Montpellier and Flensburg aim to make history

In the 3/4 placement match, the two German sides THW Kiel and MT Melsungen fight for the bronze medals. Again, more than 11,000 fans are expected on the final day of the Maschinensucher EHF Finals in the Barclays Arena in Hamburg.

FINAL

Montpellier Handball (FRA) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)
Sunday 25 May, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• in two epic semi-finals, Montpellier beat Kiel 32:21 with Ahmed Hesham’s buzzer-beater, while Flensburg needed overtime to seal their 35:34 win against Melsungen
• two Scandinavians were the finalists’ top scorers on Saturday: Dane Emil Jakobsen netted nine times for Flensburg, Swede Sebastian Karlsson scored eight goals for Montpellier
• both goalkeepers also shone: Kevin Møller (Flensburg) saved 18 shots, Charles Bolzinger (Montpellier) 11 in only 35 minutes between the posts
• with an total of 61 goals, Karlsson is also Montpellier’s top scorer, while Lasse Møller has netted 55 times for Flensburg so far
• Flensburg are still unbeaten in this EHF European League season with 11 victories and two draws (against French side Toulouse), Montpellier have won 12 matches and were only defeated by GOG in the main round
• it is the 13th time that the two teams lock horns in an international competition, Flensburg won six and Montpellier three; three matches ended in draws
• in the 2004/05 EHF Champions League quarter-finals, Montpellier won the first leg at home 36:22; in the second leg, Flensburg were leading 32:18 before Gregory Anquetil’s direct free throw after the buzzer sent Montpellier to the next round. In the EHF Champions League 2017/18 quarter-finals, Montpellier eliminated Flensburg with a 27:19 home win, going on to win their second of two titles
• Montpellier won the Champions League twice in 2003 and 2018, but still wait for their first trophy in the second-tier competition: in 2014, they were EHF Cup finalists in Berlin, but were defeated by Pick Szeged, at the EHF Finals 2023 in Flensburg they lost the semi-final to Füchse Berlin
• Flensburg have won five different EHF club trophies: City Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup, EHF Cup, European League and Champions League
• both coaches are relatively new in their positions: Érick Mathé took over Montpellier at the start of the season after Patrice Canayer’s 30-year-stint and already steered his side to the trophy at the French Cup last week, while Aleš Pajovič took over Flensburg only in January 2025, succeeding Nicolej Krickau
• French and German teams clashed twice in the former EHF Cup finals, with Nantes losing twice as the hosts against Rhein-Neckar Löwen in 2013 and in 2016 against Göppingen

3-4 PLACEMENT MATCH

THW Kiel (GER) vs MT Melsungen (GER)
Sunday 25 May, 15:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• both sides lost their semi-finals by one goal: Melsungen after overtime, Kiel with the last shot in regular time
• the two met in the main round, when Kiel won the home match 35:24 after the 26:26 draw in the first leg at Kassel
• the 31:32 loss to Montpellier was Kiel’s first defeat in this European League season
• in domestic competitions, Kiel have won 32 times, Melsungen seven times, including both matches in the current Bundesliga season. Their last duel was the German cup final in April, won 28:23 by THW
• Melsungen’s Spaniard Ian Barrufet can become top scorer of the European League season 2024/25, if he scores at least once. Currently he is on 79 goals since the start of the group matches, equal with Norwegian Tobias Grøndahl (GOG) and Ukrainian Ihor Turchenko (Limoges)
• the final will be the last international match for Kiel’s line player Patrick Wiencek, who will finish his career after this season and will become part of THW’s administration
• the two coaches faced three times in EHF Champions League finals as players: Roberto Parrondo won in 2008 and 2009 for Ciudad Real against Filip Jicha’s Kiel. The Czech struck back in 2012, beating Atletico Madrid and Parrondo. Both have won the Champions League as players and coaches

Photos © Kolektiff Images