First main round berths on the cards in round 4

EHF / Kevin Domas

20 November 2023, 12:00

Entering round 4 on Tuesday, the group matches of the EHF European League Men 2023/24 go into the decisive phase as teams strive for the coveted spots in the main round. Seven teams, including all four German participants, are still unbeaten as some might book their ticket to the main round already this week.

Kristianstad is a really good team, physical, energetic and plays with engagement during 60 minutes. We succeeded to reach the victory last week. Tomorrow will be an important game for us. We need theses two points for our qualification goal.

Gregory Cojean

Head coach, HBC Nantes

Group B: HC Kriens-Luzern (SUI) vs Górnik Zabrze (POL)
Thursday 21 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

Kriens-Luzern hope to earn their first points of the group matches, while Zabrze are second with four points
last week, Zabrze won the first confrontation between the two sides, 32:28
Kriens-Luzern’s Andre Schmid is the top scorer of the competition with 33 goals; Taras Minotskyi has netted 19 times for Zabrze
last weekend, Kriens-Luzern beat Wacker Thun 39:23 in the Swiss league; Zabrze conceded their fourth loss of the season in the Polish league against Piotrkow, 33:28

Group F: BM Logroño La Rioja (ESP) vs Vojvodina (SRB)
Thursday 21 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

Vojvodina are second with four points and La Rioja are third with three points
in round 3, the first confrontation between the two sides resulted in a thriller won by the Spanish side, 25:24
so far, Vojvodina beat Bjerringbro-Silkeborg and Alkaloid and lost against La Rioja; the Spanish side drew against Alkaloid in round 2 after losing against Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
Barys Pukhouski scored 15 goals for Vojvodina so far; La Rioja’s best scorers, Xavier Tua and Alvaro Preciado, are on 10 goals each
Vojvodina remain undefeated in the Serbian league after their weekend win against Vranje (36:23); La Rioja also took the points in the Spanish league, 39:35 against Neve

Group G: Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Füchse Berlin (GER)
Thursday 21 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

after three rounds, Füchse Berlin lead with the maximum of six points; Dinamo are second with four points
Berlin would secure their main round ticket if they win while third-ranked Chambéry do not beat Izvidac in the other group match
Dinamo’s only European defeat of the season was in the first confrontation with Füchse last week, 30:33
Dinamo’s Andrii Akimenko has scored 22 goals so far this season, while two players have netted 16 for Füchse: Mathias Gidsel and Tim Freihöfer
last weekend, Dinamo defeated Vaslui in the Romanian league (27:26); Füchse lost for the first time in the German league, against Kiel (30:26)

It is another big clash for us and we want to stay on top of the group. Also the matches are very important for the main round. We know it will be a tough one in front of this enthusiastic home crowd but we are well prepared.

Jaron Siewert

Head coach, Füchse Berlin

We only have a chance tomorrow if we play with the same mentality and attitude like we did last Tuesday. We’re not the favourites of the match, especially that we have many injured players...but winning even 1 point would be an amazing success that could open up our way to the main round.

Csaba Tombor

Head coach, MOL Tatabánya KC