Fourth victory or end of suffering?

Back to France – this is the way ehfTV commentator Tom Ó Brannagáin is going this weekend. After the duel of Montpellier and Hamburg had been selected as the ehfTV.com Match of the Week in Round 3 last Sunday, now the Alps will be the place to be for Tom Ó Brannagáin.

Chambéry Savoie vs. Vive Targi Kielce is the Match of the Week of Round 4 of the VELUX EHF Champions League on Sunday (throw-off 19:00 local time) - and the situation of both opponents of Group C could not be more different. On one hand, host Chambery suffered from three defeats in the first three matches and rank on the bottom of the standings still waiting for their first point. On the other hand brilliantly reinforced team of Vive Targi Kielce have won all three encounters and have the chance to extend their series to a new club record in the VELUX EHF Champions League, as the Polish champions never before had won four straight matches in this competition.

In the head-to-head statistics the Polish champions is leading 3:1. In the Group Phase of the 2009/10 season Kielce won both encounters – 31:22 at home and 31:24 in the Alps - in 2010/11 Chambéry took a thrilling 27:26 home victory, but then lost by 25:31 at Poland.

Despite a 24:28 defeat in the French league’s top match on Thursday night against big favourite Paris, Chambéry gained confidence: “We played well and we really improved. We hope to continue like this against Kielce,” Chambery’s top scorer Edin Basic (ten goals against Paris, the new club of former Chambéry coach Phillippe Gardent) said.

His team again will miss Kévynn Nyokas (rupture of an ankle ligament). “I was really starting my game especially in the VELUX EHF Champions League, but now I’m out,” Nyokas is quoted on the club’s website.

Coach Mario Cavalli hopes to end this disappointing series though he also has to replace injured Damir Bičanić and has to trust in young guns: „There are no excuses for the defeat at St. Petersburg, but we can play better and I hope we can show it against Kielce.”

So for the second straight time in only four days Chambéry will face the leader of the respective competition. And the match will see the reunion of a former trio of HSV Hamburg, as Chambéry newcomers Bertrand and Guillaume Gille had been team-mates of Krzysztof Lijewski at the German side.

In contrast to the French runners-up, Kielce had an easy going and successful league duel on Wednesaday, beating Piotrków Trybunalski 46:31. Kielce’s top scorer in the VELUX EHF Champions League Ivan Čupić scored nine goals.

But despite the good base and the difficulties Chambery are going trough currently, Kielce player Piotr Grabarczyk warns his team-mates: “The problem of Chambéry are their past performances. We must be aware in France, because they need every single point. And the number of opportunities to win points is getting lower week by week. Therefore it will not be an easy game,” he said in an interview with the Kielce website www.vivetargi.pl.

The match Chambéry Savoie vs. Vive Targi Kielce will be live streamed free of charge on www.ehfTV.com with English live commentary.