Return phase starts as Veszprém host Plock in MOTW

GROUP A

Sporting CP (POR) vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA)
Wednesday 20 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after five unbeaten matches at the start of the group phase (four wins, one draw), Sporting lost the last two duels – 33:29 in Bucharest and 30:28 in the first encounter in Paris
• Yahia Omar, Kamil Syprzak and Elohim Prandi each netted six times for PSG in the first ever duel of both sides
• Paris have won the last five group matches and are equal with Veszprém on top of the group with 12 points
• Sporting have won all three EHF Champions League home matches by now
• two PSG players are among the five current top scorers of the competition: Syprzak is number one with 53 strikes, Prandi fifth with 43 goals; the best Sporting scorers are the Costa brothers Martim (38) and Francisco (33)
• both clubs top the tables of their domestic leagues: Sporting have won all 12 matches by now including the 36:28 against Aguas Santas last weekend, while PSG won at Aix on Sunday (28:26)

HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD) vs Fredericia Håndbold Klub (DEN)
Wednesday 20 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after 23 defeats and one draw in the last 24 matches of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, Eurofarm Pelister took a historic 25:23 win in the first encounter (and the first duel ever) against Fredericia Håndbold Klub
• the match winner was Eurofarm goalkeeper Nikola Mitrevski with 16 saves; finally, now all 16 teams have at least one victory on their account
• the Macedonian champions are sixth ranked on three points, one point ahead of the Danish runners-up, who are the last in this group
• with 234 conceded goals, Fredericia have the weakest defence of all 16 clubs, while Eurofarm Pelister have the weakest attack after only scoring 166 goals so far
• Bitola’s team captain Filip Kuzmanovski is the fifth-best scorer of the competition with 43 goals (five of them in the first duel); the best Fredericia shooter is William Andersson Moberg with 28 strikes
• Fredericia won the top match of the Danish league clearly, 30:21 against Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, while Eurofarm Pelister had a goals galore, winning 46:24 against Prilep in the Macedonian league

MOTW: Veszprém HC (HUN) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
Thursday 21 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• for 55 minutes, the first duel of both sides was equal, then Veszprém pulled ahead decisively for the 27:24 victory
• Miha Zarabec (Plock) was the top scorer of the match with 10 goals, while the trio Bjarki Mar Elisson (seven), Ludovic Fabregas and Luka Cindric (each six) combined for 19 of the 27 goals for Veszprém
• Plock’s coach Xavier Sabate had been coach of Veszprém before — and even steered them to the EHF Champions League final; he will face another Spanish coach, Xavi Pascual
• Plock have the best defence of all 16 group phase participants with 184 goals conceded, while Veszprém have the best attack with 230 goals scored
• while the MOTW hosts are on top of the table with 12 points, Plock have only beaten Eurofarm Pelister by now and are seventh ranked with only two points
• three Icelandic internationals will face each other: Plock’s goalkeeper Viktor Hallgrímsson and the Veszprém duo Bjarki Mar Elisson and Aron Pálmarsson, who returned some weeks ago
• in 13 previous duels, Veszprém were victorious nine times, Plock only twice, last season the Polish side managed to gain the biggest win ever with a 37:30
• Veszprém failed in their dress rehearsal for the MOTW in the Hungarian league, losing their first match of the season, 28:24 against their archrivals Szeged, while Plock remained unbeaten in the Polish league, winning against Kalisz

Füchse Berlin (GER) vs Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU)
Thursday 21 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• thanks to the 38:31 victory in the first encounter against Berlin, Dinamo jumped on the third position of the group with ten points
• the first duel was equal until 31:30, then Bucuresti finished the match with a 7:1 run
• Berlin lost the last three group matches against Sporting, PSG and Dinamo — and rank fifth with six points
• both sides were part of the EHF Finals 2024 in Hamburg; Füchse finished second and Dinamo fourth — after they had locked horns in the main round, with Berlin winning both matches; the overall balance is three wins from five matches for the German runners-up
• two Berlin players — overall third-ranked Mathias Gidsel, who scored 46 times, and his country-fellow Lasse Andersson (35) are ahead of Dinamo’s top scorer Haukur Thrastarson (28) in the scorers list
• Berlin were eliminated in the German cup (Last 16) by Rhein-Neckar Löwen, while the 46:19 against Vaslui was Dinamo’s ninth domestic win in the same number of matches

GROUP B

HC Zagreb (CRO) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)
Wednesday 20 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after seven rounds, both teams are bottom of group B: Zagreb are last with two points while Magdeburg are one place above, with five points
• Magdeburg won the first game between the two sides this season at home in round 7 (36:24)
• after three European confrontations, Zagreb have yet to take one point from Magdeburg
• Zagreb’s Luka Lovre Klarica has already scored 35 times this season, while Ómar Ingi Magnusson has netted just three times less
• Zagreb announced during the international break that their coach Andrija Nikolic was replaced by former Göppingen and Berlin coach Velimir Petkovic for the rest of the season
• Zagreb took the points against Porec last Wednesday (32:22), while Magdeburg lost in Kiel in the German Cup (29:28) and against Melsungen in the Bundesliga (31:23)

Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) vs Kolstad Håndbold (NOR)
Wednesday 20 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• halfway through the group phase, Aalborg are fourth in the group with seven points, while Kolstad are below, on the sixth spot, with six points
• both teams faced each other in round 7, with Kolstad snatching their third victory of the season with the smallest of margins (25:24)
• both goalkeepers displayed an impressive performance in that game, with Kolstad’s Torbjørn Bergerud saving 15 shots, just one less than Aalborg’s Fabian Norsten
• this Kolstad win was the first one against Aalborg in European history, after two losses last season in the EHF Champions League group phase
• three Kolstad players have already scored 30 goals or more this season: Sigvaldi Gudjonsson (31), Simon Jeppsson and Simen Lyse (each 30), while Thomas Arnoldsen (32) Jack Thurin (30) netted the most goals for Aalborg so far
• last Saturday, Aalborg won in Kolding (36:16), while Kolstad took the points in Halden (26:22) after qualifying in the Norwegian Cup against Drammen (33:29)

Barça (ESP) vs HBC Nantes (FRA)
Thursday 21 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after seven games played, Barça are top of the group with 13 points, while Nantes are second with nine
• Nantes were the first team to take a point from Barça this season, when both teams drew in the first game between the two sides three weeks ago (31:31)
• Ivan Pesic was crucial for Nantes in that game, saving Aitor Ariño’s potential game-winner in the last second
• Barça’s Dika Mem suffered a shoulder injury last week, missed Barça’s Spanish league game on Thursday and might be out for the game against Nantes
• Mem is currently Barça’s best scorer in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League — alongside with Aleix     Gómez — with 33 goals, while Aymeric Minne has already scored 37 for Nantes
• last week, Barça won against Ademar Leon (42:25) and Benidorm (44:30) in the Spanish league, while Nantes took the points in Ivry (34:22)

Industria Kielce (POL) vs OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN)
Thursday 21 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• as the return phase begins, Szeged are third in the group with eight points, while Kielce are fifth with six points
• the first game between the two sides this season was a close one, with Szeged taking the points at home (28:27)
• Kielce’s Dylan Nahi was the best scorer of the game with seven goals; three players scored five goals each for Szeged
• this win was only the fourth one in history for Szeged over Kielce, in 15 games played
• Szeged’s Mario Sostaric is currently the second-best scorer of the competition with 47 goals, while Arkadiusz Moryto has netted 31 times for Kielce
• last week, Kielce took the points in the Polish league against Piotrkow (48:29), while Szeged won the Hungarian league’s clash against Veszprém (28:24)

Photos © Jerzy Stankowski (main), Mihai Neacsu & Eliza Sólya (in-text)