Before this game, Kielce and Elverum were, quite literally, opposite ends of the spectrum in Group A. The Polish side was in the driving seat, with 15 points, level with SG Flensburg-Handewitt.

Elverum, on the other hand, were second last, with four points collected across eight games, all of which were played in 2020. Only once did the Norwegian side manage to grab points away from home this season, back in Round 1 in Porto.

In the first leg of the confrontation between the two teams, Kielce won in Norway by nine, 31:22.

GROUP A

Lomza Vive Kielce (POL) vs Elverum Handball (NOR) 39:29 (20:14)

• If the first ten minutes saw the two teams trading goals, the second part of the first half was all Kielce. The Polish side made the most of every fastbreak chance it had to increase its advantage, which grew steadily to six goals at the break (20:14).
• Kielce’s advantage grew to eight goals fifteen minutes from the end of the game. Elverum reacted, came back to within three before - thanks to Artsem Karalek’s seven goals - Kielce cruised away again to win by ten, the biggest lead of the evening.
• Kielce are now top of the group with seventeen points, two ahead of Flensburg, while Elverum remain seventh.

Young Polish goalkeepers in the spotlight

Talant Dujshebaev chose to rest Andreas Wolff tonight, with the German goalkeeper sitting on the bench for sixty minutes. But both Mateusz Kornecki and Milosz Walach stepped up to the challenge. Kornecki was instrumental to Kielce breaking away in the first half, thanks to his ten saves, while Walach recorded four saves but secured the two points for his team in the last minutes of the game.