Aalborg, Sporting’s only chance to pass the Hungarian side would have been to beat Dinamo by at least 35 goals. Too much for the Costa team, which was constantly ahead against the Romanian champions but could not outdistance them. Both goalkeepers, Aly Mohamed (Sporting) and Vladimir Cupara (Dinamo), had a huge impact in the low-scoring first half. An intermediate 3:0 run provided Dinamo with a draw at 20:20, and another three unanswered goals even led to their only lead at 28:27. But who else than Francisco Costa secured the win for Sporting, netting his last two goals in crunch time. Miklós Rosta missed Dinamo’s final chance.

Photos ©: Roland Peka / Lars Skaug / Foto Lächler / Sylvia Göres / Isabel Silva / João Pedro Morais / José Lorvão