Francisco Costa wins MOTW MVP as Sporting storm past Dinamo

• Sporting dominated the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 Round 9 MOTW in the end celebrating a 34:25 win over Dinamo
• also on Thursday: Veszprem defeated Eurofarm 33:26, Wisla was victorious at home against Fredericia 30:21, and Fuchse secured an away win in Paris 34:37
• we have also seen four amazing games on Wednesday - find everything you need to know and more in our daily review
• find all the highlights on the Home of Handball YouTube
• Bruno Pinevic reported; photo courtesy of Sporting CP

And with that, it is time to conclude our live coverage of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 round 9 MOTW. 

Thank you for being with us, and join us next week as we return with round 10 - the last before the winter break! 

Until then, goodnight!

22:30 

Time to check out some of the best photos from the MOTW!

22:26

With this win, and considering Berlin celebrated on the road against PSG, Sporting are now second in Group A only three points behind group leaders Veszprem as their dream season in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League continues. 

And while Sporting are moving up, Dinamo are moving down. Team led by David Davis will fall down to fifth place as Fuchse Berlin now has the same amount of points as the Romanians, but with a better goal difference. 

20:35

With only ten minutes left until the opening buzzer, we're bringing you a couple of photos from Portugal!

Join us on EHFTV!

20:25

Going into the game, coach Costa identified defense as one of the keys for Sporting's success in this one: 

''I expect this to be a very difficult match. Their idea of how the game of handball should be played is quite similar to ours, and in such situations details can decide encounters. We have to deliver on the defensive side of the court against a very well-coached team", concluded Costa. 

On the other side, David Davis is aware that the win they secured against the same opponent back in October does not mean Dinamo can count on easy points in Portugal. 

"We are well-aware of how good they are at home defeating some of the best European teams. We can't afford to relax just because we managed to defeat them in Bucharest, completely the opposite - we will be looking to find the right rhythm after the loss in Berlin and continue improving", added Davis.

20:10

This week's Machineseeker EHF Champions League MOTW is bringing us a Group A duel between third-placed Sporting, and fourth-positioned Dinamo Bucuresti. In their premier clash of the season, Dinamo celebrated a 33:29 home win with the Portuguese side suffering first of their two losses so far this season. About a month ago Haukur Thrastarson, Haniel Langaro and Zeinelabedin Ali netted six each helping Dinamo book a home-court win and it will surely be interesting to see whether coach Ricardo Costa and his guys managed to find ways to slow Dinamo down today and take revenge. 

20:00

Good evening and welcome back to the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25! Round 9 started on Wednesday night and we are counting down to the start of the Match of the Week, Sporting vs Dinamo which is scheduled for 20:45 CET. 

To get you in the right mood, check out the MOTW feature with Dinamo's own Haukur Thrastarson, round preview which as always contains everything you need to know about each match day, as well as the recap of the opening four games of the round played on Wednesday!