SUMMARY: Magdeburg, Barça and PSG celebrate at the end of round 4
The Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2023/24 returns from its one-week break with round 4 of the group phase. The schedule with three matches on Wednesday and four on Thursday. In the Match of the Week played on Wednesday THW Kiel continued their winning streak against Industria Kielce while Vesprem and Montpellier earned valuable points.
22:00
PSG keeping their advantage against Eurofarm (23:20), however, there are still 15 minutes to go and anything can happen!
21:57
Goalkeepers are on another level tonight! Mirko Alilovic keeping Wisla's hopes very high, as he saves some crucial shots only for Dmitry Zhitnikov to tie! it's 17:17 in Poland.
21:50
The other two matches seem a bit more intense, as Eurofarm is catching PSG (18:20) and Wisla is catching Magdeburg (15:16).
21:45
The Spanish side continues in the same rhythm, even though GOG managed to come closer (25:18). Barça's defender, Thiagus Petrus, did a short analysis of GOG: "They can be winning by five or losing by five and they are still very forceful. They know what they have to do at all times and that makes them dangerous. Other teams may get desperate if we are winning by three, but they won't. They continue with their game plan and that makes them dangerous."
21:23
The second half is on in Barça! Poland and France will follow soon!
HALF-TIME
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Paris Saint-Germain - HC Eurofarm Pelister 15:12
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Barça - GOG 20:11
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Orlen Wisla Plock - SC Magdeburg 12:14
21:23
Barça on a break with a nine-goal-lead (20:11), as Perez de Vargas saves nine attempts. French legends Thierry Omeyer and Daniel Narcisse have their eyes on the playing court from the stands as PSG managed to grab a two-goal lead against Eurofarm. The situation in Plock is heating up with the home team being only one goal away from a tie (11:12).
21:13
Barça going all in against GOG, as they scored 18 goals five minutes before the end of the first half in Spain. GOG only managed to score from six attempts. Magdeburg, on the other side, has a plus-four against Wisla.
21:08
Eurofarm not making it easy for Paris in front of their own crowd. Ten minutes before the end of the first half the result is 9:8 for the home team. Raul Gonzalez decided it was time for the GOAT Karabatic to enter the court!
21:03
PSG and Eurofarm promise to be a match worth watching! with 15 minutes into the game, the scoreboard shows 7:7.
We played a fantastic match today. I think from the very beginning we played very well and with great concentration, we were tactically very well-prepared. We built our lead early on, we played almost perfectly today. Fortunately, everyone got a chance to play, which is very good. This is the path we need to continue on!
This is a tough loss for us. We were close the whole game and had a chance in the final minutes of the game to win at least a point. We need to keep going, on Saturday we have another tough match" (in domestic championship op.a)
22:50
Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu is the Player of the Match with seven goals, two assists and incredible pace and energy which changed the momentum of this game.
Eric Johansson also praised the Faroese youngster: "Elias is unbelievable, the passes he can do in the training and the game is incredible. He is only 21 and he will be one of the best players in the world."
22:32
Here are the first reactions from Igor Karacic and Eric Johansson:
Igor Karacic, Industria Kielce: "After the game, it's difficult to say. For a month now we have been struggling with injuries. It's difficult to play without our goalkeeper Andy Wolff and the captain Alex Dujshebaev. I'm proud of how we played. We were leading in the first half but I don't know what happened in the second half."
Eric Johansson, THW Kiel: "This was a huge win for us. After the loss in the German Cup, we needed to bounce back. We trained hard and a lot so now to get the win against Kielce is really good."
22:25 RESULT
THW Kiel - Industria Kielce 35:31 (15:16)
22:15
With five minutes left on the clock, Kiel have a five-goal lead. Tomas Mrkva and Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu led the German champions to this goal advante which should be enough for them to take the points from the MOTW!
21:57
Has this save from Tomas Mrkva changed everything? At the moment, it looks like it was a save that gave the boost to Kiel to shift into higher gear with Eric Johansson now scoring for 23:19, the highest lead any team had so far in the match.
21:50
After Skipagøtu comes Rune Dahmke with two in a row. Are we witnessing momentum shift to Kiel's side? They lead 19:17.
But have you also seen that steal from Dahmke? He is on fire now!
21:45
Good opening of the second half by Kiel powered by the Faroese star Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu whose two goals in a row bring Kiel the lead. 17:16 after a couple of minutes.
21:35
Very tight match which makes both Filip Jicha and Talant Dujshebaev worried. Nor Kiel or Kielce managed to take control of the match in the first 30 minutes. Kiel started better with the 3-1 lead but Kielce caught up quickly. The Polish side turned it around 20 minutes later when they were leading by two goals. The German champions reacted the same way Kielce did in brought the match back into square one.
Szymon Sicko's goal gave the minimal advantage to Kielce at the break, but there is all to play for in the second half.
21:25 HALF-TIME
THW Kiel - Industria Kielce 15:16
21:15
It took Kiel just a couple of minutes to bounce back. The score is now back to equal (13:13) after the penalty scored by Nicklas Ekberg.
21:13
Industria Kielce are now two goals up 12:10 but also have two players suspended. Nailbitting match!
21:02
Super exciting match in the first 15 minutes. No team seems to be able to build a lead. We stand at 7:7 and are treated to some nice actions and goals. Eric Johansson leading the charge for THW Kiel with four goals so far.
20:55
Talant Dujshebaev is always passionate. Look at this energetic speech from the locker room before the match!
Minimal lead for for Kiel now, 4:3 but Industria Kielce have two players suspended.
20:45
The Match of the Week is underway! Tune in to EHFTV with English commentary from Chris O'Reilly or follow our live blog together with the live ticker.
20:35
Okay handball friends, now it is the time to turn all our attention to the north of Germany, to the city of Kiel for the Match of The Week.
Teams have arrived, the match is about the start and we bring you some really interesting facts about this upcoming MOTW to help you make your predictions!
- The MOTW in round 4 of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2023/24 pits the only unbeaten
team of group A against the runners-up of the past two seasons: THW Kiel against Industria Kielce. - Kiel beat Kielce in the teams’ last meeting in February 2023; before that match, Kiel had not won any of their nine duels since 2011.
- The teams met twice in the third place match of an EHF FINAL4 in Cologne; both times Kielce won.
- Both coaches are among the select group of men who have won the CL both as player and coach: Kiel’s
Filip Jicha won in 2010 and 2012 as a player and in 2020 as a coach, each time with Kiel; Kielce’s Talant
Dujshebaev won as a player with Santander in 1994, and as a coach with Ciudad Real in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and with Kielce in 2016. - Kiel are in their 26th CL season, Kielce in their 21st; Kiel won more CL trophies than Kielce (four vs
one) and played more CL finals (eight vs three).
Every match in the EHF Champions League is a challenge at the very highest level. Kielce have been in the final the last two years and have kept the team together as far as possible. This will be a real top game.
20:00
Patrice Canayer looks worried as his team cannot find their best game against resilient Celje. It's goal for goal in Zlatorog Arena, 23:23 after 47 minutes.
Canayer can, however, be happy with the performance of Hugo Monte Dos Santos who scored seven goals so far. He seems not to be struggling by the in-form Rok Zaponšek who is now at 14 saves!
19:05
Celje will not be easily defeated in front of their home fans. They are back in the game with 7:7 after 13 minutes.
As Tim Cokan, who scored the equaliser, said before the game: "We know that Montpellier is a very good team, but we will try everything to have a shoot to get the points."
18:00
Today we get to enjoy MOTW and two matches of group B, but here is the full overview of the round 4 matches:
