EHF Champions League

Kielce out for final revenge in MOTW

EHF / Björn Pazen

20 September 2022, 11:00

The second MOTW of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League is a rematch of last season’s final as Barça host Kielce in group B.

In group A, the four leaders will try to add another victory to their tally, all playing against teams that have lost their first game of the season. While Magdeburg and GOG look like legitimate favourites, for Plock and Veszprém, things will be more complicated. The Polish side faces a tough trip to Paris while Veszprém will play in a boiling atmosphere in Porto.

The remaining games of group B will see two losers of the first round clash in a crucial duel: Nantes and Szeged, while Aalborg are the favourites in the Scandinavian duel in Elverum, the 100th match at this level for the Danish side.

Even though we know that Porto are not in a good shape now, we expect a hard match there as always. They play with a lot of discipline, especially in 7 against 6. I think there will probably be a full hall. It will be tough match but if we play the same defence and the same fastbreak game as we did against PSG, this should be our chance to take two points.

Petar Nenadic, Veszprém centre back

Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
Wednesday 21 September, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

in round 1, Plock celebrated their Champions League comeback with a home win against Porto (27:23)
on the other hand, Paris lost in Veszprém (34:36), their third straight loss against the Hungarian side
the two teams have not played against each other in the competition since the 2016/17 season. Paris took the four contests, all played in the competition’s group phase
both Paris and Plock took the points in their domestic games last weekend. Paris defeated Sélestat in the French Starligue (36:23) while Plock came back victorious from their trip in Tarnow (35:23)

GOG (DEN) vs CS Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU)
Thursday 22 September, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

GOG are the current temporary leaders of group A, thanks to their 31:27 win in Zagreb in the first round
Dinamo, on the contrary, suffered a two-goal defeat against Magdeburg (28:30) last week
GOG and Dinamo Bucuresti played against each other twice already, both in the Champions League. During the group phase in the 2019/20 season, the Romanian side took the points both times
GOG won in the Danish league on Sunday against Sonderjyske (39:32) while Dinamo had no game on their weekend schedule

SC Magdeburg (GER) vs HC PPD Zagreb (CRO)
Thursday 22 September, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

for their comeback in the Champions League after a seventeen-year absence, Magdeburg celebrated in style with a win in Bucarest (30:28)
Zagreb were not as successful, as the Croatian side could not take a point at home against GOG (27:31)
while these two teams are historic names in the Champions League, they never played against each other in the competition
Magdeburg won Champions League once, in 2002, while Zagreb played the final four times but never managed to lift the trophy
last weekend, Magdeburg won their fourth straight game in the Bundesliga against Göppingen (31:26) while Zagreb defeated Sesvete in the Croatian league (33:27)

GROUP B

Elverum Handball (NOR) vs Aalborg Håndbold (DEN)
Wednesday 21 September 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

Elverum had started their season with a 36:26 defeat at Kiel, while Aalborg won 36:32 against Celje, thanks to ten goals from new arrival Mikkel Hansen
Aalborg won all four previous Champions League matches against Elverum since 2019
the Scandinavian duel is the 100th EHF Champions League match for Aalborg
the Danish side has two Norwegian internationals in their squad: Sebastian Barthold and Kristian Bjørnsen
Aalborg won their fourth straight match in the Danish league, 34:28 at Skjern, Elverum did not have a domestic match last weekend

Elverum is a good team that keeps surprising. They have a good home crowd and I look forward to being back once again. They still have not beaten us and I want to keep it that way.

Henrik Møllgaard, Aalborg centre back

RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (SLO) vs THW Kiel (GER)
Wednesday 21 September 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

while Celje lost their first match at Aalborg despite a great fight, Kiel took an easy 36:26 victory against Elverum in round 1
Kiel won the trophy four times (2007, 2010, 2012, 2020), Celje once (2005) - in terms of CL participation, the hosts are ahead by 27:25
Celje only won one of ten CL matches against Kiel, funny enough in the 2017 away match, Kiel have only dropped one point in their five trips to Celje
THW’s Slovenian playmaker Miha Zarabec played for Celje until 2017
Kiel are only seven goals shy of their 10,000th EHF Champions League goal
in the German league, Kiel kept their clean record with the 34:18 away win at Minden, while Celje won their second match in the Slovenian league 34:27 against Ormoz

HBC Nantes (FRA) vs Pick Szeged (HUN)
Thursday 22 September 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

both sides lost their openers - each against a 2022 CL finalist: Nantes were second best in a goal fest at Kielce (33:40), and Szeged lost at home against Barça (28:35) after leading 15:14 at half-time
Nantes won four of six previous duels against Szeged, including all three home matches
Jorge Maqueda, who moved from Veszprém to Nantes before the current season, played for Szeged from 2018 until 2020
in 2021, Nantes eliminated Szeged’s rival Veszprém in the quarter-finals to clinch their berth for their second participation at the EHF FINAL4
in the French league, Nantes had a perfect dress rehearsal by a 30:29 away win at Montpellier in a rematch of the 2018 final in Cologne, while Szeged beat Balatonfüred 37:28

MOTW: Barça (ESP) vs Lomza Industria Kielce (POL)
Thursday 22 September 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

both sides started the European season with a victory: Barça won 35:28 at Szeged, while Kielce beat Nantes 40:33
in the 2021/22 group phase, Kielce were the first team to beat Barça twice in a season for more than a decade, but then lost the EHF Champions League final 37:35 after a penalty shootout
both coaches combine for 12 CL trophies: Ortega won six as a player and one as a coach with Barça, Talant Dujshebaev won the trophy once as player with Santander, three as a coach of Ciudad Real and most recently with Kielce
Kielce’s coach Talant Dujshebaev played his last CL match as a player against Barça in the 2004/05 final, which he lost with Ciudad Real
Kielce top the Polish league with a clear record after the 43:26 at Kalisz, Barça beat Huesca 35:30 to remain on top of the Spanish league