Aalborg and Barça clash in MOTW as group phase resumes

In group A, Veszprém travel to Bucharest, while their hunters from Lisbon (against Eurofarm Pelister) and Paris (against Plock) are favourites on home ground, the same as Berlin against Fredericia.

In group B, Barça are almost in the position to secure their place in the quarter-finals, as they might make a huge step in that direction if they manage to beat Aalborg on Wednesday night in the Match of the Week. At the other end of the spectrum, Zagreb and Kolstad are in desperate need of points, as they travel to Szeged and host Nantes, respectively. Kielce and Magdeburg are in the same situation, as they face off in the last confrontation of the round.

GROUP A

Füchse Berlin (GER) vs Fredericia Håndbold Klub (DEN)
Thursday 13 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Füchse Berlin are currently fourth in the standings with 12 points on their tally; if they beat Fredericia, they book their ticket to the knockout stage
• Fredericia are on three points and rank eighth, but still have the chance to pass Plock and Eurofarm Pelister
• Füchse won the reverse fixture in Denmark 38:32 after an equal first half (17:17), when Berlin’s two Danes Lasse Andersson (eight goals) and Mathias Gidsel (seven goals) were the top scorers
• both were part of the Danish squad who have just won their fourth consecutive gold medal at the IHF Men’s World Championship; Gidsel was the top scorer of the tournament and was awarded MVP
• besides, Gidsel is the second-best current scorer of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League with 68 goals; the best Fredericia scorer is Cuban Reinier Taboarda with 39 strikes
• in the German league, Berlin took an easy 36:19 win against Potsdam, while Frederica beat Sonderjyske 32:26 in the Danish league

Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs One Veszprém HC (HUN)
Thursday 13 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after nine victories in the previous ten group matches, One Veszprém HC top the group and are already four points ahead of runners-up PSG
• Dinamo Bucuresti are fifth-ranked with 10 points, but are already four points ahead of sixth-ranked side from Bitola
• including the 36:24 in the reverse fixture, Veszprém won five of the previous seven duels against Dinamo
• Veszprém’s duo Nedim Remili and Ludovic Fabregas won the bronze medal at the IHF Men’s World Championship with France
• Remili is currently the fourth-best Machineseeker EHF Champions League scorer with 62 goals, while Dinamo’s players Haniel Langaro and Haukur Thrastarson are equal on 36 strikes each
• Veszprém confirmed their top position in the Hungarian league with a 48:24 victory against Dabas; Dinamo top the Romanian league too and won the Bucharest derby against Steaua, 32:19

Sporting CP (POR) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)
Thursday 13 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Sporting CP will be boosted by Portugal’s incredible performance at the IHF Men’s World Championship, finishing among the top four for the first time ever — with an overall of six Sporting players
• the Costa brothers Martim and Francisco were part of the All-star Team and among the top nine scorers with 54 and 44 goals; their father Ricardo just extended his contract as Sporting’s coach
• with 13 points, including six wins, Sporting are third-ranked and have already qualified for the knockout stage, chasing PSG with one point less
• the 24:24 in the reverse fixture was Eurofarm Pelister’s first point in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League after 17 consecutive defeats in this competition; currently the Bitola-based Macedonian champions are sixth-ranked on six points
• in total, the Portuguese champions won two of the five previous matches against Eurofarm Pelister, but this season is the first time they face each other in the top-flight competition
• in their domestic league, Eurofarm Pelister beat Kumanovo 46:26 and are second-ranked, while Sporting top the league, although their match at Póvoa on Saturday was stopped due to a wet floor

Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
Thursday 13 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Paris Saint-Germain are currently second-ranked with 14 points, four below Veszprém
• Plock have only four points on their account from the home victories against Eurofarm Pelister and Fredericia and rank seventh, two points below Bitola
• in the reverse fixture, PSG took a highly close 24:23 away win after a fully equal 60 minutes, their ninth victory against Plock in the same number of matches
• PSG’s current top scorer with 65 goals and last season’s overall top scorer Kamil Syprzak will face his former club
• four PSG players won medals at the IHF Men’s World Championship: Jannick Green became world champion with Denmark, while Matthieu Grebille, Luka Karabatic and Elohim Prandi won bronze with France; on the other hand, Plock’s Leon Susnja won the silver medal with Croatia
• PSG won the quarter-final in the French cup 40:39 after overtime and a penalty shootout against Nantes on Saturday, while Plock won their Polish cup quarter-final clearly 36:22 against Gdansk

GROUP B

Kolstad Håndbold (NOR) vs HBC Nantes (FRA)
Wednesday 12 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after 10 rounds, Kolstad are second to last in the group with six points, while Nantes are second with 13 points
• Nantes delivered their best offensive performance in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League in the first game between the two sides this season, to snatch a 44:27 win
• four Nantes players won bronze at the World Championship: Nicolas Tournat, Julien Bos, Aymeric Minne and Thibaud Briet
• Nantes’ Minne is currently the ninth-best scorer in the competition, with 53 goals, while Magnus Søndenå netted 46 times for Kolstad
• many players on both sides might miss this game, as Sander Sagosen suffered a calf injury during the World Championship, while Ayoub Abdi and Rok Ovnicek will not travel to Norway with Nantes
• last weekend, Kolstad resumed their winning streak in the Norwegian league against Fjellhammer (29:22), while Nantes lost against PSG in the French cup after a penalty shootout (40:39)

MOTW: Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) vs Barça (ESP)
Wednesday 12 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Barça are the current leaders of group B with 17 points, while Aalborg are just one spot behind with 13 points
• the first game between the two teams this season resulted in Barça’s win at home, 35:27
• four World Championship gold medallists will be on the court in Aalborg on Wednesday: three at Aalborg — Henrik Møllgaard, Thomas Arnoldsen and Simon Hald — and one at Barça — Emil Nielsen
• Aalborg’s Jack Thurin has already scored 47 goals this season, while Melvyn Richardson has netted 45 times for Barça
• Aalborg confirmed that former assistant Simon Dahl, who stepped in to replace Maik Machulla in the fall, would remain head coach next season
• Aalborg won their domestic league game last weekend in Bjerringbro/Silkeborg (29:26), while Barça won the Spanish cup by beating Torrelavega in the final (37:34)

OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs HC Zagreb (CRO)
Wednesday 12 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• four rounds before the end of the group phase, Szeged are fourth in the group with 12 points, while Zagreb are last with four points
• Szeged defeated Zagreb away in round 4 this season, 35:30, with Mario Sostaric scoring 10 goals
• Szeged’s Sostaric is currently the best scorer of the competition with 72 goals, while Luka Lovre Klarica has scored 48 times for Zagreb
• six players in this game won silver with Croatia at the last World Championship: Marin Jelinic and Mario Sostaric (Szeged), Luka Lovre Klarica, Filip Glavaš, Zvonimir Srna and Ivano Pavlovic (Zagreb)
• it was made official during the winter break that Zvonimir Srna would leave Zagreb at the end of the season to join French side Montpellier
• last weekend, Szeged took the points in Tatabanya in the Hungarian league (32:30), while Zagreb did not have a game on their schedule

Industria Kielce (POL) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)
Wednesday 12 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after ten rounds, both teams are neck-and-neck in the standings: Kielce are fifth with eight points while Magdeburg are sixth with seven points
• the first clash of the season between the two teams saw Kielce win away by one goal, 27:26
• both teams faced each other four times in the EHF Champions League over the years, and only once was the gap bigger than one goal: last season in the return leg of the quarter-finals, 27:25 for Magdeburg
• Arkadiusz Moryto has already scored 46 goals for Kielce this season, while Magdeburg’s Manuel Zehnder has netted 43 times
• Magdeburg’s Magnus Saugstrup won gold at the World Championship with Denmark after beating Croatia and Kielce’s Igor Karacic in the final
• last Saturday, Kielce beat Gwardia Opole (43:28) and Magdeburg lost the high-profile Bundesliga clash in Kiel (31:25)

Photos © Barça (main), Jerzy Stankowski & HBC Nantes (in-text)