Kielce awaits feast as Lions aim to bounce back    

Group B action continues with Barcelona’s much-anticipated visit to Poland, where the VELUX EHF Champions League holders face a stern test of their credentials against Kielce.

That being the section’s derby, the match between Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Szeged should also be a spectacular one with both teams aiming to move up the ladder.

Vardar, the competition’s only team with a 100 per cent record, will be clear favourites at bottom team KIF Kolding while Montpellier and Kristianstad are headed for a dogfight to improve on a 1-3 record both teams have at the moment.

GROUP B

Montpellier HB (FRA) vs IFK Kristianstad (SWE)
Saturday 17 October 17:00 hrs local time, live on ehfTV

A kind of make-or-break fixture for both teams, as the winners will boost their chances of finishing in the top six and qualifying for the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition.

Montpellier have had a rough ride so far and last week’s tame 37:27 defeat to reigning champions Barcelona showed in no uncertain terms that they face an uphill battle if they want to repeat last season’s achievement of reaching the Last 16.

Kristianstad, on the other hand, have perhaps already achieved more than they might have been expected to in their debut season in Europe’s top flight.

The Swedish side stung Danish rivals Kolding Kobenhavn 33:26 in a Scandinavian derby on the opening day and them held their own valiantly against Barcelona in a 34:32 defeat in Spain, before successive losses to Vardar and Kielce cut them down to size.

Montpellier warmed up for the clash with a comfortable 34:25 French league win at St. Raphael, with Dragan Gajic netting nine goals from 12 shots.

“I am very pleased with the level of commitment the players showed after a poor game at Barcelona,” Montpellier coach Patrick Canayer told the club’s official website after the victory.

“We will now rest the team so that they can recover from minor knocks for the Kristianstad match,” he said.

Kristianstad grounded out a 23:19 win at Malmö which maintained their perfect record in the Swedish league.

Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER) vs MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN)
Saturday 17 October, 17:30 hrs local time, live on ehfTV

Having enjoyed a thoroughly impressive winning streak on all fronts, Rhein-Neckar Löwen were brought crashing down to earth by Vardar in the previous round, when the Macedonian giants blew away the Bundesliga front-runners with a majestic performance.

One may plausibly argue there is no shame in dropping points in Skopje - one of the most intimidating away courts in Europe - but Szeged will head to the Lions’ den in Mannheim knowing that Löwen are not unbeatable after all.

Sitting fourth in Group B with five points from four games, one ahead of Szeged, Rhein-Neckar Löwen will see this as a must-win game for several reasons.

One is that they need to get the 25:19 defeat by Vardar out of their system, the other is that two points against Szeged is a requirement and not an option if they are to stay in touch with the Macedonian pace-setters and challenge them for the section’s top position.

Löwen tuned up for the contest with a one-sided 31:21 Bundesliga away defeat of HBW Balingen, stretching their domestic run to 10 wins from as many games and stay six points clear of closest rivals THW Kiel.

Szeged, for their part, are also aiming for a finish in the section’s top half while being eager to step out of Veszprem’s shadows in Hungary.

“We want to do everything in our power to win at least one title in Hungary,” Szeged’s boss Nandor Szogi was quoted as saying by Löwen’s official website.

The German side will have to put up without defensive specialist Stefan Kneer, who picked up an injury against Vardar.

Szeged also maintained a 100 per cent record in their backyard, beating Oroshazi 27:19 to stay top of the Hungarian first division with 18 points from nine games.  
     
KS Vive Tauron Kielce (POL) vs FC Barcelona Lassa (ESP)
Saturday 17 October, 18:00 hrs local time, live on ehfTV

The visit to Kielce will be another moment of truth for Barcelona, who got back on their feet following the opening 22:21 defeat to Rhein-Neckar Löwen, but have at times looked shaky and bereft of the steel which saw them win the title last season.

The Spanish side has shown defensive frailties and with that in mind, Kielce will look to exploit the chinks in their armour which they are quite capable of doing on home court.

Buoyed by a resounding 35:27 home win over Kristianstad after a rip-roaring 32:32 draw at Löwen, Kielce will come out with all guns blazing against an equally potent Barcelona attack.

The Polish champions’ leading marksman is their iconic Spanish pivot Julen Aguinagalde with 20 goals and him being only 28th on the top scorers’ list underlines the fact that Kielce are a well-oiled unit where players share the attacking workload to devastating effect.

Barcelona, in contrast, have the effervescent Kiril Lazarov in sixth position with 28 goals but he too can rely on a support cast personified by new signing Filip Jicha, winger Victor Tomas and Tunisian surprise package Wael Jallouz among others.

Barca could not have had a better prelude to their visit to Poland, beating Ciudad Encantada 34:21 to set a new Spanish ASOBAL league record of 68 successive wins.

Kielce strolled to a 35:25 Polish league win at Legionowo to stay top with 15 points from eight games.

“Barcelona and THW Kiel are the two best teams in the history of club handball and no motivational team-talk is required when they come to town,” Dujshebaev told the club’s official website.

“But they too are human as shown by their opening defeat at Löwen and with our fans getting behind us in full force, our confidence will be high.”   

KIF Kolding Kobenhavn (DEN) vs HC Vardar (MKD)
Sunday 18 October, 16:50 hrs local time, live on ehfTV

The Danish title holders need to put some points on the board after four successive defeats but that will be easier said than done against the section’s leaders, who have an inversely proportional ratio of success of four straight wins.

Riding on the high of their 25:19 home demolition of Löwen last week,  Vardar will head to Kolding Kobenhavn hoping for nothing but another emphatic victory on their mind.

The home side will be clutching at straws with the aim of moving off the foot of the table and avoiding the wooden spoon at the end of the group phase, which would also mean elimination before the knockout rounds.

KIF Kolding got a bit of respite for their poor start in the VELUX EHF Champions League with an emphatic 31:16 Danish league win at bottom team Skive which kept them third on 11 points from eight games, level with second-placed Silkeborg.

Vardar are top of the table in local competition, winning all five games in the regional SEHA League.

With Alex Dujshebaev and Timur Dibirov firing on all cylinders against Löwen, Vardar also benefited from a superb performance by second-choice goalkeeper Petar Angelov after he replaced the usually preferred Arpad Sterbik.

The deep roster, superbly marshalled by Spanish coach Raul Gonzales, will, therefore, be odds-on favourites to notch a fifth successive win unless Kolding can produce something special against the most formidable opposition.