Barça hand first defeat to defending champions

• Dinamo Bucuresti took their second win of the season after a strong second half against Kolstad.
• Outstanding Frederik Bjerre steered GOG to their away win at Szeged with 12 goals from 13 attempts.
• A 7:0 run in the last eight minutes was the key for Barça’s clear away win at Magdeburg, their first one there since 2005.
• For defending champions SCM it was the first defeat in this EHF Champions League season, and they were passed by Barça in the table.
• Thanks to a sensational comeback, Nantes turned a 22:28 deficit into a 33:31 win against Veszprém.

GROUP A

HBC Nantes (FRA) vs One Veszprém HC (HUN) 33:31 (15:18)

H2H: 2-0-3
Top scorers: Kauldi Odriozola (HBC Nantes) 7/7, Ahmed Hesham (One Veszprém HC) 7/11

After their third consecutive victory in 2026, HBC Nantes can hope to finish third in the group. After their great comeback against One Veszprém HC, they are on 14 points like the Hungarian champions, one point below the currently third‑ranked side Kielce. Nantes’ only advantage in the first half was at 6:5, and the main reason why Veszprém were ahead at the break were the eight saves of goalkeeper Rodrigo Corrales. Other stats were almost equal, but the visitors simply had a higher shooting efficiency. Backed by their back‑court shooters Ahmed Hesham, Nedim Remili and Stefan Dodic, Veszprém put enormous pressure on Nantes’ defence; the biggest gap in the first half was four goals twice. When Hesham netted for 28:22 in minute 45, his side seemed to have decided the match, but the hosts struck back with a 4:0 run and everything was open again. When Aymeric Minne netted for 29:29, the first equal result after 9:9, the fans went crazy. Even though the visitors scored twice right after, it did not stop Nantes, as they scored the last four goals in this thriller.

Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Kolstad Håndball (NOR) 33:23 (12:11)

H2H: 1-0-1
Top scorers: Haniel Langaro (Dinamo Bucuresti) 6/8, Simon Jeppson (Kolstad Håndball) 8/13

An almost perfect second half was the key to Dinamo’s second victory of the season, while again Kolstad Håndball ran out of power, as in both previous matches of the year 2026. The first half was more or less equal, though Bucuresti never gave the lead from their hands, but the 4:1 and 12:9 were their only three‑goal leads before the break. Until 17:15, the Norwegian champions were able to keep up, then Dinamo decided the match with a 9:3 run for 26:18. The hosts scored from all positions, as Kolstad did not find the means to score anymore. After the 28:31 defeat in the reverse fixture, Dinamo won the direct encounter on aggregate and took seventh place – both sides had been out of the play‑off race before.

GROUP B

OTP Bank – PICK Szeged (HUN) vs GOG (DEN) 34:37 (16:15)

H2H: 2-0-2
Top scorers: Janus Daði Smárason (OTP Bank – PICK Szeged) 7/10, Frederik Bjerre (GOG) 12/13

After clinching their play‑off berth last week, GOG’s young guns took another great result, taking the points in Szeged’s fortress. Thanks to this victory, the Danish side passed the Hungarian runners‑up in the table with 11 points, now equal with Paris Saint‑Germain in fifth place. For OTP Bank – PICK Szeged, expected to be one of the dark horses in the race to Cologne, it was already their eighth defeat in the group matches. Besides, GOG took revenge for the 31:36 home defeat in the reverse fixture. Szeged shocked GOG with a flying 5:1 start, but only ten minutes later the Danish team had turned the match around to 10:8, causing a timeout by Michael Apelgren. But it took until the half-time buzzer for the hosts to be ahead again at 16:15. With Frederik Bjerre on fire, GOG took control again, but still Szeged stayed constantly close and levelled the score again at 30:30 and 31:31 with six minutes left on the clock. Finally, a treble strike for the visitors for 34:31 decided this goal fest. Bjerre is now on 93 season goals.

MOTW: SC Magdeburg (GER) vs Barça (ESP) 29:36 (16:16)

H2H: 6-0-7
Top scorers: Felix Claar (SC Magdeburg) 7/10, Aleix Gómez (Barça) 7/8
Player of the match: Blaž Janc (Barça)

More than 20 years ago, in December 2005, Barça took their last win at Magdeburg’s arena – on Thursday they not only celebrated a crucial victory in the race for the top position, but handed the defending champions their first defeat of this EHF Champions League season. With now 24 points, the record champions passed the defending champions by one point. In the final round, Barça have the easier task against Eurofarm Pelister, compared to Magdeburg’s journey to Paris.

The re‑match of the 2023 and 2025 EHF Champions League semi‑finals (both won by Magdeburg) fully deserved to be the MOTW of this round. Both sides played with passion, speed and smart, but different tactics. After the defending champions had taken their first ever victory at Barcelona in the reverse fixture, they had problems stopping the record champions on home ground, especially as Barça could count on Dika Mem for the first time this year after his post‑EHF EURO injury. The 7:6 was SCM’s last lead in the match, despite some great saves from goalkeeper Sergey Hernandez. At 16:13, the visitors had taken their first three‑goal advantage, but Magdeburg managed to level the result until the half‑time buzzer.

From 20:21 until 29:30 the pattern for the next minutes was always the same: Barça took the lead, Magdeburg equalised. Then, SCM caused two turnovers within 20 seconds, converted by Mem and Petar Cikuša to pull ahead to 32:29. Two more missed shots, including a penalty by Tim Hornke, decided Magdeburg’s fate, as on the other side Barça struck twice to finish their decisive 5:0 run for 34:29.