Four quarter-final berths still to be filled

GROUP A

ES Besancon Feminin (FRA) vs Molde Elite (NOR)
Saturday 18 February, 16.00 CET, live on EHFTV

• neither Besancon or Molde can reach the quarter-finals; Molde are yet to win a match in the group phase
• the first confrontation between the two teams in round 2 ended with a 41:29 win for Besancon in Norway
• in the five previous group phase games, Besancon have netted 137 times while Molde have scored 136 goals; however, Besancon have conceded just 131 shots compared to 168 for Molde
• Besancon have lost their last four games – two in the European League and two in the French league
• Molde have had better success domestically, winning their last two Norwegian league matches, both away games

BV Borussia 09 Dortmund (GER) vs Siófok KC (HUN)
Sunday 19 February, 16.00 CET, live on EHFTV

• this game will be a fight for first place in group A as both sides have 8 points ahead of the game, Siófok won their first encounter 27:24 in Hungary
• the encounter can go down to the competition's history as the match with the largest crowd as it is played in the Westfallenhalle
• Dortmund have the best attack in the group, scoring 150 goals so far, but Siófok have the best defence of all teams in the competition, having conceded only 123 strikes in five rounds
• in the German Bundesliga Dortmund beat their last opponents, Neckarsulm, 28:24 at home this wek
• Siófok defeated fellow European League competitors Motherson Mosonmagyarovari 30:25 in the Hungarian league

GROUP B

Ikast Håndbold (DEN) vs Fana (NOR)
Saturday 18 February, 18.00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Ikast have booked their quarter-final spot already with five wins while Fana are out of contention
• Ikast beat the European League debutants 35:24 in round 2 in Norway
• the Danish side have both the second-best attack and the second-best defence in the competition, with 160 goals scored and only 124 conceded
• their defensive wall includes left back Ingvild Bakkerud, who has made the most blocks of all players (nine, or 1.8 per game), as well as the most effective goalkeeper in Jessica Ryde with a save efficiency of 38.3 per cent
• both sides faced EHF Champions League participants in domestic competitions this week; Fana beat Storhamar Handball Elite 30:27, while Ikast lost 25:28 in Odense

Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC (HUN) vs Neptunes de Nantes (FRA)
Sunday 19 February, 16.00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Motherson and Nantes are fighting directly for a spot in the quarter-finals as they are level with 4 points each
• the two sides have very similar attack statistics so far – Mosonmagyarovar have scored 144 goals at an attack efficiency of 58.1 per cent, while Nantes have netted 141 times at 56.6 per cent
• the first game between the two teams ended successfully for the French side with a 36:29 victory on home court
• Nantes right wing Nathalie Hagman will be the top scorer on court, with 35 group phase goals overall; Mosonmagyarovar right back Barbora Lancz has netted 29
• both sides are fourth in their domestic leagues right now, although Nantes have won their last two games while Motherson lost to Siófok this week

GROUP C

Sola HK (NOR) vs Nykøbing Falster Håndbold (DEN)
Sunday 19 February, 16.00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Sola lead the group but still can finish outside of the top two places guaranteeing the quarter-finals
• Nykøbing are second in the group C with 6 points, level with DVSC Schaeffler but holding the head-to-head advantage and a superior goal difference to the Hungarian side
• in round 2 Sola beat NFH 28:26 in Denmark
• Sola has the best attack efficiency in the competition, having scored 145 goals from 221 shots (65.6 per cent)
• Nykøbing and Sola have the goalkeepers with most saves this season so far with 69 saves for Sola’s Rinka Duijndam and 60 saves for Nykøbing’s Cecilie Greve

DVSC Schaeffler (HUN) vs HC Podravka Vegeta (CRO)
Sunday 19 February, 18.00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Debrecen won 26:20 in the reverse fixture in Croatia in round 2
• before this season, the two sides met in the EHF Cup semi-final in 2006 where Podravka won both legs
• these are the two lowest-scoring teams in the competition; DVSC have netted 126 times from 234 shots (53.8 per cent) while Podravka have scored 119 goals from 213 attempts (55.9 per cent)
• DVSC earned a big 38:23 win against Dunaujvarosi in the Hungarian league last week, and Podravka beat Zamet 40:21 in an away game in the Croatian league

GROUP D

Praktiker-Vác (HUN) vs SCM Ramnicu Valcea (ROU)
Saturday 18 February, 16.00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Ramnicu Valcea go into the last round with 5 points, while Paktiker-Vác have 2 points and cannot progress
• with a win Ramnicu will reach the quarter-finals, but if they lose or draw while Paris beat Thüringer in the later game, they are out
• the Romanian side won the reverse fixture 40:30 at home to begin their European League campaign, and also won their two previous encounters in the 2021/22 group phase
• Vác have the overall top scorer so far, centre back Csenge Kuczora, who has scored 39 goals in five rounds
• Valcea duo Iryna Glibko and Asma Elghaoui are second and third in the top scorer rankings with 38 and 36 goals respectively – Glibko also leads the assists standings with 26 assists

Paris 92 (FRA) vs Thüringer HC (GER)
Saturday 18 February, 18.00 CET, live on EHFTV

• before round 6 Paris have 4 points while Thüringer have 9 points after five games, and are already qualified for the quarter-finals
• if Valcea win the earlier game in the group, Paris will know they have no chance of progression regardless of their result; however, if Valcea draw or lose, a win will send Paris through
• in the first game between the two teams the German side won 28:24 at home
• Thüringer are the highest-scoring team in the group phase with 163 goals from 262 shots (62.2 per cent) and left back Annika Lott is jointly the third top scorer with 36 goals
• Thüringer have not lost a game domestically or internationally since the end of November last year; Paris are unbeaten in their last three French league matches, but did not play this week

Photos © Surf Up, András Németh, Peter Larsen