Round 13 to bring intense battles as MOTW travels to Paris

The two sides of group A face off in the MOTW on Thursday, when Paris Saint-Germain Handball host One Veszprém HC. While the visitors have already booked their place in the quarter-finals, Paris can make a huge step towards this goal. Sporting CP and Füchse Berlin have quite easy home tasks, while Orlen Wisla Plock aim to extend their winning streak in Bucharest.

In group B, two teams can still hope for a quarter-final berth: HBC Nantes and Aalborg Håndbold. The French side will play at Industria Kielce, while the Danish club will face HC Zagreb at home. OTP Bank - PICK Szeged have already clinched a play-off spot and will encounter Barça, but SC Magdeburg will have to face Kolstad Håndbold on Thursday night to have a chance to book their play-off ticket.

GROUP A

Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
Wednesday 26 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Orlen Wisla Plock are for sure the surprise pack of the previous two rounds, beating PSG in France (31:28) and Berlin on home ground (32:27) – the Czech international Tomas Piroch scored 10 goals in each of the two encounters
• with eight points on their account, Plock are currently ranked sixth, equal with Eurofarm Pelister and only two points below Dinamo
• the Bucharest side lost both Machineseeker EHF Champions League matches in 2025, against Veszprém and Eurofarm Pelister; a victory over Plock would grant them their ticket to the play-offs
• the 28:26 in the reverse fixture was Dinamo’s fifth win in seven matches, Plock’s only victory dates back to 2018
• both sides count on Spanish coaches – David Davis (Dinamo) and Xavi Sabate (Plock) – who previously coached Veszprém too
• the top scorers are Miha Zarabec (50 goals for Plock) and Haniel Langaro (42 goals for Dinamo)
• Plock remain on top of the Polish league after a 35:13 against Zaglebie Lubin, while Dinamo are also number one in Romania after the victory against Buzau (30:26)

Sporting CP (POR) vs Fredericia Håndbold Klub (DEN)
Wednesday 26 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• despite the unlucky 33:32 defeat at Veszprém last week, Sporting are still in the race for the second rank and a direct quarter-final spot, being one point below PSG
• the 37:19 in the reverse fixture in Denmark was Sporting’s biggest-ever win in the EHF Champions League – and the first duel between the sides
• with three points after 12 matches, Fredericia Håndbold Klub are out of the race for a play-off spot
• three Sporting CP players are among the seven best overall scorers of the season: Martim Costa (72), Francisco Costa and Orri Freyr Þorkelsson (both on 64)
• Fredericia won at Nordsjaelland in the Danish league (34:32), while Sporting took the points against Nazare in Portugal (33:21)

MOTW: Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) vs One Veszprém HC (HUN)
Thursday 27 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Veszprém secured a quarter-final ticket and the top position in their group after their 11th victory in 12 matches last week, 33:32 against Sporting
• Paris Saint-Germain Handball are currently second-ranked, six points below the leaders – and are out for revenge for the 41:28 defeat in the reverse fixture, their second-biggest defeat in the competition’s history
• the overall EHF Champions League balance in this duel is equal, with eight wins for each side and one draw – their only duels at the EHF FINAL4 were both won by PSG, including the 2017 semi-final; both sides still wait for their first-ever trophy in the premium competition, despite making it to Cologne several times
• Yahia Omar and Kent-Robin Tønnesen (now PSG) previously played for Veszprém, while Rodrigo Corrales and Nedim Remili were PSG players before they joined Veszprém
• the Hungarian side count on three French players, who are all among their four best scorers: Remili (63 goals), Ludovic Fabregas (52) and Hugo Descat (46) – Kamil Syprzak (PSG) is still second best overall scorer with 78 goals
• the MOTW brings together the best attack of all 16 teams (Veszprém/399) and the third-best (PSG/394)
• in the French league, PSG took the points against Aix-en-Provence (37:34), while Veszprém won against Budakalasz in the Hungarian league (38:22)

Füchse Berlin (GER) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)
Thursday 27 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• by losing at Plock last week, Füchse Berlin missed out on the chance to climb in the standings and remained fourth
• the 30:22 win at Bitola in the reverse fixture was Berlin’s third victory in the same number of matches against Eurofarm Pelister
• the Macedonian champions took two important points in the play-off race by beating Dinamo 25:24 to be equal on eight points with sixth-ranked side Plock
• the third and the fourth-best overall scorers of the competition face on Thursday: Mathias Gidsel (Füchse Berlin/77 goals) and Filip Kuzmanovski (Eurofarm Pelister/72 goals)
• Füchse won in the top duel of the German league against Flensburg (36:31), while Eurofarm Pelister have their top match in North Macedonia against Alkaloid on Monday

GROUP B

Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) vs HC Zagreb (CRO)
Wednesday 26 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• two rounds before the end of the group phase, Aalborg are third in the group with 15 points, while Zagreb are last with seven
• last week, Aalborg lost by one goal in Magdeburg (32:31), despite Buster Juul scoring eight goals
• Zagreb also did not win, but drew last week at home against Kolstad (25:25)
• the first game between the two teams this season saw Zagreb take an easy win (31:23), with Matej Mandic making 13 saves
• both teams’ best scorers have netted the same amount of times this season: Thomas Arnoldsen and Luka Lovre Klarica have scored 56 times
• last weekend, Aalborg defeated GOG in the Danish league (32:27) and Zagreb beat Sesvete (28:23)

Industria Kielce (POL) vs HBC Nantes (FRA)
Wednesday 26 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• two rounds before the end of the group phase, Nantes are second with 15 points while Kielce are seventh with eight points
• last week, Nantes took the points at home against Szeged (32:29), with right-back Julien Bos scoring eight
• on the other hand, Kielce suffered their second straight loss against Barça (30:28), despite Jorge Maqueda netting six times
• Nantes’ best scorer this season, Aymeric Minne, has netted 64 times already, while Arkadiusz Moryto has scored 46 for Kielce so far
• in round 2, Nantes beat Kielce (23:20), with Ignacio Biosca making 14 saves
• last weekend, Kielce won at Legionowo (32:23) and Nantes beat Créteil (25:23)

Kolstad Håndbold (NOR) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)
Thursday 27 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Kolstad and Magdeburg are currently battling for a play-offs spot, as Magdeburg are fifth in the group with 11 points and Kolstad are one place and two points below
• Magdeburg secured their second straight victory last week against Aalborg (32:31), but lost Gisli Kristjansson in the process due to a foot injury
• in round 12, Kolstad took a point in Zagreb (25:25), with Simon Jeppsson scoring seven
• the Norwegian club made official several contract extensions last week, including coach Christian Berge, Simon Jeppsson, Simen Lyse and Martin Hovde
• the first game between the two teams this season resulted in an eight-goal win for Magdeburg (33:25), with eight goals from Albin Lagergren
• last weekend, both teams took the points in their domestic games: Kolstad against Follo (43:30) and Magdeburg in Göppingen (28:25)

OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs Barça (ESP)
Thursday 27 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Barça have secured the top spot of the group two rounds before the end of the group phase, with 19 points, while Szeged are fourth with 12 points
• thanks to Emil Nielsen’s 13 saves, Barça defeated Kielce in round 12 (30:28), their ninth win in 12 games
• Szeged lost their third consecutive game last week in Nantes (32:29), despite Roland Mikler making nine saves at a 39 per cent efficiency rate
• Barça won the first game between the two teams this season in round 2, 31:30
• Szeged’s Mario Sostaric is the current best scorer of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League with 85 goals, while Melvyn Richardson has scored 50 for Barça
• while Szeged lost at Balatonfuredi in the Hungarian league (38:36) last weekend, Barça did not have a game on their schedule

Photos © Titt Melhuus (main), Aleksandar Kotevski & Marc Graupera/Barça (in-text)