12.02.2021, 10:55
Vardar and Zagreb hunting home wins

GROUP A/B PREVIEW: As the end of the group phase draws closer, the teams ranked last in their respective groups will be looking for points this weekend

Following the usual mid-week matches plus a few rescheduled games, the EHF Champions League Men returns with some bonus weekend clashes this Sunday.

In group A, Szeged have had a positive restart to the season, and that translated into a win against Porto on Thursday. In Skopje on Sunday, against a Vardar team currently ranked last in the group, the Hungarian side will try to keep moving up the standings.

In group B, Zagreb still wait for their first points of the season – and have a third chance this week on Sunday after they lost in Celje and at home against Barça on Tuesday and Thursday. Their upcoming opponents are Nantes – a team that has never won in the Croatian capital, but ended the home curse that has plagued them this season in the Match of the Week on Wednesday.

GROUP A
HC Vardar 1961 (MKD) vs MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN)
Sunday 14 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• this will be the second Champions League game of the week for Szeged, who took the points at home on Thursday against Porto (35:31). Vardar’s mid-week match against Flensburg was postponed
• since the restart of the season, in 2021, Pick have a mixed record of one defeat and one win
• Szeged are sixth in the group with six points (and eight games played) while Vardar are last with three points (and six games played)
• Szeged have never returned from Skopje victorious, having played there five times. The last time the two teams played against each other was in the quarter-finals stage in the Champions League 2018/19, when both teams won their home leg
• Szeged’s Luka Stepancic is out for six to eight weeks due to an Achilles injury
• this game is the first leg of the confrontation between the two sides, with the second scheduled for next Thursday

GROUP B
HC PPD Zagreb (CRO) vs HBC Nantes (FRA)
Sunday 14 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• For Zagreb, it is the third match this week, after defeats in Celje (28:29) and against Barça (33:37). Nantes beat Aalborg 38:29 on Wednesday – their first home victory this season
• Nantes have six points in their account, with four of them gained away. Sunday’s hosts are the only side among the 16 EHF Champions League teams without any points
• Zagreb’s last victory in the EHF Champions League dates back to 22 February 2020 – a 31:30 result against Aalborg
• Zagreb have not lost any home match against Nantes in previous seasons, winning their group phase clash in the 2017/18 season and drawing in 2018/19
• Zagreb’s Bosnian-born line player Senjamin Buric previously played for Nantes
• Nantes’ wing Valero Rivera is the joint 13^th top scorer of the season, with 43 goals

TEXT: EHF / Kevin Domas