Füchse meet Dinamo as group matches reach halfway mark
The EHF European League Men returns from its two-week national team break on Tuesday night as the group matches reach the halfway mark. Round 3 includes some scintillating clashes, most notably the group G game between defending champions Füchse Berlin and Dinamo Bucuresti. Those are two of the nine teams in total who have started with two straight wins.
Top 5 matches
Group A: Sport Lisboa e Benfica (POR) vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER)
Tuesday 14 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- the duel will be a premiere, as both sides never faced in any official match before
- Benfica are on two points, Löwen on four; the German side also won both qualification matches against HC Vardar 1961
- both sides won Europe’s second-tier club competition in the past: Löwen won the EHF Cup in 2013, Benfica the EHF European League in 2022
- with 28 goals, including qualification, Löwen centre back Juri Knorr tops the top scorer list of the competition
- Benfica won their domestic league match against Madeira 44:28, while Löwen lost in the Bundesliga to THW Kiel: 31:25
Group E: Elverum Handball (NOR) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)
Tuesday 14 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Flensburg won all previous four matches against Elverum, all in the EHF Champions League
- both teams beat Lovcen-Cetinje, but Flensburg also took the points against Schaffhausen, while Elverum lost at the Swiss champions
- Flensburg top the group with four points, but will be without Simon Pytlick for several weeks due to an ankle injury
- Elverum’s best scorer is Tobias Grøndahl with 14 goals in two matches; Flensburg’s Lasse Møller is on 16 goals
- Flensburg have scored the most goals of all 32 teams in the group matches: 81
Group F: Vojvodina (SRB) vs BM Logroño La Rioja (ESP)
Tuesday 14 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- after beating Alkaloid and Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, Vojvodina top the group with the maximum of four points
- La Rioja surprisingly only have one point, from their draw against Alkaloid
- in 2012 and 2015, the teams met the EHF Cup and EHF Champions League group phases – Vojvodina won one of those four matches
- in the Serbian league, Vojvodina have won all nine matches so far; La Rioja are ranked eighth in Spain after beating Benidorm 34:28
This game can be decisive. If there is an atmosphere and a crowd at the same level as in the match with Silkeborg, we have a big chance. La Rioja are a great team; they may not have the best start this season in the Spanish league but this is a team that can beat anyone.
Group G: Füchse Berlin (GER) vs Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU)
Tuesday 14 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- group G is the only group with two teams on four points: Füchse and Dinamo
- Füchse are coming of a close defeat against SC Magdeburg in extra time of the IHF Super Globe final Sunday – their first defeat in 18 matches across four competitions this season
- like Berlin (10 wins, one draw), Bucharest are unbeaten in their domestic league after winning all 10 matches, including 43:34 against former European Cup winners Potaissa Turda
- Füchse’s Lasse Andersson played for Barça together with Dinamo’s Cédric Sorhaindo, and they were coached by current Dinamo coach Xavi Pascual
- the teams met in the EHF European League group phase three years ago, when Berlin won at home with the match in Bucharest ending in a draw
- Dinamo’s last match on German ground was successful, beating THW Kiel in the return leg of the EHF Champions League play-offs last season
The game against Berlin will be very difficult, but it is very important. I know they have had a lot of games in the last few days and they will be tired. If we want to win there, we have to play our best game this season. But I believe in the team, I believe in a good game preparation.
Group H: MOL Tatabánya KC (HUN) vs Sporting CP (POR)
Tuesday 14 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Tatabánya and Sporting are both on two points, two behind leaders Constanta
- Sporting clearly won both matches against Tatabánya (37:24 at home, 34:26 away) when the teams also shared a group in the 2021/22 season
- Gábor Ancsin has scored 12 goals for Tatabánya, Francisco Costa 13 for Sporting
- Tatabánya lost 32:29 to Komló last weekend but remained in third in the Hungarian league; Sporting went top of the Portuguese league following a 26:25 win over FC Porto on Saturday
Our opponent travelled to Hungary with a big success behind them, beating Porto in the domestic championship. So they can prepare for Tuesday's game more confidently than we can after our defeat against Komló. We have to improve in all aspects of the game if we want to win. And of course we want to!
We are going to face a team that lost the first match at home, so I am sure they want to show their supporters a different face. We come from a great match against FC Porto, for the Portuguese league, and now we have to focus on the EHF European League. We have to play our game and force their mistakes.
Also watch out for…
- two group leaders – RK Nexe in D and CSM Constanta in H – duel with teams who are aiming for their first points – MSK Povaszka Bystrica and KGHM Chrobry Glogow
- two legends from the former Yugoslavia national team are on the bench in the duel between Kadetten Schaffhausen (Hrvoje Horvat) vs Cetinje-Lovcen (Pero Milosevic)
- TSV Hannover-Burgdorf caused a major surprise in the German league, beating record champions and four-time EHF Champions League winners THW Kiel 36:33
- two EHF European League participants clashed last weekend in the Swiss league: Kadetten Schaffhausen beat Kriens-Luzern 29:26
- both Danish EHF European League sides lost in the domestic league against two EHF Champions League participants: Bjerringbro-Silkeborg against Aalborg Håndbold (34:28), Skjern Håndbold against GOG (29:26)
- Chambéry head coach Érick Mathé will leave the club for Montpellier at the end of the season, and be replaced with Asier Antonio
- HBC Nantes celebrated their 70th anniversary by inviting former club legends like Kiril Lazarov and Rock Feliho to the game against Chartres, which they won 33:25
photos © 2023 Sylvia Göres
