German sides remain spotless; Barça win MOTW in style

Like Magdeburg, Füchse Berlin remain spotless at the top of their group. Barça won the Match of the Week at Plock in a dominant way, while Industria Kielce took the points at Bucharest and GOG shocked Paris Saint-Germain.

• Dejan Milosavljev was Füchse Berlin’s key to an away win at Veszprém, 32:31, saving 16 shots in a match which became a thriller only in the end
• Kielce ended a series of defeats, beating Dinamo Bucuresti 28:24, with Klemen Ferlin saving 16 shots against the bottom-of-group A side
• the one-sided MOTW at Plock was already decided at the break, when Barça led 16:9; Barça goalkeeper Emil Nielsen was awarded Player of the Match as the Spanish side took a 34:24 victory
• 17 goals from the duo of Óli Mittún and Frederik Bjerre were the driving force for GOG’s away win at Paris, 36:34
• SC Magdeburg easily cruised past Eurofarm Pelister, 36:26, to keep a perfect record and stay top of group B

GROUP A

One Veszprém HC (HUN) vs Füchse Berlin (GER) 31:32 (12:16)

H2H: 2-0-3
Top scorers: Ahmed Adel 6/7 (One Veszprém HC), Hákun West Av Teigum 7/11 (Füchse Berlin)

With goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev on fire, Füchse Berlin extended the gap on the table between them and One Veszprém HC to six points after just six matches. With 16 saves, the Serbian shot stopper was the key to Berlin’s sixth win and Veszprém’s third defeat. For 40 minutes, the hosts played below par in attack and defence, while Berlin could not even be stopped by an early injury to Fabian Wiede and a red card against their defence boss Max Darj, following three suspensions, right before the break. Thanks to a great performance from goalkeeper Mikael Appelgren (14 saves) and improvement from their main strikers Nedim Remili and Ahmed Adel after they fell behind 19:13, Veszprém got stronger — but Milosavljev stood like a Serbian oak and prevented them getting too close. When Mathias Gidsel netted for 31:26 five minutes before the end, Berlin’s third consecutive away victory at Lake Balaton seemed to be secured. However, with mistakes in attack, Füchse invited Veszprém to a 4:0 run — and as the final minute started, the difference was down to one. Eight seconds from the buzzer, Faroese wing Hákun West Av Teigum sealed the win and Veszprém’s first home defeat of the season. Berlin top the table two points ahead of Aalborg.

Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Industria Kielce (POL) 24:28 (12:14)

H2H: 1-0-2
Top scorer: Tom Pelayo 5/8 (Dinamo Bucuresti), Artsem Karalek 9/11 (Industria Kielce)

Industria Kielce ended their series of consecutive defeats, after four, with a crucial win at Bucharest, leaving Dinamo still waiting for their first point. The visitors were almost constantly ahead, only being down by one goal in the opening before firmly taking control from minute 23 on. In what was a defence-orientated match, both Vladimir Cupara (Dinamo) and Klemen Ferlin (Kielce) had great performances between the posts. The Polish side, who recently lost their top domestic clash against Plock, won both halves with the same result (14:12), but could not cast off the hosts until the final minutes. Dinamo were close to turning the match around at 18:19 in minute 42 and 21:22 in minute 50. Finally, three unanswered goals from top scorer Artsem Karalek, taking the score to 27:22 with three minutes to go, decided the match.

GROUP B

SC Magdeburg (GER) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD) 36:26 (19:13)

H2H: 3-0-0
Top scorer: Ómar Ingi Magnusson 10/10 (SC Magdeburg), Filip Kuzmanovski 6/8 (HC Eurofarm Pelister)

SC Magdeburg easily took their sixth win from the same number of matches, as Eurofarm Pelister were chanceless in all departments. After the first 14 minutes were quite equal, the defending champions accelerated and turned Eurofarm Pelister’s mistakes in attack into a comfortable and already decisive 19:13 lead at half-time. The hosts scored from all positions, but it was mainly their counterattacks that were crucial. Magdeburg back Ómar Ingi Magnusson was unstoppable with his breakthroughs and his penalties. On the other hand, only Filip Kuzmanovski could keep up with Magdeburg’s firing power. The smallest gap in the second half was four goals, at 20:16. Sebastian Barthold netted for the first double-figured advance at 32:22. The Macedonian champions remain on two points. 

MOTW: Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs Barça (ESP) 24:34 (9:16)

H2H: 1-0-8
Top scorer: Miha Zarabec 7/8 (Orlen Wisla Plock), Aleix Gómez 8/9 (Barça)
POTM: Emil Nielsen (Barça)

Until round 5, Orlen Wisla Plock had the most effective attack of all 16 teams in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League — but that record came to an end in the first half against the superb-defending Barça on Thursday night. The nine goals scored in the first 30 minutes represented Plock’s lowest score in one half this season. The hosts either failed against the rock solid defensive wall or against goalkeeper and Player of the Match Emil Nielsen (13 saves in total), but also made many mistakes in attack. Up to the score of 6:6, Plock were on an equal level, then Barça started their engines, pulling ahead from 10:8 to 16:9 at half-time. When Aleix Gómez netted for the first double-digit advantage 23:13 in minute 40, the match was done. Barça kept their former teammate Melvyn Richardson, who was the second top scorer in the competition before this round, on a low score of one goal from eight attempts. Even worse for Wisla was the knee injury for playmaker and match top scorer Miha Zarabec in minute 46. Thanks to this clear victory, the record winners are the only hunters of top side SC Magdeburg, sitting two points below the defending champions on the table.

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) vs GOG (DEN) 34:36 (13:20)

H2H: 3-0-2
Top scorer: Elohim Prandi 9/14 (Paris Saint-Germain), Óli Mittún 9/11 (GOG)

After winning their home matches against Zagreb and Eurofarm Pelister with the help of some luck, Paris Saint-Germain were defeated on their ground for the first time this season and remain on only four points after six rounds. With the result of this clash, they were passed by GOG, who are now on six points. In the whole 60 minutes, the Danish side were never behind — their crucial streak of the match was when they pulled ahead from 7:6 to 19:11, when mainly centre back Óli Mittún and wing Frederik Bjerre (eight goals) scored almost every one of their shots. Paris were in a state of shock, but, steered by Elohim Prandi, started a comeback — that was too late in the end. Through the last quarter, GOG kept the distance at at least five goals goals until the very last minute, taking their third win in a well-deserved way, as the final result does not reflect the rundown of the match. 

Photos: Roland Peka; NEACSU MIHAI; Laurene Valroff / Aurélien Meunier / Eric Renard; Jerzy Stankowski; Eroll Popova