All eyes on Switzerland and Spain

Since the beginning of December the world’s best club competition, the VELUX EHF Champions League, has been on a break. Round 8 will be played on 19-20 February 2011, but before that the league will re-start this Wednesday with two postponed matches from Round 7.

After these two games only three rounds remain in the Group Phase. In these crucial matches starting next week, the teams participating in the Last 16 will be decided.

Both matches on Wednesday are of certain importance: One single point in the home game against HC St. Petersburg would be enough for Renovalia Ciudad Real to qualify for the next stage. Also Kadetten Schaffhausen could make a huge leap towards the knock-out stage by beating Dinamo Minsk.

Group C

Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) – Dinamo Minsk (BLR)
Wednesday 09 February 2011, 19.30 hrs (local time)

For the Belarusian champions this away game is the last chance for reaching the Last 16: Having only one single victory on their account, the team from Minsk would urgently need two points in Switzerland.

But Kadetten started a catch-up chase for the knock-out stage with two victories before the break, against Minsk and Aalborg.

The Swiss champions are also in the comfortable position of having three straight home matches coming up. With five points on their account they can make an early qualification for the Last 16 in those matches.

From a Swiss point of view, their game against Minsk shall be a starting point for Kadetten, currently ranked fourth in Group C, three points behind Szeged and one point ahead of AaB.

The VELUX EHF Men's Champions League game of Group C, Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) vs. Dinamo Minsk (BLR) on Wednesday 09 February 2011 at 19.30 hrs (local time), will be broadcast live on our free-of-charge web stream on ehfTV.com.

Group D

Renovalia Ciudad Real (ESP) – HC St. Petersburg (RUS)
Wednesday 09 February 2011, 20:00 hrs (local time)

Nine players arrived from the World Championship in Sweden to Ciudad Real with Bronze medals, two even with Gold. The Spanish champions want to take advantage of the momentum of the Spanish and French national team.

At the restart of the VELUX EHF Men’s Champions League, Renovalia Ciudad Real is ready to qualify for the Last 16. Only one single point from the home game against St. Petersburg is required to jump this not too high looking hurdle.

But Ciudad Real are not only looking for qualification, but they are also prepared to fight for the number one spot in Group D.

The Spaniards are currently the only team in the VELUX EHF Men’s Champions League without a defeat, they won their first encounter in St. Petersburg with a clear 9-goal-margin.

The Russians have four points and are ranked fourth in this group. Their competitors HCM Constanta (ROU) have the same amount of points. So any unexpected “bonus point” in Ciudad Real would bring the Russians closer to the Last 16. Still the team of Dmitri Torgowanow is aware of being the underdog in this duel.

The match in Spain, scheduled for 05 December 2010 had to be postponed due to the weather situation in Europe and problems in the Spanish air traffic.