Veszprém host Nantes; high-octane duels in Spain and Germany
Excitement ramps up ahead of Machineseeker EHF Champions League round 2, as all four group A winners of the opening round lock horns in direct duels this week. In the clash of former finalists, One Veszprém HC host HBC Nantes, while Aalborg Håndbold are out for revenge for their 2024/25 quarter-final elimination against Füchse Berlin.
After taking the points in the first round, Barça and SC Magdeburg will face each other in the Match of the Week in group B on Thursday, in a replay of the 2025 semi-final. Paris Saint-Germain will be looking for their first win of the season against HC Eurofarm Pelister, and so will GOG and OTP Bank - PICK Szeged. After last week’s victory, Orlen Wisla Plock will try to secure their second win when they host HC Zagreb.
We expect a fun and nice first Champions League game in Trondheim, in front of our own supporters. Dinamo are a difficult opponent and it will be a physically tough match. We are at the beginning of the Champions League journey this season and we want to take every chance we have to develop and try to deliver our best.
Kolstad have players who play at a high level in the national teams, so it will be a very difficult match for us, and to be competitive against Kolstad we really need to be at a high level. I think for that we need a little more time. We have a lot of new players in the team, so we need more time to be more competitive.
We expect a tough match, against a Kielce team with a lot of experience and with ambitions of reaching the EHF FINAL4 again, and I believe they can be a team that can reach that stage of the competition. It's up to us to be ourselves, to take advantage of the opportunity and to play well and dream of victory.
We started this season well, especially in the EHF Champions League. Our match against Kolstad Handball was really good. We played solid defence, which gave us plenty of opportunities for counter attacks and scoring goals. But it's just one match, and we're still at the beginning of the season. We need to maintain this level of performance both in defence and offense in the upcoming games.
It’s going to be a good match for both teams, played at a high level. I’ll play wherever the coach puts me. I’m ready for anything.
(After the Aalborg match) it is not just about fixing mistakes. Every game has ups and downs, and of course we made some errors, but also done many good things. If we focus too much on what went wrong, we lose focus on what is next. Now our full attention is on Nantes, that is the most important.
Aalborg are currently one of the top three teams in the world, alongside Barça and Magdeburg. But we also know our strengths and qualities. If we get into the game better and find our rhythm, then we have everything we need to reach the same level.
Berlin is an away game you always look forward to. I remember them clearly from my time in the Bundesliga, and especially the quarter-final last season is very fresh in mind. They have some incredible players when they are at their highest, so it will be exciting to see where they stand with their new coach and a tough loss in the league this weekend. We need to stand together as a team and reduce our mistakes, maybe also try to compete with their speed and give them some of their own medicine.
We’re facing another top European team and are looking forward to playing the Champions League at home. The past week has been a nightmare for us, with serious injuries, so our focus will be on ourselves and our own game plan, with significantly less focus on Szeged than we normally would have.
It will be special for me, as I spent two good years in GOG. It will be fun to go back, play against them, and meet my old teammates. They are a strong team on the counter attack, with many young players and talents. For us, it will be important not to make mistakes or technical errors in attack.
I think the fans are in for a really interesting spectacle. We are counting on their enthusiastic support and a full hall, because that always gives us extra energy. Personally, I am very happy about this match and I cannot wait for it.
It is incredibly difficult to win in Barcelona — I know from the statistics that SCM have never managed to do so. It is a team with an incredible quality, but we are going there to take the points back home.
