With Aalborg’s simultaneous win at Celje, Pick Szeged could no longer finish fifth on the group B table. HBC Nantes needed at least a point to remain in third — and finally the visitors were happy with the lucky 28:28 draw in Hungary.
Before the final round, Nantes and THW Kiel were equal on points, but HBC had won the direct encounter. As Kiel drew at Elverum parallel to the match in Szeged, Nantes will now face the sixth-ranked team from group A, either Zagreb or Plock. Szeged’s opponent — the third-ranked side from group A — also remains unknown.
GROUP B
Pick Szeged (HUN) vs HBC Nantes (FRA) 28:28 (13:15)
- in the first 40 minutes, the lead changed five times, with light advantages for the visitors, who then pulled ahead
- despite a strong performance from goalkeeper Mirko Allilovic, who saved an overall of 13 shots, Szeged could not turn the match around in the final minutes
- Nantes’ biggest gap was four goals, at 24:20, but this was Pick’s wake-up call, as they then scored a 5:1 run to level at 25:25
- in the last minute, Thibaud Briet netted for Nantes’ last advantage at 28:27, before Mario Sostaric secured the draw with his second strike
- the top scorers of this thriller were Miklós Rosta, who netted seven times for the hosts, and Pedro Portela, with five goals for Nantes
Unknown opponents for both sides
The final ranking of group B is confirmed, as Nantes finish third ahead of Kiel, Aalborg and Szeged, and below group winners Barça and second-ranked Kielce, who were both already qualified directly for the quarter-finals.
But none of the play-off opponents are confirmed yet: As the third-ranked team, Nantes will either face PPD Zagreb or Orlen Wisla Plock, with the final spot in group A to be decided latest on Thursday night, but possibly maybe later on Wednesday night.
The sixth-ranked side Szeged will lock horns with the third team from group A — either their Hungarian arch rivals Telekom Veszprém or German champions SC Magdeburg — in the play-offs. if Veszprém lose at Paris in the Match of the Week, the all-Hungarian play-off pairing is already confirmed.
We have a demanding series behind us and this will keep going on in the next couple of weeks. I hope that our injured players can come back soon — this way we can form a complete team again. We wanted to win. Unfortunately we did not succeed in this, but we are preparing for the play-offs now, where we can still achieve our goals.
