Home debuts and a top class duel
Six home victories, four away wins and two draws were the outcome of the first round of the VELUX EHF Champions League Group Phase. Before we have any time to digest the first set of results, the second round gets underway already on Wednesday with matches in Minsk and Halmstad.
Two top teams face in Veszprém, while defending champions HSV Hamburg have their first home match and Kim Andersson will face his former teammates in Kiel. Motor Zaporozhye and Dunkerque will have their first ever group phase matches on home court.
Group A:
MKB-MVM Veszprém (HUN) vs. Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER)
Sunday, 17:00 hrs. local time
Zarko Sesum (more a tourist than a player due to his injury) and Bjarte Myrhol will return to their former club Veszprém with Rhein Neckar Löwen in the Match of the Week. This game is the re-match of the 2008 EHF Cup final, in which the Hungarians took their last international title.
In the 2009/10 season the teams faced in the group phase, with both winning their home matches (32:29 for Löwen and 34:30 for Veszprém).
The start of the current season had been completely different: While Veszprém proved their ambitions by a clear win at St. Petersburg, Löwen slipped up with a draw against Zaporozhye. Thanks to their frenetic audience, the Hungarians are the favourites, but need to be aware, as they lost two of their last three home matches against German teams: In the 2011/12 season against Berlin (24:33) and in the previous season against Kiel (28:29).
HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) vs. HC Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb (CRO)
Thursday, 19:00 hrs. local time, in Kharkov
Although Motor Zaporozhye are a debutant, the players and staff of RK Zagreb know their opponent very well. A handful of players and coach Sergej Bebeshko had been part of Dinamo Minsk last season – and the Belarusians competed with Zagreb in the group phase one year ago and had the upper hand thanks to a 27:27 draw at home and a 25:23 win in Zagreb.
In the first round Zagreb won against their old rivals from Celje, while Zaporozhye took a highly surprising, but well-deserved draw at Rhein Neckar Löwen.
Celje Pivovarna Lasko (SLO) vs. St. Petersburg HC (RUS)
Saturday, 20:30 hrs. local time
Two losers from round 1 meet in Slovenia on Saturday. Celje were nearly on eye level with Zagreb in their game, St. Petersburg were clearly beaten by Veszprém at home on the opening day.
Both teams are expected to struggle for the Last 16, so this match is very significant already. Thanks to their home advantage, Celje are the favourites with St. Petersburg not winning a single point in away matches last season.
Group B:
Dunkerque HB Grand Littoral (FRA) vs. Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
Saturday, 16:00 hrs. local time
The whole city and region of Dunkerque is eagerly awaiting the first home match in the competition. Despite the clear 23:33 opening defeat at Kielce, the French runners-up are confident ahead of the game.
However, Plock showed an outstanding performance against Kiel and unluckily lost the tie in the dying seconds. An open match is expected and the bigger international experience of the Plock players could prove decisive.
THW Kiel (GER) vs. KIF Kolding Kobenhavn (DEN)
Sunday, 15:00 hrs. local time
Right before the clash against his old team, Kim Andersson is back on track. The Swedish right back, who Europe’s elite competiton twice with THW Kiel, had his comeback for KIF against Porto on Sunday.
We are likely to see Andersson on court again at Kiel. THW, lucky winner at Plock, will be looking to take revenge against the Danes, after losing a test match before the start of this season clearly 19:26. Despite some injury problems, Kiel are in the favourites role at home.
KS Vive Targi Kielce (POL) vs. FC Porto Vitalis (POR)
Sunday, 15:00 hrs. local time
On paper, this fixture looks quite easy for Kielce, but coach Bogdan Wenta mentioned before the season that his team have respect for every opponent.
Porto never really threatened against Kolding in their opener, while Kielce currently top the ranking after a ten goal victory against Dunkerque – and have their second straight match on home ground, while Porto are again the guest team, like last Sunday.
Group C:
HC Dinamo Minsk (BLR) vs. HC Vardar – Skopje (MKD)
Wednesday, 19:00 hrs. local time
Both caused minor or major surprises, both are aiming for the Last 16, both have new coaches and a squad in transition – the number of parallels at Minsk and Skopje are quite high.
The Macedonians are boosted even more after their brilliant second half performance against Barcelona, taking a draw against the big favourite.
Minsk were looking good for a victory at Paris until the final stages, but then lacked experience to tame the French team. The winner of this match will have a good base to count on in the battle for the top four.
FC Barcelona Intersport (ESP) vs. Wacker Thun (SUI)
Saturday, 16:15 hrs. local time
A one-off or a serious problem? This is the question before Barcelona’s second group phase match. The Catalans were close to losing at Skopje despite a six-goal lead at one point, but playing at home is completely different for Xavi Pascual’s men.
The seven-time EHF Champions League winners are the clear favourites against the debutant, who stood brave against Metalurg Skopje, unluckily losing by one goal. Thun have nothing to lose and can play without any pressure at Palau Blaugrana – where their Swiss forerunners Kadetten Schaffhausen were clearly beaten 35:26 in the previous season.
HC Metalurg (MKD) vs. PSG Handball (FRA)
Saturday, 18:00 hrs. local time
First FC Barcelona, now PSG Handball– thanks to having two clubs in the VELUX EHF Champions League the handball fans at Skopje are served the crème de la crème of European handball in only one week, with different hosts.
Metalurg nearly let a victory slip from their hands at Thun, while PSG needed to struggle hard to beat Minsk, so both teams are expected to up their game. Last season Metalurg took two victories against a French team in the Group Phase, but PSG are a completely different calibre compared to Chambery.
Metalurg coach Lino Cervar will meet some well-known faces from his time as Croatian national team coach, with Igor Vori, Marko Kopljar and Jakov Gojun arriving with PSG.
Group D:
HK DROTT Halmstad (SWE) vs. SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)
Wednesday, 19:00 hrs. local time
Swedish will be the language on court on Wednesday at the first home match for Halmstad. While the host count only on Swedish players in the squad, Flensburg have four Swedish players (Mathias Andersson, Jim Gottfridsson, Tobias Karlsson and Hampus Wanne) and one Swedish coach (Ljubomir Vranjes).
Gottfridsson and Wanne had withdrawn from participating at the Junior World Championship to fully prepare for their new club team – and missed out on becoming world champions with their opponent on Wednesday, Philip Stenmalm. For Flensburg it is the second Scandinavian duel within 72 hours after beating Aalborg on Sunday. DROTT lost at Velenje and will be desperate to take those lost points back now.
HSV Hamburg (GER) vs. RK Gorenje Velenje (SLO)
Thursday, 20:00 hrs. local time
HSV Hamburg have no good memories facing teams from Slovenia on home ground. In the 2011/12 season they only tied with Koper and in the previous season they were even beaten by Celje in the Last 16, but the qualification for the quarter-finals were never in danger after a clear away victory.
Now the third Slovenian team arrives at the defending champions’ arena and they meet as winners of their opening matches. While HSV clearly defeated La Rioja in Logrono, Velenje took two points on home ground against Halmstad. After losing a big numbers of players, Gorenje are the underdogs in this match.
Aalborg Handball (DEN) vs. Naturhouse La Rioja (ESP)
Sunday, 17:00 hrs. local time
Two defeated teams from the first round meet in Denmark to try and kick start their campaigns. Both were defeated by German teams in the opening weekend, Aalborg lost at Flensburg, while La Rioja could not overcome Hamburg. This game has a lot at stake already, as both will be struggling to be among the four best teams in the group.
TEXT: Björn Pazen / cor
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