LAST WEEK IN THE CL: Denmark won the World Championship for the first time, boasting 14 players who are plying their trade in the VELUX EHF Champions League. Elsewhere, teams are vying to get back to full strength
A new world champion and how PSG stole the show
The VELUX EHF Champions League is still on a break, but do not worry, the 20 remaining teams will be back in two weeks’ time with new challenges on the horizon.
Until then, let’s see what happened last week, with 40 stalwarts that are playing in the VELUX EHF Champions League winning medals in the World Championship, teams getting back to training sessions and Daniel Narcisse being honoured in front of a full house in Paris.
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A new world champion
The Danish side was flawless during the two weeks of the IHF World Championship 2019, winning all 10 games on the way to their first title in the competition. Superstar left back Mikkel Hansen was both the MVP of the competition and top goal scorer, with 72 goals scored.
No less than 14 of the 18 players called up by coach Nikolaj Jacobsen can also be seen in the VELUX EHF Champions League, with Flensburg boasting four players, Bjerringbro-Silkeborg three, and PSG two in the Danish side. Also, EHF Cup contenders THW Kiel had two players among the gold-medal winners.
Team narvalo
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PSG, the top team at the World Championship
The French champions are the only team which could boast a full collection of medals won by their players at the World Championship. Henrik Toft Hansen and Mikkel Hansen are golden medallists, Sander Sagosen has won silver, while four French players - Nikola and Luka Karabatic, Luc Abalo and Nedim Remili - have win the bronze medal.
Three other teams had at least players with two different medals: Flensburg have four Danish players and four Norwegian players, Nantes boast one Norwegian player and three French players, and last but not least, Barça Lassa have Casper Mortensen, who won the gold medal and four French bronze-medal winners – Ludovic Fabregas, Dika Mem, Cedric Sorhaindo and Timothey N'Guessan.
A new face for Montpellier
An underwhelming season in the European top competition for the title holders meant that Montpellier had to change something sooner rather than later. And they did exactly just that, announcing five moves last week.
Croatian goalkeeper Marin Sego will join from MOL-Pick Szeged, while left wing Gilberto Duarte from Barcelona and left wing Hugo Descat from Dinamo will be Montpellier players from next summer. Alexis Borges, a Portuguese line player, and right wing Yanis Lenne will join the team from 2020.
Bingo changes clubs
Montpellier have been at the center of the transfer news this week, as they also announced the release of left wing Arnaud Bingo. The 31-year-old French player has left by mutual consent and has already found a new home in Sporting CP, which will face Dinamo Bucuresti in the group phase knockout, with a Last 16 berth on the table.
Back to work!
Teams are slowly getting back into shape after the World Championship and one of the first teams to be reunited at full strength was Vardar. The Macedonian side climbed to the second place of Group A after their close win against Kielce (28:27) in the final round of 2018 and will need to be on top to maintain their position.
An honour for Narcisse
Daniel Narcisse may have called it a career last summer, he is still well appreciated by his former clubs. PSG honoured him before a football game and nearly 50,000 fans got to applaud the former French back.
TEXT:
Adrian Costeiu / ew