Sporting and GOG host top duels of round 5

The group phase of the EHF European League Men 2021/22 heads into round 5 this week.

In group A, leaders Füchse Berlin host Pfadi Winterthur and Fenix Toulouse hope for their first win on home ground, against Tatran Presov.

The duel between GOG and HBC Nantes is the obvious clash of the round in group B, as both teams are currently on six points. The French side won the reverse fixture at home. The two other teams at six points, Lemgo Lippe and Benfica, will play at home against sides looking for their first points.

In group C, PAUC Handball search for their first win of the season when they visit IK Sävehof. RK Nexe, led by Branko Tamse, take on one of the coach’s former clubs, RK Gorenje Velenje. Defending champions SC Magdeburg will want to avoid dropping point against Logroño La Rioja again.

In Group D, the two top teams – Sporting CP and Eurofarm Pelister – will meet in Lisbon, while USAM Nimes will face Grundfos Tatabánya. Also, Kadetten Schaffhausen host AEK Athens in another attempt to get their first victory.

GROUP A

Füchse Berlin (GER) vs Pfadi Winterthur (SUI)
Tuesday 30 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Füchse are the only team with four wins from four matches
• Pfadi have only two points so far, but have a game in hand, ahead of their first ever meeting with Füchse
• Lasse Andersson is Füchse’s best scorer with 29 goals (including qualification matches); Kevin Jud is top scorer for Pfadi with 12
• Berlin gave a lot of playing time to young players like Max Beneke and Tim Matthes in previous matches
• Füchse took a dominant 32:17 win in their last Bundesliga match against Bergischer HC to remain in third place; Pfadi won 38:22 at Geneve to stay second in the Swiss league.

Fenix Toulouse Handball (FRA) vs Tatran Presov (SVK)
Tuesday 30 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Fenix took their only points so far in an away match – at Irun Bidasoa
• Presov won their group phase opener against Irun, but lost their next three matches
• the sides have not met before in a European competition, but both coaches did as players: Croat Slavko Goluza (Presov) locked horns many times with Serb Danijel Andelkovic (Fenix)
• Russian line player Viacheslav Kasatkin is Presov’s best scorer with 14 goals; Serbian wing Nemanja Ilic already scored 45 times for Fenix, including qualification
• Toulouse are only ranked ninth in the French league; Presov won the derby against Kosice 29:26 to stay on top of the Slovakian league with 12 wins from as many matches

Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs Bidasoa Irun (ESP)
This match has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

GROUP B

TBV Lemgo Lippe (GER) vs Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS)
Tuesday 30 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Lemgo beat Chekhov 30:28 when the teams met in Russia two weeks ago, which was the German side’s third win over Chekhov in total
• both teams have scored the exact same number of goals in the group phase so far: 126
• however, Lemgo’s defence has been much more efficient: 115 goals conceded compared to 142 for Chekhov
• Chekhov have lost 14 of their previous 15 European matches on German soil, only drawing with Hamburg once – in the EHF Champions League 2012/13
• Lemgo lost at home to Hannover (31:33) this weekend; Chekhov beat Kaustik (38:26)

GOG (DEN) vs HBC Nantes (FRA)
Tuesday 30 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Nantes won their home match against GOG, 27:24
• both teams are on six points, and share the first spot in the group with Benfica and Lemgo
• with 142 goals scored, GOG have the best attack in the group phase; Nantes are third with 129 goals scored
• Nantes have lost only once in five previous trips to Denmark – against eventual finalists Aalborg Håndbold (32:24) in the EHF Champions League last season
• last weekend, Nantes defeated Créteil 30:25 and remained on the second place in the French league
• GOG drew in Aalborg on Saturday (30:30) to remain the undefeated leaders of the Danish league

SL Benfica (POR) vs Cocks (FIN)
Tuesday 30 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Benfica won the reverse fixture in Finland 37:32, with 12 goals from Petar Djordjic
• Benfica have a perfect record of three wins from three previous matches against Cocks in European club competitions
• Benfica are one of the four group B sides on six points after four rounds, alongside GOG, Nantes and Lemg
• Cocks are still looking for their first point; with 162 goals conceded, they have conceded the most goals by far of any group phase team
• last weekend, Benfica ended a run of two straight defeats in the Portuguese league by defeating ADS Sanjoanense, 32:22
• Benfica head coach Chema Rodríguez: "We are not going through a good phase, but we are working very hard to get out of this situation. The last game of the domestic championship was the first step to get back to winning ways and playing well."

GROUP C

IK Sävehof (SWE) vs PAUC Handball (FRA)
Tuesday 30 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• the hosts are looking for their second win over PAUC in a few weeks’ time, having won the reverse fixture in France 30:25
• PAUC are still searching for their first win this season
• PAUC will try to take their strong domestic form to the EHF European League; in the strong French league they defeated Dunkerque and are ranked third
• Sävehof won the dress rehearsal: 33:24 against Eskilstuna Guif in the Swedish league
• Sävehof player Rune Schroder: "We have done well, but the other teams probably didn’t know that much about us previously. Now they do, and perhaps the upcoming games will be more even than before."
• the Swedish club has extended its contract with right wing Sebastian Karlsson for two more years

RK Nexe (CRO) vs RK Gorenje Velenje (SLO)
Tuesday 30 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after a last-minute win over La Rioja, Nexe have taken the lead in the group and hope to keep the momentum going
• in their first encounter, Velenje had a convincing 34:28 victory
• Velenje followed their win over Nexe with an important draw at PAUC in France
• Nexe won their domestic league match in Croatia against MRK Trogir 32:25; Velenje had a week off in the Slovenian league
• Velenje player Ibrahim Haseljic: "With the great support of their fans, Nexe are an extremely difficult opponent on home court."

SC Magdeburg (GER) vs BM Logroño La Rioja (ESP)
Tuesday 30 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Magdeburg return to the competition after last week’s match was postponed and they lost the lead in the group to Nexe
• Magdeburg earned a 31:26 win over Minden in the German Bundesliga
• the defending champions lost their only point so far in this season’s group phase in the away game against La Rioja
• Magdeburg head coach Bennet Wiegert: "We had big plans before the game in Spain. On Tuesday we want to do a lot better than in Logroño."
• after getting a point from Magdeburg, La Rioja lost their next match against Nexe
• Leonardo Dutra Ferreira is back for La Rioja after missing the match against Nexe

GROUP D

USAM Nimes Gard (FRA) vs Grundfos Tatabánya KC (HUN)
Tuesday 30 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Nimes want to get back to winning ways after dropping a point at Schaffhausen last week
• goalkeeper Rémi Desbonnet is in his last season at the French side, but is playing a vital role in Nimes’ group phase campaign
• Tatabánya are bottom of the table after losing three of their four matches so far – all by substantial margins: -8 vs AEK; -14 vs Sporting; -13 vs Pelister
• Tatabanya have a young squad, consisting of almost only Hungarian players

Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) vs AEK Athens HC (GRE)
Tuesday 30 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• after two draws in their previous two home games, Kadetten finally want to earn their first win of the competition
• the two teams have not locked horns before in a European competition
• Kadetten captain Dimitrij Küttel: "After all these 'lost' points we know we will have to win against Athens to reach our goal. So we will do everything to leave the court as winners."
• Samuel Zehnder is Kadetten’s best scorer so far this season, with 44 goals
• Christodoulos Mylonas has netted 19 times for AEK in the group phase
• both sides have multiple Spanish players in their squads, including Joan Cañellas for Kadetten and Cristian Ugalde for AEK

Sporting CP (POR) vs RK Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)
Tuesday 30 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• top-ranked Sporting host second-ranked Pelister in the group’s top tie of round 5
• Sporting, on six points, lead Pelister by one in the standings; third-placed Nimes are also on five points and could leapfrog one of those teams
• Sporting head coach Ricardo Costa: "These are the kind of matches that my players like to play. We are expecting an intense match against a very strong opponent."
• Sporting won both matches two years ago when the teams met in the EHF Champions League group phase
• Jens Schöngarth (Sporting CP) with 26 goals and Josip Peric (Pelister) with 19 are the best scorers for the two teams so far
• Sporting won both their home matches so far by a single goal: 29:28 vs Kadetten and 31:30 against Athens