Three German sides hoping to book place in Flensburg

Alongside Füchse, two other German clubs are ready for a battle. Göppingen will try to stop Nexe on their way to a second straight final tournament appearance and make the most of their debut season

Starting as huge underdogs, Fraikin BM. Granollers will try to produce a huge upset when they host Flensburg, the team which will play at home in the EHF Finals Men this season, provided they eliminate the Spanish side.

The only game without a German club is the clash between Sporting CP and current French league leaders, Montpellier HB.

QUARTER-FINALS, FIRST LEG

Fraikin BM. Granollers (ESP) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)
Tuesday 11 April, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Flensburg enter the first leg of the quarter-finals with a 20-game unbeaten streak, winning 18 and drawing the other two in all competitions
• the Spanish side has won all of their five matches played at home in the group phase, but conceded a loss in the Last 16 against Skanderborg-Aarhus, only to mount a superb comeback in the second leg to earn their quarter-final berth
• the guests will rely on the EHF EURO 2022 MVP, Swedish centre back Jim Gottfridsson, who is back on court after missing two months with a hand injury
• the German side enter the quarter-finals as the team with the highest average number of goals scored per game in the EHF European League Men this season, scoring at a pace of 33.9 goals per game
• only Montpellier’s Charles Bolzinger (35.4 per cent) has a better save efficiency than Flensburg’s Benjamin Buric, who has a 35.3 per cent efficiency and the fourth largest number of saves this season, 125 in 11 matches played

Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) vs Füchse Berlin (GER)
Tuesday 11 April, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• both sides won both of their Last 16 matches, Schaffhausen against Ystad (Sweden) and Berlin against Skjern (Denmark); Füchse have won all 12 European League games so far to hold the competition’s record
• Kadetten finished third in group A, below Montpellier and Göppingen, while Berlin topped group D
• Kadetten's Icelandic right wing Odinn Thor Rikhardsson is the leading scorer in the European League among players that are still in the competition with 89 goals, 22 of them in the Last 16 matches against Ystad; Milos Vujovic is the best Füchse scorer with 63 goals, right ahead of Jakob Holm (60)
• Füchse count on three Danish world champions: Holm, the currently-injured Hans Lindberg and Mathias Gidsel, who was MVP and top scorer of the 2023 World Championship; Kadetten’s Spanish star Joan Canellas won bronze at the 2023 World Championship
• last season, Berlin failed on the way to the quarter-finals after getting eliminated by Nantes, while Schaffhausen were among the top eight, but lost the quarter-finals against Nantes
• the two sides duelled in their only previous meeting 10 seasons ago when Berlin won both EHF Champions League group matches (31:27 at home and 40:35 at Schaffhausen)
• Kadetten finished the normal round of the Swiss league second-ranked and won the first two play-off matches (quarter-finals) against Aarau 36:28, 35:24, while Berlin jointly top the German league with THW Kiel after beating Hannover

Frisch Auf Göppingen (GER) vs RK Nexe (CRO)
Tuesday 11 April, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Göppingen qualified for the quarter-finals after two convincing wins over Valur; Nexe eliminated Motor from the competition after a great comeback in reducing the deficit in the second leg of the Last 16 phase
• this will be the third time these two sides meet; in the 2017/18 season Göppingen won both encounters
• the German side are playing their debut season in the EHF European League Men having previously won the former EHF Cup four times (2010/11, 2011/12, 2015/16, 2016/17)
• the last time Nexe were stopped by the Germans in the quarter-finals was in the 2017/18 season, when Füchse Berlin went through by one goal on aggregate
• Nexe have the second-best defence in the competition, conceding 333 goals in 12 matches, or 27.75 goals on average per game; Göppingen have scored 32.6 goals per game on average with left wing Marcel Schiller leading the way with 45 goals
• Göppingen are lying in wait for Nexe after defeating Wetzlar (26:28), while Nexe, who arrived in Germany three days ago, most recently won against Dubrava (27:21)

Sporting CP (POR) vs Montpellier HB (FRA)
Tuesday 11 April, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Montpellier qualified for the quarter-finals by eliminating FTC (79:59 on aggregate) while Sporting saw off Irun (61:58 on aggregate)
• prior to the play-offs, Montpellier finished first in group A, in the meantime Sporting grabbed second place in group C
• the teams have played six times against each other in the history of European competitions. Montpellier won five confrontations and Sporting one, back in 1996 in the EHF Cup
• the French side already played against another Portuguese team this season, SL Benfica, and won twice (26:24, 33:27)
• two Sporting players feature among the top five scorers of the competition, Martim and Francisco Costa while Kyllian Villeminot is currently ranked 17th
• last weekend, Montpellier were defeated for the third time this season in the French league, by Nantes (28:29), while Sporting won the Portuguese clash in Benfica (34:30)