First main round berths on the cards in round 4
Entering round 4 on Tuesday, the group matches of the EHF European League Men 2023/24 go into the decisive phase as teams strive for the coveted spots in the main round. Seven teams, including all four German participants, are still unbeaten as some might book their ticket to the main round already this week.
Top 5 Matches
Group A: HBC Nantes (FRA) vs IFK Kristianstad (SWE)
Thursday 21 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- after three rounds, Nantes are second in the group with four points while Kristianstad are last, with no point
- the French side won the first confrontation last week, 31:27
- Nantes lost goalkeeper Ivan Pesic and centre back Rok Ovnicek to injuries during that game
- Nantes’ best scorer in the competition is Valero Rivera, with 20 goals; Ludvig Jurmala Åström has netted 16 times for Kristianstad
- Kristianstad lost their domestic match against Önnereds (35:33); Nantes won for the fourth time in a row, 26:21 against Nîmes
Kristianstad is a really good team, physical, energetic and plays with engagement during 60 minutes. We succeeded to reach the victory last week. Tomorrow will be an important game for us. We need theses two points for our qualification goal.
Group B: HC Kriens-Luzern (SUI) vs Górnik Zabrze (POL)
Thursday 21 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Kriens-Luzern hope to earn their first points of the group matches, while Zabrze are second with four points
- last week, Zabrze won the first confrontation between the two sides, 32:28
- Kriens-Luzern’s Andre Schmid is the top scorer of the competition with 33 goals; Taras Minotskyi has netted 19 times for Zabrze
- last weekend, Kriens-Luzern beat Wacker Thun 39:23 in the Swiss league; Zabrze conceded their fourth loss of the season in the Polish league against Piotrkow, 33:28
Group F: BM Logroño La Rioja (ESP) vs Vojvodina (SRB)
Thursday 21 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Vojvodina are second with four points and La Rioja are third with three points
- in round 3, the first confrontation between the two sides resulted in a thriller won by the Spanish side, 25:24
- so far, Vojvodina beat Bjerringbro-Silkeborg and Alkaloid and lost against La Rioja; the Spanish side drew against Alkaloid in round 2 after losing against Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
- Barys Pukhouski scored 15 goals for Vojvodina so far; La Rioja’s best scorers, Xavier Tua and Alvaro Preciado, are on 10 goals each
- Vojvodina remain undefeated in the Serbian league after their weekend win against Vranje (36:23); La Rioja also took the points in the Spanish league, 39:35 against Neve
Group G: Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Füchse Berlin (GER)
Thursday 21 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- after three rounds, Füchse Berlin lead with the maximum of six points; Dinamo are second with four points
- Berlin would secure their main round ticket if they win while third-ranked Chambéry do not beat Izvidac in the other group match
- Dinamo’s only European defeat of the season was in the first confrontation with Füchse last week, 30:33
- Dinamo’s Andrii Akimenko has scored 22 goals so far this season, while two players have netted 16 for Füchse: Mathias Gidsel and Tim Freihöfer
- last weekend, Dinamo defeated Vaslui in the Romanian league (27:26); Füchse lost for the first time in the German league, against Kiel (30:26)
It is another big clash for us and we want to stay on top of the group. Also the matches are very important for the main round. We know it will be a tough one in front of this enthusiastic home crowd but we are well prepared.
Group H: Sporting CP (POR) vs MOL Tatabánya KC (HUN)
Thursday 21 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Sporting are ranked third with two points, Tatabánya second with four points
- the first game this season between the two teams was tight, with Tatabánya winning it 31:29
- Sporting had also lost in round 2, against Constanta 29:28
- both clubs’ best scorers in the competition are right backs with the same number goals: Gábor Ancsin and Francisco Costa, both on 18
- last weekend, Sporting beat (36:29); Tatabánya defeated KKFT from Veszprém in the Hungarian league (34:29)
We only have a chance tomorrow if we play with the same mentality and attitude like we did last Tuesday. We’re not the favourites of the match, especially that we have many injured players...but winning even 1 point would be an amazing success that could open up our way to the main round.
Also watch out for…
- four teams are out of the race to the main round if they lose in round 4: Kristianstad in group A, Kriens-Luzern in B, Cuenca in C, and Izvidac in G
- seven group leaders could book their main round ticket Tuesday; four teams can do so with a win regardless the other result in the group: Löwen in A, Hannover-Burgdorf in B, Sävehof in C, and Flensburg in E
- Nexe have scored the most goals of all 32 teams after three rounds: 116
- Constanta own the best defence in the competition so far, with 70 goals conceded
- two clubs both have two players in the top 10 of the goal scorers standings: Löwen, with Juri Knorr and Niclas Kirkeløkke; and Constanta, with Mikalai Aliokhin and Vitaly Komogorov
photo (c) 2023 Ingrid Anderson-Jensen
