Smiles and history feature in best quotes of the round

The VELUX EHF Champions League is entering its most important phase so far, with groups C and D nearing completion next week and teams in groups A and B battling to improve their ranking ahead of the Last 16.

Find out what coaches and players had to say after round 9 last week in our Top 5 Quotes:

5. Torbjörn Bergerud, SG Flensburg-Handewitt goalkeeper

“Everyone could see today that Perez de Vargas had an amazing match. He had some saves in very important moments of the match.”

From one goalkeeper to another, Flensburg’s Torbjörn Bergerud had no problem admitting that his counterpart, Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, had a key role for Barça when the group A leaders got the two points (31:27) in the Match of the Week on Saturday night.

4. Thierry Anti, Sporting CP coach

“I remember 20 years ago when Elgorriaga won the Champions League and it was a pleasure for me to come back to this arena.”

Sporting coach Thierry Anti knows his Champions League classics. Anti was around in 1995 when Bidasoa Irun won the Champions League - for the first and so far only time in the Spanish club’s history. This weekend, Bidasoa and Anti’s Sporting drew 32:32.

3. Marko Savovski, HC Vardar general manager

“These five minutes where we were absent determined the outcome. It’s not allowed to play like that. For us, as the winners of the Champions League, there is no excuse for such a failure.”

Vardar have won only one of their last six Champions League games. Injuries to key players like Dainis Kristopans are an obvious reason but Marko Savovski also pointed out that lapses of concentration can cost the team matches, as it happened against Meshkov Brest, losing 31:22 after a 13:12 half-time lead.

2. David Davis, Telekom Veszprém HC coach

“Today three people are sitting here: Talant, from whom I learned handball techniques, and Arpad, with whom I played and won trophies together. I hope that there will be a chance in the future for us to sit together like this.”

The post-match press conference after Veszprém vs Kielce brought together a whole lot of Champions League history, with David Davis, Talant Dujshebaev and Arpad Sterbik sitting at the same table.

1. Raul Alonso, HC Meshkov Brest coach

“It’s important for me that the game began to give pleasure to the players. I saw smiles on their faces, there was lightness, creativity.”

When you had won only one of your previous eight Champions League games, adding a second win in round 9 obviously put a smile on your face. A month after beating Motor Zaporozhye, Brest defeated defending champions HC Vardar on Saturday, much to the relief of the Belarusian team and their head coach.