Two all-German duels highlight the start of the main round

EHF / Björn Pazen

10 February 2025, 13:00

16 teams are still in the race for the EHF Finals in Hamburg on 24/25 May – in the upcoming four weeks they will fight for the spots in the knockout stage of the EHF European League Men 2024/25. The four group winners directly proceed to the quarter-finals in April, while the teams ranked second and third duel in the play-offs for the remaining four spots.

The main round start is highlighted by a direct duel between two German teams who arrived from the group matches with the optimum of four points – MT Melsungen and THW Kiel. Besides, Montpellier Handball are eager to extend their winning streak against the Swiss side HC Kriens-Luzern. In addition, another all-German duel, between VfL Gummersbach and defending champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt, is scheduled for Tuesday.

HIGHLIGHT MATCHES

GROUP I

Montpellier Handball (FRA) vs HC Kriens-Luzern (SUI)
Tuesday 11 February, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

Montpellier Handball did not only win all six matches of group B, but also had the best defence of all 32 clubs, conceding only 145 goals
HC Kriens-Luzern finished the group matches with five victories and one defeat against GOG to carry two points to the main round; by winning the final group match 32:30 against the Danish side, they passed GOG and finished on top of group A
the Swiss side have proceeded to the main round for the first time in the club’s history – and do not only have the first duel with Montpellier ahead, but with any French club in EHF club competitions
Montpellier were the EHF Champions League winners in 2003 and 2018, and were EHF Cup finalists in 2014; their best result in the EHF European League was making it to the EHF Finals 2023
four players from this match duelled in the semi-final of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship: Marin Šipic (Kriens-Luzern) finally took the silver medal, after beating France with Remi Desbonnet, Charles Bolzinger and Karl Konan (all Montpellier) in the semi-final; besides, Montpellier’s line player Veron Nacimovic was in the Croatian squad
while Montpellier won the quarter-final of the French cup 33:31 against Aix last weekend, Kriens-Luzern won 28:25 against champions Kadetten Schaffhausen in the semi-final of the Swiss cup

GROUP III

MT Melsungen (GER) vs THW Kiel (GER)
Tuesday 11 February, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

both teams arrived in the main round with the optimum of four points; but while Kiel won all six matches, Melsungen lost their final group match at HC Vardar 1961
THW won the EHF Champions League and the EHF Cup – four times each – and have their debut in the EHF European League; like Melsungen, who are two-time quarter-finalists in the former EHF Cup
Melsungen’s 20-year-old Spaniard Ian Barrufet is currently the team’s best scorer with 39 goals, while Keil’s young Hungarian wing Bence Imre netted 28 times
two Danish world champions are in the Kiel squad: Magnus Landin, now a four-time world champion, and Emil Madsen; Melsungen’s only medallist was the Croatian left wing David Mandic, who missed the last three matches after he broke his hand and is out for several weeks
in the German Bundesliga, Kiel won 31 of 38 duels, but Melsungen are unbeaten with two victories and one draw in the last three duels
last weekend, leaders Melsungen took a clear 30:23 win in the German league against Göppingen, while Kiel won the top match against defending champions Magdeburg, 31:25