Semi-finals day in Cologne; countdown to throw-off
The moment has arrived — it's time to decide the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 title! First step: The semi-finals, taking place today in LANXESS arena, Cologne.
The all-German derby and rematch of last season's final gets the day started at 15:00 CEST, when SC Magdeburg meet Füchse Berlin. At 18:00 CEST, Aalborg Håndbold and Barça clash in a rematch of the previous year's final to determine the opponents of whichever German club reaches the title match for the second straight time.
The final will be played on Sunday at 18:00 CEST.
12:06
Now to the business — let's get into these semi-finals.
First up we have the German derby, the rematch of last season's final, the clash between the newly crowned Bundesliga champions SC Magdeburg and the German Cup winners Füchse Berlin.
Let's start with one man in particular: The EHF Excellence Awards 2024/25 MVP, three-time back-to-back IHF World Player of the Year and MVP of five national team championships since he made his debut in 2021, Mathias Gidsel.
Last year his maiden appearance in Cologne was surrounded by anticipation, and we were served up the drama early as he received a direct red card just nine minutes into the semi-final against HBC Nantes. But Berlin showed they could play a huge game without him, taking a dominant win to reach the final. We'll come back to that later.
Gidsel is poised to take the EHF Champions League top scorer title for the second consecutive time. With a goal count of 144, Gidsel has passed not only his own tally from 2024/25 (135), but his compatriot Mikkel Hansen's record of 141 — which was the highest in one season according to how far back our reliable records go.
The closest player behind Gidsel still in the competition is Barça win Aleix Gómez, who has 103 goals — meaning Gidsel's individual title is pretty much locked up, although nothing is official until the final whistle.
Below, check out the special video story on Berlin and Gidsel (and head over to the Home of Handball YouTube for more!), and read the originating piece in the exclusive EHF Champions League My Game series, which I wrote with Gidsel ahead of last season.
10:39
Good morning and welcome to the first of the two biggest days on the men's club handball calendar — semi-finals day at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2026!
Today the two teams that will battle for the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 title will be decided. A reminder of the semi-final schedule:
- 15:00 CEST SC Magdeburg vs Füchse Berlin
- 18:00 CEST Aalborg Håndbold vs Barça
The handball action surrounding the event is already underway, with the GOG U18 side having just beaten Barça 31:25 in the first semi-final of the EHF Youth Club Trophy Men. The second semi-final, Füchse Berlin versus Veszprém Handball Academy, begins at 11:30 CEST.
On the line for the U18 sides are places in the final on Sunday, which will be played in LANXESS arena right before the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 finals. Watch all the Youth Club Trophy action live on EHFTV.
Back to the A teams and some housekeeping before we get properly into the build-up fun: Below, read all the key facts surrounding the semi-finals in our preview; find out where to watch the matches in your country; and review everything the teams got up to on Friday with yesterday's live blog.
