Exciting clashes launch the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25

EHF / Kevin Domas

09 September 2024, 11:00

After a three-month break, the Machineseeker EHF Champions League is back. While many players have been out playing at the Olympics with their respective national teams, the others have been preparing hard. And all have only one thought in mind: to lift the trophy at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 in June.

Reigning champions Barça will be playing in Group B and will travel to Kolstad for their first game of the new season. Aalborg, last season’s finalists, will also feature in the same group and will host HBC Nantes on Wednesday night for the first Match of the Week of the season.

The opening round of group A will see many premieres: Fredericia will have their first international match, the Costa brothers play their first-ever EHF Champions League match with Sporting CP, as well as Mathias Gidsel with Füchse Berlin, who end their 11-year absence with the top duel against Veszprém.

GROUP A

Sporting CP (POR) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
Wednesday 11 September, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

for the first time in five years, Sporting qualified for the EHF Champions League as treble winners in Portugal (league, cup and super cup), leaving their arch-rivals FC Porto behind
in the last two seasons, Sporting CP qualified for the quarter-finals of the EHF European League, but failed against Montpellier in 2023 and Rhein-Neckar Löwen in 2024
it will be the first-ever EHF Champions League match for the Costa brothers Martim (top scorer of the EHF EURO 2024) and Francisco (Sporting’s top scorer in the previous two EHF European League seasons)
Plock made it to the play-offs in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2023/24 season, but were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain
the main transfers before the 2024/25 season were Diogo Branquinho (from Porto to Sporting), Viktor Hallgrímsson (from Nantes to Plock) and top talent Mitja Janc (from Celje to Plock)
in their domestic league, Plock are on top in Poland after beating Glogow and Gdansk in their two first matches clearly; the same applies to Sporting after beating Aguas Santas and Vitoria

Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)
Wednesday 11 September, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

it will be PSG’s first EHF Champions League match after Nikola Karabatic ended his career
the French champions have qualified six times for the EHF FINAL4, but in the previous season they failed on the way to Cologne, losing to eventual champions Barça
the Macedonian champions finished the EHF Champions League season 2023/24 – the first one after an 18-year absence – with zero points and 14 defeats in the group phase
in the EHF Champions League 2023/24 season PSG won both group matches against Eurofarm Pelister (31:25 and 31:26)
for the first time, PSG’s top new arrival Omar Yahia (from Veszprém) will wear the Paris jersey in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League; among Eurofarm Pelister’s new arrivals are the goalkeepers Nikola Mitrevski and Filip Ivic
PSG won their first league match in France 36:33 against Nimes, while Eurofarm Pelister beat Struga closely (31:30)

Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Fredericia Håndbold Klub (DEN)
Thursday 12 September, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

Fredericia Håndbold Klub will have their first-ever match in any European club competition – and right in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League
in the final series of the Danish league, the team of head coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson – EHF Cup winner with Rhein-Neckar Löwen in 2013, Olympic champion with Denmark in 2016 – gave a big fight to Aalborg, but lost the decisive third match by only one goal
Dinamo Bucuresti are back in the top-flight competition after playing in the EHF European League last season – and making it to their first-ever EHF Finals in Hamburg
the major change in the Romanian capital is on the bench, as coach Xavi Pascual moved to Veszprém, replaced by another Spaniard, David Davis – three times winner of the premium competition as a player with Ciudad Real
as Pascual was accompanied by Luka Cindric, Dinamo signed Icelandic playmaker Haukur Thrastarson from Kielce
Fredericia lost their season opener in Denmark 28:29 at Holstebro, while Dinamo have already played two matches in Romania, beating CSM Constanta and Timisoara

Füchse Berlin (GER) vs Veszprém HC (HUN)
Thursday 12 September, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

for the first time since the 2012/13 season, Füchse Berlin have qualified for the EHF Champions League after making it to the EHF FINAL 4 right in their debut season 2011/12
since then, the club from the German capital won the EHF Cup twice (2015, 2018) and the EHF European League once, in 2023; in 2024, they were EHF European League finalists, but lost to their domestic rivals SG Flensburg-Handewitt
the top star in Berlin’s squad is current IHF Player of the Year and Olympic Games winner and MVP Mathias Gidsel, who will have his first-ever EHF Champions League match with Berlin
Veszprém failed in the two previous seasons to make it to the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne, each time getting eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual finalists Kielce and Aalborg
the Hungarian champions signed Xavi Pascual as the successor of Momir Ilic and Luka Cindric (both from Bucharest), but lost right back Omar Yahia to PSG
in a pre-season test match in Germany, Veszprém beat the Foxes 41:32
Berlin won the German super cup, beating champions SC Magdeburg and also started victorious in the German league (41:35 against Eisenach), while Veszprém beat Dabas in their opener (42:28)

20240404 Veszprem Szeged 89 Ludovic Fabregas

I am looking forward to be back in the EHF Champions League, for me personally. As a new coach I want the team to be as good as possible and get a good head start. It is still early days and the team needs to find each other. But it is the same for everyone, and I know the players will give everything they have got to take the first win in front of our fantastic home crowd.

Maik Machulla

Head coach, Aalborg Handbold

Kolstad Handball (NOR) vs Barça (ESP)
Wednesday 11 September, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

Barça are the current reigning champions in the EHF Champions League, after beating Aalborg in the final last season (31:30)
on the other hand, Kolstad played their first-ever EHF Champions League season in 2023/24, but did not manage to get past the group phase
Barça will be playing their 28th season in the EHF Champions League and have won the title 11 times
Barça’s team remains almost unchanged compared to last season; major transfer moves in Kolstad include Magnus Rød joining Szeged and the club welcoming Simon Jeppsson (Erlangen)
the two teams have never played against each other in European competitions
Kolstad have won their first two games of the season in the Norwegian league, in Bergen and Runar while Barça lifted the Supercopa Iberica trophy, beating Sporting in the final (38:33)

OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)
Thursday 12 September, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

last season, Szeged reached the Machineseeker EHF Champions League play-offs, but were defeated by Veszprém (76:62 on aggregate)
Magdeburg lifted the trophy in 2023 but did not manage to reach to TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 final last season, beaten by Aalborg in the semi-final (28:26)
Szeged underwent massive changes during the summer break, with Michael Apelgren joining as new coach and six new players – including Lazar Kukic and Magnus Rød
one player made the move from one club to the other in the summer, as former SCM player Janus Smarason joined Szeged in July
Szeged and Magdeburg have not played against each other in European competitions since 2004, when SCM won the only two contests between the two sides in history
Szeged have taken the points in their first three Hungarian league outings while Magdeburg beat Wetzlar (35:28) in the first Bundesliga round of the season

Industria Kielce (POL) vs HC Zagreb (CRO)
Thursday 12 September, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

both teams managed to get past the group phase last season: Kielce played the quarter-finals but were defeated by Magdeburg (53:52 on aggregate)
Zagreb, on the other hand, were beaten by Montpellier in the play-offs (57:51 on aggregate)
Kielce lost major players in the summer, with Andreas Wolff moving back to THW Kiel and Nicolas Tournat also joining his former club, HBC Nantes
it was made official last week that Zagreb’s Zvonimir Srna would join French side Montpellier at the end of the 2024/25 season
Kielce and Zagreb have faced each other four times in the EHF Champions League: Kielce won three times and one game ended in a draw
after winning their first two Polish league games, Kielce lost the super cup to Plock last weekend (27:23), while Zagreb beat Osijek (38:24) in their Croatian league opener