Promising round 4 includes MOTW in Kiel and Barça vs GOG
The Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2023/24 resumes this week, with three matches on Wednesday, including the MOTW between THW Kiel and Industria Kielce, and five on Thursday in round 4 of the group phase.
Every match in the EHF Champions League is a challenge at the very highest level. Kielce have been in the final the last two years and have kept the team together as far as possible. This will be a real top game.
Kolstad's squad is strong, the team have excellent players, so we only have a chance to achieve points if we concentrate on our system. We are in a good shape, so we are looking forward to Thursday's game with confidence.
On Thursday we will play against one of the best attacking teams in Europe. As almost all of the Scandinavian teams, they are running a lot and trying to score as many “easy” goals as possible. I would say that Aalborg is a mix of some promising young guys and some great and experienced internationals. Landin is probably the best goalkeeper in the world, they have Mikkel on left back and our ex-player Vlah on middle back. Great pivot Hald also. As for us we will need to repeat our game against Kolstad. We need to run in defence as fast as possible but this time we will also try to score some easy goals ourselves. With the support of our fans I do believe that we stand a chance.
We know we have some hard weeks with four away games in a row. We need to focus on ourselves and our resources to be ready in every game we play. Zagreb has the plus of playing at home and we need to take the momentum away from them and control the game the way we want.
We're coming off a very intense league game against Nantes on Sunday. That kept up the good momentum on the domestic stage and prepared us well for the comeback of the Champions League this week. We're going to have to be serious against Pelister because they're a team that will want to create a sensation against one of the top team in their group. We need to approach this game very coldly and stick to our game plan if we are to get back on track in our group after our defeat in Kielce. This type of home match against Pelister can be both great for confidence and risky if we don't live up to our standards.
We are playing against an extra-quality team and we have great opportunity for the promotion of the club and the city. We will do everything to present ourselves in our best form.
We are playing against a team that regularly plays at the EHF FINAL4 of the EHF Champions League. PSG have a great transition, but we will try to impose our game. As we played against Kiel, will try to reduce them to as few goals as possible. We are happy that we are clearly growing and this is a great opportunity to confirm that. We are training with a full squad, Tajnik is back in the team and we are motivated for the match on Thursday.
A new style of handball; there was a change in the coaching staff. Of course, the new coach has a slightly different vision than Magnus Anderson had. They run a lot, for instance, which I believe is a bit of a new thing for them, but in any case, we're talking about a very good team that can beat anyone. This is the Champions League, there are no easy games here.
It's been a rough couple of weeks, unfortunately I lost two players due to injuries and all players are important for the team.
But we'll always face challenges with smiles on our faces and hard work on our sleeves and that's how we'll travel to Veszprém. There's no weak games in the EHF Champions League, so we’ll always have to be ready.
We are getting better and better. We now have three game winning streak in domestic league and in our last match against Koper we played really good handball. We know that Montpellier is a very good team, but we will try everything to have a shoot to get the points. We don't have a lot of time to prepare, but it is the same for everybody.
The atmosphere in Plock was always great - as are the games. Last season, we had one defeat and one draw there. So we have to be awake from the start and give everything.
They can be winning by five or losing by five and they are still very forceful. They know what they have to do at all times and that makes them dangerous. Other teams may get desperate if we are winning by three, but they won't. They continue with their game plan and that makes them dangerous.
