Familiar foes clash for second week in a row

The second half of the EHF Champions League group phase begins on Wednesday and Thursday with repeats of last week’s duels.

In group A, Kielce will try to repeat their performance from last week against Vardar in Match of the Week, while Flensburg travel to Belarus to face Meshkov Brest in an arena where no team has managed to take any points this season.

Paris have also the opportunity to leapfrog their opponent on Thursday when they host Porto, while Szeged play against Elverum. A win would keep the Hungarian side’s hopes for the play-offs alive.

In Group B, the classic between Barça and Kiel will serve another handball deli -as both sides are chasing certain records. Barça can extend their lead over Kiel to seven points.

Motor hope to continue their winning series on home court, while Zagreb hope to get some points on the board.

GROUP A

HC Meshkov Brest (BLR) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)
Wednesday 25 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Flensburg are currently second in the group with nine points while Meshkov are just two points behind in third place
• they played each other last week and the game ended in a 29:29 draw, the first time in history Brest did not lose against Flensburg.
• since then, Flensburg won against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga (34:30).
• Marko Panic, Brest’s best scorer, has netted 31 times while Flensburg’s Hampus Wanne scored 28 goals so far in the competition

Lomza Vive Kielce (POL) vs HC Vardar 1961 (MKD)
Wednesday 25 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Kielce took the two points in Skopje for the first time in five years last week, winning 33:29
• the Polish side currently sit top of the group with eleven points while Vardar are sixth with three points
• Vardar played in Kielce five times and never managed to grab a single point. The closest the came was in 2015, losing 33:31 in the quarter-finals second leg
• Two Kielce players feature among the top five scorers: Alex Dujshebaev (35 goals) and Igor Karacic (34)

Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) vs FC Porto (POR)
Thursday 26 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• last week, Paris took the two in Porto, winning 34:31 after turning around a five-goal deficit
• the only time FC Porto travelled to Paris in European competitions was in 2007, and it resulted in a six-goal defeat for the Portuguese side, 26:20
• Paris welcomed a new player this week - Dutch playmaker Luc Steins was loaned from Toulouse until the end of the season to make up for Nikola Karabatic’s long-term injury, while Sadou Ntanzi went the other way
• Porto won the high-profile clash of the Portuguese league against Sporting last weekend, 33:27

MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN) vs Elverum Handball (NOR)
Thursday 26 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• last week’s planned confrontations between the two sides was postponed
• Elverum’s only trip to Szeged in the competition was in November last year, resulted in a 32:25 loss for the Norwegian side
• Szeged only played twice in the last month, winning both games - the last one was this weekend against Budakalasz, 33:24
• the two teams are currently bottom of group A, Elverum have gathered two points in four games while Szeged have yet to take any after three games

GROUP B

Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) vs. Aalborg Håndbold (DEN)
Wednesday 25 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• last week’s 33:27 loss against Veszprém was Aalborg’s third straight defeat after four victories
• Veszprém are still unbeaten after five victories and one draw at Kiel in the group phase
• Petar Nenadic is Veszprém’s top scorer by 31 goals so far, three strikes ahead of Aalborg’s Jonas Samuelsson
• in the Danish league, Aalborg took a 39:32 victory at Kolding and remain on top of the table with eleven wins from 13 matches, Veszprém are on top of the Hungarian league with ten victories from ten matches

RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (SLO) vs. HBC Nantes (FRA)
Wednesday 25 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Nantes played their last EHF Champions League match on 14 October, a 32:24 loss to Aalborg
• Both sides have only two points on their account, Nantes won at Kiel, Celje at Zagreb, but Celje have six matches played to Nantes’ four
• Celje’s last Champions League home victory was a 24:22 against Zagreb on 10 November 2019.
• Nantes playmaker Rok Ovnicek will face his former club, from which he transferred to France in 2019
• both clubs have reached the final once: Celje won the trophy in 2004 against Flensburg, Nantes lost the 2018 final against Montpellier

HC Motor (UKR) vs. HC PPD Zagreb (CRO)
Thursday 26 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Motor have won their last two away matches at Celje and Zagreb - but have not won any point on home court
• Experienced left back Barys Pukhouski was Motor’s top scorer in those two crucial matches with a total of 11 goals
• Zagreb have not earned a point after six defeats in six matches
• Zagreb’s last away victory in Europe was a 31:29 win at Flensburg in September 2018

Barça (ESP) vs. THW Kiel (GER)
Thursday 26 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

• Barça have 12 points on their account after six victories in six matches and are five points ahead of Kiel
• The 32:26 victory last week was Barça’ largest win at Kiel
• It is the 27^th duel of both in European club competition, Barça have the slight advantage of 13:11 victories, two matches ended in a draw
• Sander Sagosen (Kiel) tops the top scorer list by 38 goals, third ranked is Dika Mem (Barça) by 36.
• Kiel’s seventh goal at Barcelona will be their 9000th in Champions League history, becoming the second team to hit that milestone after Barça