All-Polish battle and two highlighters for Skopje
After a one week break the Group Phase of the VELUX EHF Champions League will resume on Thursday. The All-Polish duel Plock vs Kielce will be in focus, as will the teams from Skopje, who face Barca and Paris again.
Group A:
MKB-MVM Veszprém (HUN) vs. HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR)
Thursday, 19:00 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
The only two unbeaten teams of this group face on Thursday. Zaporozhye are one of the biggest surprises this season after their draw at Löwen and their victory against Zagreb. On the other hand, MKB-MVM Veszprém have won both opening matches, including a lucky last second win against Rhein Neckar Löwen.
On home court – boosted by their frenetic spectators – the Hungarians are supposed to be in the favourite role, but need to be aware, as the Ukrainians can play without any pressure and have proved their away abilities already in Germany.
St. Petersburg HC (RUS) vs. HC Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb (CRO)
Saturday, 16:00 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
Will St. Petersburg end up like in the previous three seasons and miss out on the Last 16? After two matches and two clear defeats, the Russians runner-ups look like the clear underdog in this group.
Even on home ground they were clearly beaten by Veszprém. On the other hand, Zagreb hope to take two highly important away points at the River Neva in the fight for finishing among the four best teams. After their home win against neighbour Celje, the Croats lost away at Minsk with their young team.
Celje Pivovarna Lasko (SLO) vs. Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER)
Saturday, 16:30 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
Löwen left back Sergij Gorbok returns to his former club Celje, where his successful international career had started. The Slovenians expect a full Zlatorog arena against the reigning EHF Cup champions. Surprisingly Celje are ahead of Löwen in the ranking after beating St. Petersburg, while Löwen still wait for their first victory in this season after a draw against Zaporozhye and the defeat at Veszprém.
The game also will be something special for Serbian Löwen defence specialist Nikola Manojlovic, who played for several Slovenian clubs like Velenje and Koper before. Celje hope for another surprise against a German team, after they had beaten THW Kiel on home court last season.
Group B:
FC Porto Vitalis (POR) vs. THW Kiel (GER)
Saturday, 20:15 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
Porto were taught two lessons in their first group matches and now the three times Champions League winner from Germany will arrive at the Portuguese champions. After two close (but finally victorious) matches against Plock and KIF, THW Kiel are the clear favourites at the debutants to keep their clean record.
Dunkerque HB Grand Littoral (FRA) vs. KIF Kolding Kobenhavn (DEN)
Sunday, 17:00 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
In their second straight home match, French runners-up Dunkerque will eagerly fight for their first competition points in the club’s history after the close defeat against Plock in Round 2.
In contrast to their hosts, KIF already have two points from the easy victory against Porto on their account – and proved their international strength and experience at THW Kiel, where they were on eye level, proved by a highly close defeat.
Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs. KS Vive Targi Kielce (POL)
Sunday, 19:30 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
The first of an overall six domestic duels in this season’s group phase will be throw-off in Plock. After losing the Polish cup and league finals against their old rival, the Polish runners-up want to take revenge against the champions. After easy-going victories against Dunkerque and Porto, the first away match of this season is the first hurdle for the last season’s VELUX EHF FINAL4 participant.
In the Polish league, Kielce already had won 32:28 at Plock – but the encounter seems to be fully open. Kielce’s newcomer Julen Aguinagalde will face his former Atletico Madrid team mate Marius Jurkiewicz. And the encounter will also be the decided on the bench, where the former or current national team coaches Bogdan Wenta (Poland) and Manoel Cadenas (Spain) will work on the right tactics.
Group C:
HC Dinamo Minsk (BLR) vs. Wacker Thun (SUI)
Thursday, 19:00 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
The opener of Round 3 on Thursday sees clearly marked roles: the internationally experienced Belarusians, who had beaten Vardar Skopje in the last round, host the debutants from Switzerland, who were tremendously beaten in their first away match at Barcelona.
In the previous season, Minsk left former Swiss champions Schaffhausen clearly behind in the race for the Last 16. By taking two points, Minsk can build a brilliant base to reach their objective of the knock-out stages.
FC Barcelona (ESP) vs. HC Metalurg (MKD)
Saturday, 16:15 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
Time to take revenge on Vardar’s local rivals: after FC Barcelona lost a point at Skopje in their opener, now they host the only team with a clear record in this group, again from Skopje. Metalurg will arrive full of confidence after they had managed to beat PSG Handball at home.
Barcelona can take the lead in this group, but they have to find the right means to get through the famous Metalurg defence. One key will be the duel between the goalposts between three Serbian born goalkeepers: Arpad Sterbik and Danijel Saric on Barca’s side and Darko Stanic (Metalurg). Barca right back Kiril Lazarov will face a huge number of Macedonian national teammates.
HC Vardar - Skopje (MKD) vs. PSG Handball (FRA)
Sunday, 19:00 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
How will Vardar react on the sacking of their coach Zoran Kastratovic? On Wednesday the Macedonian champions beat Nexe in SEHA liga with their interim coach Andun Boskovski on the bench – and as club sponsor and sport director Sergej Samsonenko unveiled to ehfCL.com, Boskovski will be the first option for the crucial match against Paris too.
“We did not have any talks with potential successors of Kastratovic, but they will start soon,” Samsonenko said.
For Paris St. Germain it is the second straight away match in Skopje, two weeks after their sensational defeat against Metalurg, now Vardar want to impress the “world selection” including players like Daniel Narcisse, Mikkel Hansen or Igor Vori. Vardar have proven their strength on home ground by a draw against Barcelona, but then lost at Minsk. Paris still need to rehearse on international ground – another defeat at Skopje could mean that their goals to finish on top position of this group would be shattered quite early.
Group D:
Aalborg Handball (DEN) vs. HSV Hamburg (GER)
Sunday, 13:30 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
Nearly at lunch time the Danish champions will try to surprise the still unbeaten defending VELUX EHF Champions League champions on home ground. Aalborg had lost their first duel against a German team at Flensburg in their opener, but should be the stronger at home.
Hamburg just added their fifth straight victory in the German league to their two wins on international stage – and go into the game as favourites, even in an away match. Hamburg have been very successful against Danish teams in recent years.
HK DROTT Halmstad (SWE) vs. Naturhouse La Rioja (ESP)
Sunday, 16:00 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
Which side will gain their first points in the competition? After each lost both their opening matches, only the winner of this duel can keep up with those teams hoping for the Last 16. Halmstad seem to be in a slight favourite role as the home side.
SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs. RK Gorenje Velenje (SLO)
Sunday, 17:30 hrs. local time, follow live on ehfTV.com
It is only seven months ago that both teams faced in the last season’s Last16 matches – with Flensburg as the winner of both encounters. Although Velenje have lost some crucial players, they showed two good performances so far, including beating Halmstad at home.
However, at the Flens Arena the German runners-ups are the clear favourite to continue their 100 per cent record after beating Aalborg and Halmstad before.
TEXT: Björn Pazen / cor
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