02.10.2017, 05:10
Five players who were in the spotlights in Round 3

TALKING POINTS: Last week's group phase action had a lot to offer. Here is a look at five eye-catching performances

Five players who were in the spotlights in Round 3

Round 3 of the VELUX EHF Champions League Group Phase has brought many memorable moments.

As there was no shortage of great performances, here are five players who particularly impressed the fans.

Mattias Andersson, SG Flensburg-Handewitt

The Match of the Week between SG Flensburg-Handewitt and Paris Saint-Germain in Group B provided a thriller where the French giants lost their first match of the season, 33:29.

The German team would not have done it without their Swedish goalkeeper Mattias Andersson. His world-class performance and 17 saves against one of the best teams in the competition world truly deserves the recognition.

Just look at the magic.

Mate Lekai, Telekom Veszprém HC  

The player of the season so far? It is safe to say that Veszprém’s Mate Lekai is not giving up his spot in the headlines and put in another leading performance as the Hungarian giants picked up two points against Meshkov Brest in Group B, 29:26.

Lekai was the top scorer with eight goals, and after scoring nine in both games in the first two rounds, he is the leading scorer in the competition with 26 goals.

With Aron Palmarsson in the cold, Lekai has certainly enjoyed having even greater responsibility in the team and is showing that on the court.

Sajad Esteki, Dinamo Bucuresti

A first win of the season is always a great moment, and Sajad Esteki surely doubled the pleasure for Dimano Bucuresti with a dramatic match-winning goal against Kadetten Schaffhausen in Group C, 29:28.

With the game over and only a free throw left, Esteki’s shot went through the wall and into the back of the net. He was the joint top-scorer in the Romanian team with five goals, but it’s pretty clear which one was the most memorable.

Andreas Wolff, THW Kiel

Kiel managed to snap up its first two points of the season with a narrow win against Aalborg Handbold (27:26) in a fantastic match in Group B.

The Zebras have had a difficult season so far but an eye-catching performance from their goalkeeper Andreas Wolff got them something to build on. Wolff saved almost 40% of all shots from the Danes in a tight match where no mistake would go unpunished. A great performance.

Rasmus Lauge Schmidt, SG Flensburg-Handewitt

And back to the Match of the Week again where SG Flensburg-Handewitt won against Paris Saint-Germain. Mattias Andersson was the man between the posts but on the other end of the court it was Rasmus Lauge Schmidt who was the man of the hour.

The Danish centre back was unstoppable and was the top scorer of Round 3 with 11 goals against PSG. The teams are now level in Group B with four points after the first three rounds.

Lauge himself posted a photo on Instagram on Saturday where he announced he just got married and is expecting a baby. That surely is destined to give you the extra power you need and ehfCL.com sends its congratulations to the happy couple.

 

Så fik jeg min prinsesse Og nu er vi helt klar til, at den anden melder sin ankomst‍‍❤️

A post shared by Rasmus Lauge (@rasmuslauge25) on

Sep 29, 2017 at 7:18am PDT

TEXT: Andri Yrkill Valsson / ew