SUMMARY: Teams looking sharp on eve of semi-finals
One more day to go until the long-awaited TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2023 throws off in Cologne with Saturday's semi-finals SC Magdeburg vs Barça and Paris Saint-Germain HB vs Barlinek Industria Kielce. The last day of preparations included a media call at the teams' hotel and the opening party at LANXESS arena on Friday.
19:23
Barça look a bit more relaxed in their outfit. And they are relaxed, says Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas: "No pressure, just motivation."
19:17
Magdeburg are out first. Dressed in classy dark suits, they certainly look stylish on stage when presenting them to the fans. Kay Smits confirms they are ready to play Barça in the semi-final tomorrow.
Remember, you can watch the team presentations live on Twitch.
18:52
After the media call earlier today, we are going to see the four teams soon again – on stage at the official Opening Party at LANXESS arena here in Cologne.
If you have been following our Twitch-show since this afternoon, you know the excitement is building as we are now about 20 hours away from throw-off. This is a great opportunity for all the fans to see their heroes up close and personal, and even may get the chance to get that selfie they have been hoping for so long.
17:33
Two French line players, two different clubs, two different motivations to win the title this weekend. Our EHF journalist Kevin Domas caught up with Barça's Ludovic Farbregas and PSG's Luka Karabatic at the media call today to speak about why both players have their own reason to be ambitious:
Everyone thinks that it is all easy for us. But we work hard and we don’t know how to lose. We are prepared to show our best performance tomorrow. At the EHF FINAL4, there is no favourite, we all have the same chance.
I said last year that we will come back next year. Here we are and this year we will be better and hopefully we come home with the trophy. For many players last year's tournament was their first EHF FINAL4, so this year we have the experience to actually win it.
13:09
He won't be able to play for PSG this weekend, but great to see the legendary Nikola Karabatic in Cologne, here talking to EHF President Michael Wiederer.
If PSG lift the trophy, it would be Karabatic's fourth EHF Champions League title – with four different clubs, after Montpellier (2003), Kiel (2007), and Barça (2015).
13:03
Next up to answer the journalists' questions are PSG. We know their story: been here six times, but never traveled back to Paris with the trophy in their luggage.
However, PSG coach Raul Gonzalez knows how win it, as he did so with Vardar in 2019. This is what he has just said during the media call:
I have been here many times before, and I know it is useless to make predictions. Anything can happen here in Cologne, as the EHF FINAL4 is completely different from the rest of the season. I am confident we can do something good, but we will first try to enjoy the moment and then see what happens.
That might give us a boost of confidence but I am Barça worked extra hard to know exactly how to beat us, as they don’t want to lose three times in a row against us. We saw on video what could be their weak points, but it is one thing to see it on the screen and one other to be able to do it on the court. I think it will still be a 50-50 game.
