HB Montpellier has qualified as sixth team for the last 16 round of Men’s Champions League. The French champion took revenge for the defeat in Constanta in the first match and beat the Romanians very clearly 37:24. On the other hand Pick Szeged need a big wonder now to reach the fourth place in their group A. The Hungarians lost sensationally 26:27 in Saloniki. Due to this result, Valladolid need only one more point in four matches to follow Montpellier to the next stage, Chechov need three and Constanta four.

Group A:

HB Montpellier – HCM Constanta 37:24 (18:9)

After losing in Constanta, Montpellier showeda highly concentrated performance against the Romanian champion and won their sixth from seven matches. The one sided game was decided at the break, as Vid Kavticnik (in total nine goals) and the strong defense had led Montpellier to a comfortable 18:9. After the break the French team slowed down a little bit and gave a lot of playing time for young players to save the powers of the experienced ones. Despite this constellation, Constanta couldn’t come closer – in contrast: Montpellier extended the lead to 13 goals in the end. Top scorer for Constanta was Toma with six goals.

AC PAOK – Pick Szeged 27:26 (17:17)

First victory for PAOK Saloniki in the Champions League. By beating Szeged in a very close match, they nearly destroyed the hopes of the Hungarians (still three points) to qualify for the last 16. “This match and the defeat were a shame for the whole club”, Pick coach Dragan Djukic said: “It was totally terrible, to see what our team did. We played without heart and soul.” Pick was still asleep at the beginning of the match, and PAOK led surprisingly 10:7, before Pick improved slightly and equalized until the break. Led by Luka Zvizej, who scored outstanding 14 goals, Pick then tried to turn the match, but couldn’t achieve it. Even a lead of 21:18 wasn’t enough to take the two points, as the Greek improved again – and scored the decisive goal after the 26:26 in the last minute. Top scorer for PAOK was Evangelidis with seven goals.