Live blog: Eve of throw-off at TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025

• Friday — the day before throw-off — at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025
• SC Magdeburg, Barça, HBC Nantes and Füchse Berlin will fight for the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 title over two action-packed days 
• semi-finals on Saturday; finals on Sunday: in the semi-finals, defending title holders Barça play SC Magdeburg and Nantes take on Berlin. See the match schedule
• Friday's agenda included media calls for the semi-finalists and the opening party; find all information about the season so far and the final weekend here
• Courtney Gahan reporting; all photos by kolektiff images

Friday 13 June

20:53

The TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025 is officially open! The opening party has concluded, the teams have returned to their hotels and the final countdown to the matches is on. 

This time tomorrow, we will know which two teams will battle for the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 trophy on Sunday. 

Until tomorrow, goodnight! 

19:31

The last item on today's agenda is the opening party, which is currently underway at LANXESS arena. Soon we will be sharing photos from the evening, as the four semi-finalists make their appearances before turning their focus completely to their upcoming matches. Stay tuned! 

16:43

Hot off the press and fresh from today's media call, Füchse Berlin coach Jaron Siewert talks all things TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025, the first-time success of winning the Bundesliga this season and how his age — which makes him the youngest head coach ever to qualify for the EHF FINAL4 — plays into his approach. 

“I am the example that shows you can achieve things while being relatively young. In this team, players like Tim Freihöfer or Nils Lichtlein play already great while they are under 25. It is encouraging for everyone in the club,” he says.

Read the feature below! 

15:35

The media call is all wrapped up and Nantes were the last in the spotlight. One theme for the French side is the label of outsiders — a label that none of the teams agree with but nevertheless makes Nantes eager to prove those who do wrong. 

Our journalist Kevin Domas spoke with coach Gregory Cojean, centre back Aymeric Minne and line player Nicolas Tournat, and all three spoke about the meaning of being in Cologne for the club. 

“It means a lot for the club. The first time was quite a surprise for everyone, but now we are listed as an outsider at the beginning of the season, which is quite a step up. We are very proud but, in the meantime, we have not won anything, and this is a huge motivation,” said Cojean. 

14:22

Time for HBC Nantes — the final team in the media call line-up! 

And what did SC Magdeburg have to say? For the 2023 title winners, it is the third straight appearance at the EHF FINAL4. The competition is familiar, as are their semi-final opponents Barça, but each season is different. 

Our journalist Kevin Domas spoke with coach Bennet Wiegert, goalkeeper Sergey Hernandez and left back Philipp Weber. For Hernandez, it is the second EHF FINAL4:

“The emotions are completely different. Last year was crazy, because it was my first, making it to an event I had heard about for years. But this time, the emotions are more inside, and I try to save it for the games tomorrow," said the Spanish goalkeeper. 

14:02

On to SC Magdeburg! From Berlin, our journalist Kevin Domas chatted with coach Jaron Siewert, right back Mathias Gidsel and centre back Nils Lichtlein. 

It might be their first EHF FINAL4, but Füchse do not focus on that and are highly motivated to put on a great show in Cologne. The side have just won the Bundesliga for the first time ever, and are already in a historic season. What Champions League position will they cap it with? 

While all players and all teams are equal in importance, there is no doubt that the handball world is excited to see what Gidsel will do in Cologne. The current back-to-back IHF World Player of the Year; top scorer of the last four big national team tournaments — the 2023 and 2025 World Championships, the EHF EURO 2024 (joint top scorer alongside Martim Costa) and 2024 Olympic Games; and MVP of the last two Olympics and World Championships has been the most influential player in men's handball in recent years. 

And how does he feel about being here himself? Read his thoughts below. 

13:38

A reminder that you can follow the media call live with two of our regular co-hosts of the EHF podcast The Spin, Bengt Kunkel and Martin Vilstrup. Check it out on YouTube. 

13:26

Barça out, Füchse Berlin in as the media call continues. 

Our journalist for the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025, Kevin Domas, spoke with head coach Carlos Ortega, right back Melvyn Richardson and line player Luis Frade. 

The three agreed it has been a challenging season — even Frade, who highlights that he did not play the Olympic Games as many of his teammates did. For those players who took the court at Paris 2024, there has been little break since the start of the 2023/24 season.

But it has also been a particularly competitive season in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, emphasised by the fact that three of the four semi-finalists came through the play-off stage — meaning they were not the top-ranked teams at the end of the group phase. Only Barça earned the right to skip the play-offs and proceed directly to the quarter-finals. 

Read all quotes from the media calls here, with rolling updates as each team comes through. 

12:54

The media call is underway, with Barça currently taking their turn in the spotlight. Soon we will be bringing you their thoughts on this day before throw-off of what is the side's 21st Champions League semi-final. 

12:46

Last in the media call schedule will be French team HBC Nantes, who are contesting the EHF FINAL4 for the third time. In 2018, they reached the final. In 2021, they placed fourth in a wildly different event, played without spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

For Nantes, returning to Cologne with the promise of a full arena — a new record of 20,074 spectators to be exact — and their legion of fans behind them marks a special moment. 

Our Nantes feature ahead of the final weekend focused on centre back Aymeric Minne. Read it below!

12:35

Following Berlin in the media call line-up will be the other German club participating in the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025: SC Magdeburg. Magdeburg memorably won the trophy in 2023, on their debut participation at the pinnacle event in Cologne, claiming what was their second title in the top flight after 2001/02. 

Now, they have made it three straight EHF FINAL4 appearances, and hope to repeat their semi-final victory over Barça on the path to the trophy two years ago. 

Ahead of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025, we caught up with team captain Christian O'Sullivan, who has an interesting personal record in Cologne — a direct red card in each of the four matches he has played. Check out the feature with O'Sullivan below. 

12:13

After Barça, we will hear from Füchse Berlin, for whom it is the first appearance the EHF FINAL4. The German side have never won the Champions League, but have had great success in the second-tier international club competition, the EHF Cup now European League. 

Their most recent trophy in the European League was in 2022/23, and they were runners-up there last season. In the EHF Cup format, they won the title in 2015 and 2018. 

Our pre-TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025 feature on Berlin was with defensive specialist and line player Mijajlo Marsenic, who spoke about how the different strengths within his team come together to create the powerful side they are. Read it below!

11:50

First up in the media call will be the defending title holders Barça, who hope to repeat their feat of 2022, when they became the first team to take back-to-back trophies at the EHF FINAL4 Men. Their recent record means Barça have taken the title in three of the last four seasons. The exception was 2023, when their semi-final opponents this season, SC Magdeburg, knocked Barça out in the same stage in which they will face the Spanish side this year. 

Barça are of course the record title holders in the EHF Champions League Men, with 11 trophies. 

A few weeks ago, I chatted with Barça wing Hampus Wanne about the well-practiced approach to the EHF FINAL4, how he sees the weekend and the upcoming end to his time with the club. Read the feature below. 

11:32

One bit of housekeeping before we start a deep dive into each semi-finalist — all the information on how to follow the big weekend in Cologne! Below, read where to watch the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025 in your country. 

11:17

The TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 brings plenty of handball legends to Cologne for the pinnacle weekend on the men's club competition calendar, and one among them this weekend will be part of guiding you through the event — recently retired Andrea Lekic, who is one of just four female players in the "club of 1,000" goals in the Champions League. 

After 18 seasons in the Champions League and one title, won in 2013 — the same year she took World Championship silver with Serbia — Lekic retired at the end of this season. And now, she will be one of the hosts of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025 live shows. 

The live show schedule starts today with Bengt Kunkel and Martin Vilstrup hosting from the media calls, talking to all four semi-finalist teams. Lekic will join for the match days, where the live shows will feature pre- and post-match predictions, analysis and interviews. 

Read all about it below, and while you're at it, check out our features on Lekic, published as her career came to an end. 

11:00

Good morning and welcome to the first day of live blog coverage of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025! Courtney Gahan here to take you through the big weekend in which the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 title will be decided. 

The four semi-finalists — title holders Barça; the winners from the season previous to that, SC Magdeburg; 2017/18 finalists Nantes; and one-time EHF FINAL4 participants Füchse Berlin — arrived in Cologne on Thursday night. 

Today they will undergo their final preparations, and take part in interviews and the opening party at LANXESS arena. 

Along with bringing you insights from the media calls, as tension builds ahead of the match days, this live blog will warm us up for the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025 with a closer look at some details surrounding the teams, the season and what else is going on around the event.