Magdeburg face Aalborg; Plock welcome PSG in MOTW

GROUP A

Sporting CP (POR) vs Veszprém HC (HUN)
Wednesday 25 September, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV 

• both teams have the optimum of four points on their account, and both have clearly won their round 2 matches; Sporting won 37:19 at Fredericia, while Veszprém took their biggest-ever victory against PSG (41:28)
• both sides have the best attack of all 16 teams with 73 goals (Veszprém) and 71 goals (Sporting), respectively
• the only duels between the sides occurred in the Last 16 in 2018/19, and Veszprém took two wins back then
• the match features the best and the fourth-best current scorers of the competition: Nedim Remili (18 goals for Veszprém) and Martim Costa (14 goals for Sporting)
• Sporting took a dominant 38:22 win in the Lisbon derby against Benfica in the Portuguese league, while Veszprém defeated Budakalasz 45:26 in the Hungarian league

Fredericia Håndbold Klub (DEN) vs Füchse Berlin (GER)
Thursday 26 September, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• the two sides have never faced each other in any official match before
• EHF Champions League debutants Fredericia have lost both matches by now, while Füchse lost against Veszprém and then beat Eurofarm Pelister
• Fredericia coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson knows Berlin very well, as he coached German teams Rhein-Neckar Löwen and MT Melsungen for several years
• Fredericia’s German line player Evgeni Pevnov has previously played twice for Füchse Berlin (between 2011 and 2013 and in 2015)
• Berlin count on two Danish Olympic champions: Mathias Gidsel, currently second-best scorer of the competition with 16 goals, and Lasse Andersson, who has just extended his contract until 2027
• both sides lost their domestic league matches last weekend: Füchse took their first Bundesliga defeat this season on Sunday (38:35 at Hannover-Burgdorf), while Fredericia were beaten 32:26 by Danish champions Aalborg

Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)
Thursday 26 September, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Dinamo had a perfect start to the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 season, beating Fredericia and Plock, while Eurofarm Pelister lost against the powerhouses PSG and Berlin
• the match will also be the first duel between the two sides
• five Serbian players will be on the court: Bogdan Radivojevic, Ilija Abutovic and Uros Borzas for the Macedonian champions, Vladimir Cupara and Darko Djukic for the Romanian champions
• Eurofarm Pelister beat Bisinov 41:21 in the Macedonian league, while Dinamo took a 30:24 win at Buzau in the domestic league over the weekend

MOTW: Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA)
Thursday 26 September, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Plock (against Dinamo) and Paris (at Veszprém) lost their matches in round 2
• the Polish champions still wait for their first points of this Machineseeker EHF Champions League season, while PSG won their opener against Eurofarm Pelister
• the match will be the homecoming of PSG line player Kamil Syprzak, the top scorer of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2023/24, who played for Wisla from 2009 until 2015 and was even born in Plock
• Syprzak is currently the second-best scorer of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League with 16 goals, while Plock’s wing Michal Daszek is fifth-ranked with 14 strikes
• Wisla have lost all the previous eight matches against PSG, including the play-offs of the 2023/24 season (30:26 at home, 34:33 at Paris)
• both clubs are coached by Spaniards: Xavier Sabate (Plock) and Raul Gonzalez (PSG); and both count on Spanish players: Ruben Marchan, Ferran Sole and David Balaguer for Paris and Abel Serdio for Plock
• both sides have the optimum of six points from three matches in their domestic leagues; last weekend, PSG won 39:31 against Dunkerque and Plock beat Ostrow 30:23

GROUP B
Aalborg Handbold (DEN) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)
Wednesday 25 September, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• after two rounds, Aalborg and Magdeburg are level in the second place of the group, with two points each
• last week, Aalborg were defeated in Zagreb (31:23), while Magdeburg took the points against Kolstad (33:25)
• Albin Lagergren and Sergey Hernandez were crucial for SCM, scoring eight goals and making 15 saves, respectively
• this game is a rematch of last season’s semi-final, which saw Aalborg win 28:26 to reach the final
• Magdeburg made it official that Felix Claar would not be playing until February 2025 due to an Achilles’ heel injury
• last weekend, in their domestic leagues, Aalborg took the points in Fredericia (32:26), while SCM lost 29:24 at home against Kiel 

Kolstad Handbold (NOR) vs HC Zagreb (CRO)
Wednesday 25 September, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Kolstad are currently the only team in group B with zero points, after losing in Magdeburg in round 2 (33:25)
• Zagreb, on the other hand, took their first points against Aalborg (31:23) and are currently second in the group
• Zagreb’s Filip Glavaš has scored 11 goals so far, while Kolstad's Simen Lyse has netted 10 times in the first two rounds
• with 68 goals taken, Kolstad have the least efficient defence of the group so far, while Zagreb are the second-most efficient, with 53 goals taken
• Zagreb won the two previous confrontations they had with Kolstad last season
• while Zagreb did not play in their domestic league last weekend, Kolstad won in Fjellhammer (35:24) on Sunday

Industria Kielce (POL) vs Barça (ESP)
Wednesday 25 September, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Kielce are currently second in the group with two points, after their loss last week in Nantes (23:20)
• Barça are the sole leaders of the group, after taking a second straight win last Thursday against Szeged (31:30)
• Kielce are currently the least prolific offence in the competition (50 goals) and the best defence (46 goals)
• Barça announced that their captain Dika Mem suffered a shoulder injury against Szeged and would be out for a few weeks
• the two clubs faced each other 14 times in EHF Champions League history: nine wins for Barça (including the 2022 final), two draws and three wins for Kielce
• last weekend, Kielce beat Azoty-Pulawy (49:35), while Barça won the top match in the Spanish League, 36:30 in Irun

OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs HBC Nantes (FRA)
Thursday 26 September, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• both teams are currently level with two points after two rounds
• last week, Nantes took their first points against Kielce (23:20), while Szeged were defeated in Barça (31:30)
• both teams’ best scorers have netted 15 so far: Nantes’ Valero Rivera and Szeged’s Mario Sostaric
• out of the eight confrontations they’ve had in European competitions, Nantes won five, Szeged won two and the last one, in 2023, ended in a draw
• two players moved from one club to the other in the summer: Jérémy Toto joined Szeged from Nantes, while Matej Gaber travelled the other way
• Nantes suffered their first defeat in the French league in Toulouse (35:29), while Szeged beat Balatonfüred (37:28) in the Hungarian league

Photos © OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (main), Roland Peka (PSG in-text), Victor Salgado (OTP Bank - PICK Szeged in-text)