Summary: Magdeburg and Füchse Berlin through to 2024/25 final
128 matches and now we are down to the last two of the season — it is time to decide the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 title! Saturday marked semi-finals day, with Füchse Berlin and SC Magdeburg booking the two places in the final showdown for the trophy. Barça and HBC Nantes will meet to decide third.
The semi-finals of the inaugural EHF Youth Club Trophy were also played today, with GOG and Veszprém reaching the final, to be played on Sunday morning in LANXESS arena.
21:20
That brings us to the end of today's live blog coverage from Cologne. Tomorrow marks the end of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25, when we will see either Magdeburg claim their third title and second trophy at the EHF FINAL4, or Füchse go all the way for the first time ever.
The schedule for Sunday:
- 18:00 CEST Final: Füchse Berlin vs SC Magdeburg
- 15:00 CEST 3/4 placement match: HBC Nantes vs Barça
Prior to the finals, the first title in the EHF Youth Club Trophy will be decided in LANXESS arena, with GOG playing Veszprém Handball Academy at 11:30 CEST.
See you tomorrow!
21:09
What a day of action at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025! Relive it all with our match reviews, which you can find below.
Also, check out what happened at the inagural EHF Youth Club Trophy semi-finals, where Veszprém Handball Academy and GOG qualified for the final, which will open Sunday's action in LANXESS arena.
Minute-by-minute coverage of the second Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 Semi-finals: Barça vs SC Magdeburg and Füchse Berlin vs HBC Nantes.
14:52
The pre-match show has just concluded and the atmosphere in LANXESS arena is electric, with 20,074 spectators here to not only witness the matches, but be very much part of it as they so much for the teams on court.
Nantes and Berlin are waiting in the player tunnel, about to enter the court!
14:47
Warm-up is over, the teams are back in the changerooms for a last pre-match talk and we will soon be underway with the first semi-final at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025!
14:02
SC Magdeburg's road to Cologne
It was something of a bumpy season for Magdeburg, but once again the German side proved their ability to perform precisely when it matters and to pull out the must-score goals right when needded. Their qualification for the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025, their win in the quarter-finals, was the closest of all, as they defeated Veszprém by just one goal on aggregate.
That goal was scored in the very last seconds of the second leg, courtesy of EHF FINAL4 2023 MVP Gisli Kristjansson. The first leg ended in a draw, 26:26, and Magdeburg therefore needed to beat Veszprém in Hungary to reach their third straight EHF FINAL4. The odds seemed against them, but they made it once again.
Their qualification for Cologne was epic, but the group phase was tough. Magdeburg are the only semi-finalists who recorded more losses than wins in that stage — seven defeats, six victories and one draw, placing them fourth in group B.
In the play-offs, they recorded a decisive aggregate win against Dinamo Bucuresti — 30:26 in the first leg, 35:29 in the second for an overall result of 65:55.
See highlights of Magdeburg's second-leg quarter-final win below.
13:23
Barça's road to Cologne
Barça are the only side of the four semi-finalists to have skipped the play-offs as one of the top-ranked teams in the group phase. They won group B with 10 wins, two draws and two losses in the opening stage of the season.
In the quarter-finals, Barça faced a tough challenge from Szeged. After winning the first leg away 27:24 — although they snatched the lead only in the last minutes — Barça seemed to have a sound position ahead of the second leg at home. But as the final buzzer loomed in the second leg, Szeged were close to the score line they would need to take the aggregate victory. Barça just held off the Hungarian side, allowing a 30:29 win for Szeged but ensuring the result was not clear enough to overturn the first leg.
Below, highlights of Barça's win as they secured a place at what is their 11th EHF FINAL4.
12:31
Semi-final 2: Barça vs SC Magdeburg
Clash of the most recent title winners — Magdeburg are the only team to have interrupted Barça's run of trophies from 2021, as the Spanish side claimed three of the last four titles in the EHF Champions League Men. Barça are the record title holders with 11 trophies in the Champions League. They stand clear alone at the top of this ranking, with THW Kiel second on four titles.
It was in 2023 that Magdeburg took their second trophy after a very long wait, with the first coming long before the EHF FINAL4 format was introduced, in 2001/02. That year, it was Barça they faced in the semi-final, which went into overtime and then penalties for Magdeburg to win 40:39.
Today marks the 11th mutual game between the teams, with Barça having won six times and Magdeburg four. The sides met in the group phase this season, with each winning their home leg.
Relive the 2023 semi-final with the highlights below.
12:17
Berlin's road to Cologne
Füchse placed third in group A but were one of three teams — the others being Sporting and PSG — with 18 points, making for an extremely tight race in what was a competitive group. They took nine wins and five defeats in the group phase.
In the play-offs, they knocked out back-to-back EHF FINAL4 participants Kielce with an aggregate result of 70:64. The difference was made in the first leg, when Berlin won 33:27 on Kielce's court. The second leg saw a 37:37 draw.
In the quarter-finals, Füchse faced 2023/24 finalists Aalborg in a highly anticipated tie — and they made an emphatic statement when they won the first leg 37:29, leaving Aalborg with a very difficult task for the second leg. Even more notable is that Berlin were trailing by six goals as late as the 20th minute, before pulling off a memorable turnaround. In the second leg, Berlin signed their booking for Cologne with a 40:36 win.
Their aggregate result of 77:65 was the clearest of the quarter-finals.
Relive Berlin's epic first-leg win below.
12:00
Nantes' road to Cologne
Both Nantes and their semi-final opponents Berlin arrived in Cologne via the play-offs, after finishing third in their groups. In group B, Nantes collected 17 points through the group phase, after taking seven wins, three draws — the most of any team, and four defeats. In that stage, Nantes scored 426 goals and conceded 407.
They were just one point behind second-placed Aalborg, and ranking second would have allowed them to skip the play-offs — but in the end three of the four semi-finalists came through that stage, seeming to show that the additional matches had little impact on ability to perform in the quarter-finals this season.
In the play-offs, Nantes beat Plock 54:52 on aggregate — but they had to pull off a second-leg comeback to do it, as Plock won the first match 28:25. Nantes them secured a 29:25 victory in the reverse fixture to grab the aggregate win.
In the quarter-finals, Nantes overcame Sporting CP, who had a superb season, finishing second in group A, and looked among the frontrunners for the final weekend. Nantes took the narrowest of victories in the first leg at home, 28:27, and then faced the prospect of needing to defend that in Sporting's fiery arena. And they did, taking a 32:30 victory for an aggregate result of 60:57.
See highlights of Nantes' second-leg quarter-final win and qualification for the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025 below.
11:39
Semi-final 1: Füchse Berlin vs HBC Nantes
Just over three hours until throw-off, it's time to dive into the details of the semi-finals.
First up we have Füchse Berlin versus HBC Nantes — a battle of the EHF FINAL4 debutants against two-time participants and 2018 finalists.
It will be the seventh clash between the teams but the first ever in the EHF Champions League. Their previous encounters were all in the second-tier competition, the EHF European League, formerly the EHF Cup. Berlin own twice, Nantes three times, and one match ended in a draw.
Two of the previous matches were in 2014, which makes them hardly relevant now. More relevant is that the teams met in the European League quarter-finals last season, with Berlin progressing to the EHF Finals and reaching the trophy match, where they lost to Flensburg. The first leg of the quarter-final tie was the one draw in the sides' mutual history, and then Füchse won the second leg 37:30 to qualify for the semi-final.
The other more relevant games were in 2022, when the teams met in the European League Last 16. Nantes won both matches on that occasion.
11:28
Before we start with a closer look at the semi-finals, let's recap what happened yesterday. The four teams — SC Magdeburg, Barça, Füchse Berlin and HBC Nantes — arrived in Cologne on Thursday night and Friday was a busy day of interviews, the opening party and of course match preparation.
Below, read what the players and coaches from all four sides had to say at the media calls, and also check out our feature on Berlin coach Jaron Siewert, who is the youngest head coach ever to qualify for the EHF FINAL4.
