Aalborg aim to end run in MOTW test against Szeged
While three teams have already secured at least a play-off berth in group A, Dinamo could be the fourth, were they to win in Porto. But the Portuguese side desperately needs two points to keep their chances of qualification alive. Veszprém and Paris keep on competing for the top spot, as the Hungarian side host GOG while Paris travel to Zagreb. In the last game of the round, Magdeburg can still hope for one of the two top spots in the group if they win in Plock.
In group B, the top sides Barça and Kielce can make huge steps towards skipping the play-offs - but the Polish side has the higher hurdle at Kiel ahead, compared to the home match against Elverum for the defending champions. In the MOTW against Pick Szeged, Aalborg hope to end their series of defeats, while Nantes can book their ticket for the knock-out stage against Celje.
We've prepared well for PSG, worked on this new and changed defensive scheme and I have to say I feel like we're going to do good in this one. We've proved to everyone how good we actually are in those last few matches of the first part of the season and now we'll try to enjoy each game, give our absolute best and see where that brings us.
Last season Magdeburg became one of the best teams in all Europe. Without any question, they are a clear candidate to win Bundesliga, win the Cup and advance to the EHF FINAL4. They were able to win the quarter-final of the Cup in Kiel and beat a great team like Kiel there in front of 8,500 people. They are a very, very fast team with great players in attack and in situation one against one. We must play really good to try to beat them but of course we will try to give everything.
I think both teams remember the first game really well. But I also know that Szeged is a way better team than they showed in the away game. It will be a very tough match and we really need the points.
Kielce has a lot of individual class. We know that the team will play a lot through the circle. They can also play an incredibly unpleasant 5:1 defence. I expect a high-class game with a relatively high number of goals, because both teams play fast forwards and have really outstanding back players. So it will be a very, very fast-paced game with a lot of goals.
We have to win this game and focus just on this, not whether we are going to make the quarter-finals. We respect a lot Elverum and they play faster than before. They have a couple of good young players on the right side and even if we won very easy on the away game, this is going to be very different game. To be honest, the difference between both teams is not the 20 goals of margin we got in our first game. They will come here willing to beat us.
Nantes showed in the first part of the season that they are a great team. They are the absolute favourite to face us. But this does not mean that we are giving up in advance. We will certainly play to the best of our abilities. We need to be as focused as possible. We'll see what that brings us.
