The first confrontation between the two teams had been a close affair; the team from Belarus took a narrow win. But tonight, at home, Szeged welcomed the return of Jonas Källman and Dmitry Zhitnikov, two key elements who had not played since round 5, almost two months ago.

The aim for the hosts, was to take the two points and try to take a second win this season, after beating Elverum at home two weeks ago. Brest, ranked third before tonight, had only managed to take one point from their three away games this season in the Champions League.

GROUP A

MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN) vs HC Meshkov Brest (BLR) 30:27 (18:13)

• Szeged clearly had the upper hand in the first half. Making the most of their opponents’ turnovers and missed shots, the Hungarian side’s advantage grew steadily to five goals at the break (18:13).
• If the hosts did not prove to be as efficient offensively after half-time, they still controlled the pace of the game, winning by three in the end (30:27).
• Best scorer of the game was Szeged’s Bence Banhidi, who netted eleven times without missing a single shot
• Szeged now move up one place in the rankings, leapfrogging Vardar for the sixth spot. Meshkov remain third of the group, with nine points.

11/11 for Bence Banhidi

After a troubled start of the season, Szeged are gradually coming back into shape. The best proof of this tonight was Bence Banhidi’s performance. The Hungarian lineplayer scored five and six respectively in each half, perfectly served by his team mates, not missing a single shot along the way. With his eleven goals, he matched his best performance in the Champions League, recorded last season against Aalborg.