What outcomes to expect in the final round of the group phase

THW Kiel, Aalborg Handbold and Barça head into the last week of the group phase as official participants in the quarter-finals. However, the results of the Wednesday and Thursday matches will decide whether these three teams finish on the first or second position in their respective groups. The last quarter-final ticket holder will be decided after the MOTW, as both Telekom Veszprém HC and SC Magdeburg will give their all for a direct qualification.

Kolstad, Pelister and Celje are all out of the battle for a play-off spot, while the other teams will have to wait until the round is over to find out their exact rankings. It will be a heated Thursday evening for Wisla Plock and Porto who will fight for sixth place in group B and consequently for the last play-off ticket available.

Take a look at all the possible outcomes for this week.

Group A

THW Kiel will finish first if:

• they win or draw against Zagreb
• they lose against Zagreb AND Aalborg draw or lose against Kielce

Aalborg Håndbold will finish first if:

• they win against Kielce AND Kiel lose against Zagreb

Scenarios for third to sixth place:

Scenario 1: Szeged beat Paris, Kielce lose and Zagreb draw

• four-way tie at 15 points
• in this case, the number of points in matches of all teams directly involved is taken into consideration:

3. Paris (8 pts)
4. Szeged (7 pts)
5. Kielce (5 pts)
6. Zagreb (3 pts)

Scenario 2: Szeged beat Paris, Kielce lose and Zagreb lose

• three-way tie at 15 points and Zagreb is in sixth place with 14 points
• in this case, the number of points in matches of all teams directly involved is taken into consideration:

3. Szeged (5 pts)
4. Paris (4 pts)
5. Kielce (3 pts)

Scenario 3: Szeged and Paris draw, Kielce draw and Zagreb win

• three-way tie at 16 points and Szeged is in sixth place with 14 points
• in this case, the number of points in matches of all teams directly involved is taken into consideration:

3. Paris (6 pts)
4. Kielce (5 pts)
5. Zagreb (1 pt)

In case two teams are tied in points, these would be the tiebreaker outcomes:

• Paris SG over Kielce 
• Paris SG over Zagreb
• Kielce over Zagreb
• Szeged over Kielce
• Zagreb over Szeged
• Paris would win the tiebreaker against Szeged, if they win, draw or lose by two goals or less
• Szeged would win the tiebreaker against Paris, if they win by three goals or more

Kolstad Handball will finish seventh

HC Eurofarm Pelister will finish eighth

Group B

Barça:

• will finish first if: 
• they win against Montpellier
• they draw against Montpellier AND Magdeburg draw or lose against Veszprem
• will finish second if: 
• draw against Montpellier AND Magdeburg win against Veszprem
• lose against Montpellier

SC Magdeburg:

• will finish first if: 
• they win against Veszprem AND Barça draw or lose against Montpellier
• they draw against Veszprem AND Barça lose against Montpellier
• will finish second if: 
• they win against Veszprem AND Barça win against Montpellier
• draw against Veszprem AND Barça win or draw against Montpellier
• will finish third if: 
• they lose against Veszprem

Telekom Veszprém HC:

• will finish first if: 
• they win against Magdeburg AND Barça lose against Montpellier
• will finish second if: 
• they win against Magdeburg AND Barça win or draw against Montpellier
• will finish third if: 
• they draw or lose against Magdeburg

Battle for fourth: Montpellier HB vs GOG

• Montpellier HB will finish fourth if:
• they win or draw against Barca
• they lose against Barça AND GOG draw or lose against Celje

• GOG will finish fourth if they win against Celje AND Montpellier lose against Barça

Battle for sixth: Orlen Wisla Plock vs FC Porto

• Wisla Plock will finish sixth if they win or draw against Porto
• Porto will finish sixth if they win against Wisla Plock

RK Celje Pivovarna Laško will finish eighth

Photos © Eroll Popova/SC Magdeburg, Victor Salgado