Pálmarsson leads Veszprém to 250th win; Barça beat Nantes
Veszprém HC are the sole leaders of group A in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 after round 8. The four-time finalists defeated Orlen Wisla Plock 30:26 in the Match of the Week on Thursday. After three defeats in a row, Füchse Berlin this time took a clear 38:29 win against Dinamo Bucuresti, having lost by seven goals against the same opponents in round 7.
Over in group B, Barça strengthened their lead with a commanding 36:30 win over HBC Nantes, while OTP Bank - PICK Szeged beat Industria Kielce again, this time 35:31, to overtake Nantes and climb to second spot.
I want to thank our fans, especially for how they supported the team, but also for the way the Veszprém crowd welcomed the former Veszprém players — it was something truly special. I’m very proud of the team. We have several injured players and on top of that, Luka Cindrić had to leave after just 10 minutes, so it was a tough challenge for us. But this is the kind of period we are in. And Aron Pálmarsson — wow, we were able to reactivate an amazing player for Veszprém.
I am very proud of my team, even though we lost, because we did everything we could. We performed well against an excellent Veszprém, for example in the second half we came back from a six to three goals. After that, however, we made a couple of mistakes, which Veszprém took advantage of. It is certain that we will have to improve in the future.
The atmosphere in the arena today was amazing. We wanted to show that we are better than in the first game. We played a really good first half, missed some chances in the second half, but did not stop. We fought for these points and deserve them.
We have already played half of the matches, so now all cards are on the table. The teams know what we do. Out of our four away matches, we have lost three. We need to work harder for the two points. To win in Berlin is very complicated, the match was hard for us. Even though Berlin played a great defence, it was a disaster match from our side. It was not our best day.
I am unhappy, we lost three last games in the Champions League at home. We lost four or five balls and Pick Szeged made counterattacks. If that happens, it is impossible to win. Mentally Szeged were better than us. If I am not wrong, this was their first win in Kielce.
We are grateful to everybody who came here from our club; it gave us a lot of mental help, we could feel the energy from our supporters. The match was equal, but there was a chance in the last 10 minutes and we took it. I am proud of my team, we stood together. The defence was amazing and this is what you need to win the matches like this. What we did in the second half was decisive.
I am very happy with my team. We showed that we have a lot of great players in the absence of Dika (Mem). A lot of things worked. Gonzalo (Pérez de Vargas) put us into the game at the end of the first half, (Timothey) N’guessan was spectacular, and (Blaz) Janc always gives you positive things.
We had a very good first 20 minutes, but after that, they played better than us. The turning point was when they were two men down and we had a 2:0 run against us; this can’t happen at this level.
