For the third season in a row, Elverum will host a Match of the Week clash, with the developing Norwegian champions locking horns with Montpellier in group A on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Szeged (against Vardar) and Kiel (against Aalborg) have tough tests ahead, while Brest and Zagreb face in a battle to end their winless runs.
Can Kielce stay on top in group B? In order to do so, the Polish side will have to repeat their 2015 performance, when they were the last team to beat Barça in their own Palau Blaugrana. For Barça it is a very special duel, as it will be their 500th match in all European Cup competitions. Depending on the result of that game, Veszprém may use the opportunity to move one place higher, if they can win their away game in Zaporozhye.
GROUP A
MOTW: Elverum Handball (NOR) vs Montpellier HB (FRA)
Wednesday 17 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Elverum are on eight points, one point below Montpellier in the current table
- Elverum have levelled their longest ever unbeaten run in the Champions League on four matches (three wins, one draw), if they win, they will match their longest series of victories
- Montpellier have won the last four matches to take eight of their nine points
- the 2016/17 group phase saw these teams meet twice, each won their home match
- Tobias Gröndahl has scored 23 times in the last three Champions League matches and is Elverum’s top scorer on 36 goals
- Montpellier’s youngster Julien Bos is also flying high with 25 goals in his last three matches, including eleven against Brest, the 23-year-old is on 34 goals so far this season
HC Meshkov Brest (BLR) vs HC PPD Zagreb (CRO)
Wednesday 17 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Brest and Zagreb are the only two of all 16 participants without a victory this season
- Brest are still on zero, Zagreb took a draw against Elverum and have not won a Champions League match since March 2020
- both teams clashed in the semi-final of the SEHA League in September, when Zagreb won 38:37 after penalty shootout
- in the Champions League the Belarussian and Croatian champions duelled four times, Brest won twice, Zagreb once, one match ended in a draw
- both top scorers, Ivan Cupic (Zagreb) and Stanislav Kasparek (Brest), are on 25 goals so far.
Pick Szeged (HUN) vs HC Vardar 1961 (MKD)
Thursday 18 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Pick are on eight points, their last result was a dominant 31:28 win against Aalborg, while Vardar, on five points, lost their last three matches
- Vardar took only one point away from home, a 27:27 in their opener at Elverum
- Vardar have won six of 12 Champions League matches against Pick and lost four, their top duel were the quarter-finals in 2019, when Vardar qualified for Cologne, where they took their second title
- while Timur Dibirov (Vardar) is on top of the EHF Champions League scorer list on 40 goals, line player Bence Banhidi has netted 25 times for Szeged
- Vardar coach Veselin Vujovic steered Szeged’s Slovenians Nik Henigman, Borut Mackovsek and Dean Bombac to the World Championship bronze medal in 2017 as their coach
THW Kiel (GER) vs Aalborg Håndbold (DEN)
Thursday 18 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Kiel have nine points on their account so far and are unbeaten in the last three matches, while Aalborg are on eight points after their defeat at Szeged
- Kiel have won five of six matches against Aalborg, who took their only draw against their German neighbours in 2004
- last season, Aalborg made it to their first EHF FINAL4 at Cologne after beating Kiel’s rivals Flensburg in the quarter-finals
- it is the return of former THW player Aron Palmarsson, who had already played with Veszprem and Barcelona at Kiel. With THW, the Icelander took his first two titles in 2010 and 2012, followed by a third with Barça in 2021
- Kiel’s superstar Sander Sagosen played for Aalborg before he joined Paris in 2017
It is always great to play against a Danish club. Aalborg enhanced step by step in the past and are now getting bigger and bigger. Aalborg are playing really strong at the moment, I expect two very exciting matches. Our goal is to take at least three, better four points out of these two matches.
I played in Kielce for three years and I know almost all the players. They sure come here to win. I think we are in good shape and we play at home, with our fans, and we have to win.
PSG is a high-quality team but we also have an amazing team, we played two times last year and we lost by narrow margins, so I think we can look them in the eyes, give our absolute best and fight for the win.
