Barça will learn their semi-final opponents on Friday 2 May, at 14:00 CEST, as the draw takes place in Vienna.
QUARTER-FINALS, SECOND LEG
Barça (ESP) vs OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) 29:30 (16:14)
Barça win 56:54 on aggregate
- Szeged were the first team to win an EHF Champions League knockout match at Palau Blaugrana since 1997, but again missed the chance to debut at the EHF FINAL4
- the hosts had an impressive start, with three strikes from Melvyn Richardson contributing to an early 5:1 advantage, but Szeged handled the shock and scored a 4:0 run for their first lead at 9:8
- backed by strong Austrian wing Sebastian Frimmel, the top scorer of the match with 10 goals, the visitors remained on an equal level and even took the lead at 24:23 after a 17:21 deficit
- twice — at 28:26 and 29:27 — Szeged were close to levelling the aggregate score; it was not until the final minute that Barça secured their spot in Cologne thanks to youngster Petar Cikusa i Jelicic, with the score of 29:29
- after eight goals in Barcelona, Szeged’s Croatian wing Marko Sostaric bows out on top of the overall scorer list with a tally of 130 in the season — four ahead of Mathias Gidsel, who will play the EHF FINAL4 with Berlin
Lucky Barça’s record 21st semi-final appearance
No team has won the EHF Champions League trophy as many times, made it to the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne as many times, nor won more Champions League matches: By beating PICK Szeged on aggregate, Barça extended another record, as they will play their 21st Champions League semi-final on 14 June in LANXESS arena. The 11-time champions won 15 of 20 previous semis, and now have their 13th EHF FINAL4 ahead. But they were extremely lucky not to lose the chance in the final minutes on Thursday night.
After winning their group, the road to Cologne was much steeper than expected for coach Carlos Ortega’s team. Szeged were a tough nut to crack, as they were in both group matches between the sides — 31:30 for Barça in Spain; 26:26 in Szeged. In the first leg in Hungary, Barça turned an 18:21 deficit into a 27:24 victory. In the second leg, they trailed through the last 20 minutes, losing their first home match after eight consecutive home wins in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League — but managed the aggregate win to book their TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 ticket.
