04.02.2020, 10:48
Top dogs Kiel host champions Vardar in first game of 2020

MIDWEEK PREVIEW: The winner of the group will be handed a quarter-final berth and Kiel are in pole position, with only four rounds to go, as they host champions Vardar on Wednesday

Top dogs Kiel host champions Vardar in first game of 2020

The VELUX EHF Champions League returns with a bang after two months, with a clash of the titans.

Group B leaders THW Kiel host title holders HC Vardar, in a tie that could shape both club’s future in the competition.

Kiel still hold a two-point advantage over Veszprém, while winning two of their last three games by only the slightest of margins, one goal.

On the other hand, Vardar are placed sixth, with nine points, five ahead of Motor Zaporozhye in seventh place.

Meanwhile, Vardar replaced coach Eduard Koksharov with Stevce Alusevski in January. The former Vardar player will lead the team for the first time in Europe’s top flight.

GROUP B
THW Kiel (GER) vs HC Vardar (MKD)
Wednesday 5 February, 19:00 local time, live on ehfTV.com

• Kiel boast the MVP of EHF EURO 2020, Croatian playmaker Domagoj Duvnjak, who scored five times in the domestic league win against Hannover last weekend to help the “Zebras” stay on top of the Bundesliga
• the two teams had also clashed in October and Kiel handed Vardar one of their worst ever home losses, 31:20, after the Macedonian side only scored four goals in the first half
• the German side had two players in the EHF EURO 2020 All-Star team: MVP of the competition, Domagoj Duvnjak, and the best defender, German line player Hendrik Pekeler
• Vardar’s left back Christian Dissinger, who played for Kiel between 2015 and 2018, will miss the game due to a meniscus injury, while Russian right wing Daniil Shishkarev is out with an ear infection

TEXT: Adrian Costeiu / cor