Dramatic night sees Limoges, GOG, Melsungen, Porto reach quarter-finals

Limoges (65:64 against HC Kriens-Luzern), GOG (65:64 against Sport Lisboa e Benfica), and Melsungen (55:54 against VfL Gummersbach) all completed impressive comebacks on home court to wipe out their defeats from the first leg last week. Only FC Porto (63:58 against FENIX Toulouse) held on to their big first-leg advantage, despite a two-goal defeat on Tuesday.

The quarter-finals include three teams from Germany, two from France, and one each from Portugal, Spain, and Denmark, and will be played on 22 and 29 April. The Maschinensucher EHF Finals 2025 in Hamburg are scheduled for 24/25 May.

The quarter-final pairings are as follows:

• FC Porto (POR) vs Montpellier Handball (FRA)
• MT Melsungen (GER) vs Bidasoa Irun (ESP)
• Limoges Handball (FRA) vs THW Kiel (GER)
• GOG (DEN) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)

PLAY-OFFS, SECOND LEG

Limoges Handball (FRA) vs HC Kriens-Luzern (SUI) 36:28 (16:16)
Limoges win 65:64 on aggregate

The burden of winning by eight goals was huge for European club competition debutants Limoges, but the French side made the miracle come true after an incredible comeback against Kriens. Only once in the match, three seconds before the end, Limoges were ahead by eight goals — enough to beat the Swiss side. Seif el Deraa was the man to score the crucial goal for the 36:28, before Radojca Cepic missed the last chance for the visitors on the final buzzer. Ihor Turchenko again was best scorer for the hosts: after five goals in the first leg, the Ukrainian shooter netted 10 times on home ground to raise his total for the season to over 70. That also applies to Marin Šipic from Kriens, but the Croatian line player won't be able anymore to add to his total this season.

With the a score line of 16:16 at the break, the big seven-goal gap from the first leg was still unaffected when the teams started the second half. But after a 9:3 run by Limoges to 27:22 up, the French side's hopes came alive. Still, it seemed too little, too late, as the gap was back to three (30:27) with only five minutes left. From that moment on Limoges were unleashed. Even a missed penalty shot from Maxime Ogando at 32:27 did not shock them and the ended the match on a decisive 6:1 run. In their first international season, the team of head coach Alberto Entrerrios next meets four-time EHF Champions League winners THW Kiel for a spot at the Maschinensucher EHF Finals 2025 in Hamburg.

GOG (DEN) vs Sport Lisboa e Benfica (POR) 34:31 (15:15)
GOG win 65:64 on aggregate

For the third time after 2020/21 and 2021/22, GOG have qualified for the quarter-finals of the EHF European League, and 2022 champions Benfica are out after two thrillers, despite travelling to Denmark with a 33:31 advantage from the first leg. Like the first leg a week ago, the match went back and forth, the lead almost changed every two minutes – but 11 minutes before the end, the gate to the quarter-finals seemed to be widely open for the Portuguese side, leading 27:25 and having an aggregate advantage of five goals.

But GOG, backed by a total of 10 goals from Norwegian centre back Tobias Grøndahl, turned the match around, and 68 seconds before the end, Hendrik Jakobsen secured the first three-goal advantage (33:30) GOG needed to make up for their first-leg deficit. Benfica got nervous, Ander Izquierdo failed to score, and GOG decided the match when 20-year-old Hjalte Lykke netted for 34:30. Egon Hanusz’s last goal for Benfica came too late and the hosts jumped for joy with the final buzzer. GOG are next up against 'neighbours' (and defending champions) SG Flensburg-Handewitt, which include several former GOG players, like (the currently injured) Simon Pytlick, Emil Jakobsen, and Lukas Jørgensen. The distance between the two clubs is only 120 kilometres.

MT Melsungen (GER) vs VfL Gummersbach (GER) 29:25 (14:13)
Melsungen win 55:54 on aggregate

Melsungen became the third team on Tuesday to turn a defeat from the first leg into a ticket to the quarter-finals. After their 29:26 loss to Gummersbach last week, the team of Roberto Garcia Parrondo came back and made it to their third European quarter-final — after the 2014/15 and 2016/17 seasons in the EHF Cup — with exactly the result they needed: winning by four. Their final hurdle on the way to the Maschinensucher EHF Finals in Hamburg will be Bidasoa Irun from Spain.

Gummersbach had to replace their top star Julian Köster, who underwent knee surgery, a loss that weakened the team of Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson. Gummersbach still fought bravely in this defence-orientated battle in Kassel. Even a red card for their European League top scorer Ian Barrufet after a foul against Gummersbach’s top scorer Ole Pregler in minute 45 did not stop Melsungen in crunch time. They went from 17:18 down to their first three-goal advantage at 22:19 and had the momentum on their side, despite an outstanding performance from Gummersbach goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanovic, who saved 10 shots. In minute 54, Melsungen finally had the four-goal lead they needed for the quarter-finals. They even went up by five (28:23), but nothing was decided until the final attack, as Melsungen’s defence specialist Rogerio Moraes received a red card following his third suspension. Leading 29:25, the hosts cleverly played down the time, and Gummersbach in the end only had three seconds to take the match into a shootout but failed to do so. Top scorer was Melsungen’s wing Timo Kastening with seven goals.

FENIX Toulouse (FRA) vs FC Porto (POR) 30:28 (12:12)
Porto win 63:58 on aggregate

In contrast to fellow French side Limoges, Toulouse did not manage to complete a miracle tonight. The seven-goal deficit from last week (35:28) was too big in the end, as Porto defended their aggregate advantage cleverly, including another masterclass performance from young goalkeeper Diogo Rema, who saved 14 shots. Porto even led by a single goal (20:19) with only 15 minutes left to play, and knowing they would make it to the quarter-finals, they allowed the hosts to turn the match around without getting endangered. Backed by eight goals from Erwin Feuchtmann, Toulouse said farewell to Europe with a two-goal victory, but Porto will continue in the competition in a quarter-final against Montpellier Handball.

main image © Lau Nielsen / GOG