Home wins for Szeged and Magdeburg; MOTW success for Barça

In the Match of the Week, Barça left no chances for HC Zagreb, taking a five-goal lead in the first half thanks to Emil Nielsen’s numerous saves, and the Spanish side increased the advantage after the break to secure an easy away victory.

In the other games of the evening, Mathias Gidsel pulled off an outstanding performance to lead Füchse Berlin to victory against Industria Kielce in group A. OTP Bank - PICK Szeged and Paris Saint-Germain battled it out until the last second, when the Hungarian club took the upper hand, while SC Magdeburg kept their perfect streak running with a third straight win against Orlen Wisla Plock.

• after their defeat last week against SC Magdeburg, Barça bounced back and secured their second win of the season against HC Zagreb, celebrating a seven-goal lead at the end of the 28th encounter between the two sides
• Barça’s Danish goalkeeper Emil Nielsen was awarded Player of the Match, with 15 saves and a 37.50 per cent efficiency
• building on a very strong first half and helped by a stellar performance from Mathias Gidsel with 13 goals, Berlin snatched an imported victory in Kielce; the Polish club had to perform without line player Artsem Karalek, who was suspended from participation in the EHF club competitions for one match due to a red card in the previous round
• Szeged had to wait until the last five minutes to finally seal the win against Paris, raising their tally to four points so far in this campaign
• after a slow start, Magdeburg took their third win of the season in a row against Plock, as Sergey Hernandez made the decisive save on the buzzer

GROUP A

Industria Kielce (POL) vs Füchse Berlin (GER) 32:37 (15:22)

H2H: 1-1-3
Top scorers: Alex Dujshebaev 9/12 (Industria Kielce), Mathias Gidsel 13/18 (Füchse Berlin)

The spectators in Hala Legionow must have found it hard to believe when they looked up at the scoreboard at half-time. Their favourites were led by seven and for a long time Kielce seemed without any solutions against their opponents. Thanks to an impressive first half from Dejan Milosavljev, who saved 10 shots in the first 30 minutes, Füchse took the lead early, increasing their advantage up to 10 goals in the 19th minute. Tobias Grøndahl, in particular, delivered a stunning performance, scoring seven times in the first half. It was only thanks to a late reaction before the break that Kielce’s hopes were still alive going to the locker rooms.

But the 2016 champions were not able to turn things around. In the battle of the right back players between Kielce’s Alex Dujshebaev and Berlin’s Mathias Gidsel, the Danish star proved to be the most prolific tonight, with 13 goals scored. Füchse remained in control throughout the second half, never letting their advantage go below three goals and securing their third victory of the season.

GROUP B

OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 31:29 (17:17)

H2H: 5-1-8
Top scorers: Janus Smarason 7/13 (OTP Bank - PICK Szeged), Sebastian Karlsson 7/10 (Paris Saint-Germain)

One crucial save can turn a game around! While Paris easily dominated in the early minutes of Thursday’s game, with both their wing players Konrad Peleka and Sebastian Karlsson scoring three in the first quarter, Roland Mikler saved a fast break that would have given the French side a five-goal advantage. From then on, the hosts started to find their rhythm. Imanol Garciandia netted a couple of important shots and Mario Sostaric was as essential as ever on the wing, helping Szeged come back into the game and even levelling the score at the half-time siren.

The clash remained tight until the final whistle, but in the dying moments of the game Szeged proved to be calmer under pressure. Stepping on the court in the last 10 minutes, goalkeeper Tobias Thulin was elemental with two crucial saves, including one penalty. And while the Swede made decisive saves, centre back Janus Smarason put his foot on the pedal, delivering goals all around. He also netted the last two successful shots for his team, as Szeged made their way to their second straight victory.

MOTW: HC Zagreb (CRO) vs Barça (ESP) 25:32 (12:17)

H2H: 1-1-26
Top scorers: Filip Glavaš 5/7 (HC Zagreb), Dika Mem 6/7, Blaz Janc 6/6, Aleix Gómez 6/10 (Barça)

Barça took the lead early in the Match of the Week, with Emil Nielsen giving his partners some safety from between the posts. With nine saves and only 12 goals conceded in the first half, the Dane gave the visitors the opportunity never let go of the lead. Dika Mem was back in fine form and scored four times in the first half alone, as Barça took the maximum advantage of six goals, just minutes before the break. And it was only thanks to a last-second goal that the hosts were still in the game at half-time.

Zagreb gave the 2024 champions a run for their money in the beginning of the second half as well, while Filip Glavaš and Davor Cavar scored important goals for the hosts. But the resistance was broken again by Emil Nielsen and every save from the Danish goalkeeper gave his teammates the opportunity to increase Barça’s lead. Their advantage hit the 10-goal mark in the 48th minute, after a goal by Blaz Janc. The last minutes were a walk in the park for Barça, but the score at the final whistle proved to be generous for the visitors, as Zagreb still delivered a good performance.

SC Magdeburg (GER) vs Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) 27:26 (14:10)

H2H: 8-1-1
Top scorers: Omar Ingi Magnusson 9/11 (SC Magdeburg), Sergei Kosorotov 8/15 (Orlen Wisla Plock)

Magdeburg might be well-known across Europe for their relentless pace in offence, but tonight the German side took some time to settle with Plock’s defence. SCM only scored seven goals in the first 22 minutes of the game, and it was only when Sergey Hernandez provided some saves that the hosts finally took a clear three-goal advantage. They even increased the gap to four right before the break, thanks to a last-second goal by Daniel Pettersson. 

However, the visitors were not stopped by these less-than-ideal moments. With back court players Melvyn Richardson and Sergei Kosorotov scoring 15 goals combined, the Polish side remained three or four goals behind for most of the second half. Pushing hard as the game neared the closing minutes, Plock managed to come back within one goal with just three minutes to go. But Magdeburg remained just a little bit ahead, as Ómar Ingi Magnusson scored a total of nine goals in the end. Although Wisla had the opportunity to make the score even in the last minute, Sergey Hernandez stopped their two attempts, keeping Magdeburg’s record perfect after three rounds.

Main image © Eliza Sólya