After their clear 24:39 defeat in the first leg in Veszprém, RK Celje Pivovarna Laško were much stronger on home ground – but, as expected, could not manage a second win this week after beating Zagreb on Tuesday. On Thursday night, the Hungarian side took two points after a well-deserved 29:25 win and extended the gap ahead of third-ranked HC Motor to three points.  

Celje remain on six points, but, with the recent decision that all teams qualify for the Last 16 in mind, the biggest pressure has lessened.

GROUP B
RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (SLO) vs Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) 25:29 (14:16) 

• after their 29:28 victory against Zagreb on Tuesday, Celje stood strong for almost 45 minutes, but were ultimately chanceless. In the end, it was Veszprém’s 14^thvictory in now 16 matches against Celje
• Celje’s last lead was a 5:4. The smallest gap after the break was two goals, 21:23
• Celje had to replace Croatian back Josip Saric, who was the top scorer against Zagreb, while Veszprém added two top stars to the squad that lost 30:37 in Barcelona on Tuesday: Petar Nenadic and Kent Robin Tönnesen
• from the score of 8:7 on, Veszprém were constantly ahead, extending the gap to five goals for the first time at 22:17 in minute 41 
• next week, Veszprém host HC Motor, while Celje travel to Champions League 2019/20 winners Kiel

The older Marguc wins the duel of brothers 

After his younger brother Gal won the Marguc brothers duel in the first leg, with seven goals to four, Gasper struck back on Thursday night. The older brother (aged 30) was Veszprém’s top scorer in his homecoming match in Slovenia, with five goals; Gal (24) netted four times. The overall record for the season looks almost the same: Gasper has 29 goals in his tally so far, while Gal is on 24.