Five teams fight for the last two tickets

EHF / Björn Pazen

04 December 2023, 14:00

14 of the 16 teams which will proceed to the main round of the EHF European League Men have been confirmed after five rounds of the group phase, but match day 6 on Tuesday will not only decide the two last tickets, but in many cases, have serious implications for later in the competition, determining the number of points the qualified teams will carry into the main round.

We are qualified before the last match, which is already a real satisfaction. It's no small thing to have eliminated Benfica who won the EHF European League less than 2 years ago.

It’s important to win this game, to get theses two precious points in the main round.

Gregory Cojean

Head coach, HBC Nantes

GROUP C

RK Gorenje Velenje (SLO) vs. IK Sävehof (SWE)

Tuesday 5 December 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

IK Sävehof have already qualified for the main round with five wins from five matches, including the 36:34 against Velenje on home soil
Velenje and Pfadi Winterthur are equal on four points and will fight for the second main round ticket of this group from afar, as the Swiss side play at eliminated Spanish side Cuenca
regardless of Pfadi’s result, Velenje will proceed if they beat Sävehof, as they have the better head-to-head record against Winterthur by aggregate goals
if Velenje do not win, and Pfadi win, the Slovenian runners-up are out of the competition
Sävehof have won two of three previous duels including the one at Velenje in this group

GROUP F

Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (DEN) vs. Vojvodina (SRB)

Tuesday 5 December 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

both sides clinched main round berths after their victories in round 5, when Vojvodina beat Alkaloid and Bjerringbro-Silkeborg eliminated La Rioja with a close 29:28 away win
both sides are equal on eight points; Vojvodina beat the Danish side in the reverse fixture 29:28
Bjerringrbo will only carry two points to the main round if they win, and zero if they lose
with only 136 (Bjerringbro) and 137 (Vojvodina) goals conceded each so far, both sides rely on two of the strongest defences in the group phase
the match in round 2 was the first ever meeting of these sides

GROUP G

Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs. Chambery Savoie Mont Blanc Handball (FRA)

Tuesday 5 December 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

it is a do-or-die match of both sides, fighting for the second position in this group in the direct duel
Bucuresti have six points to their name, including the 28:21 away win at Chambery in the reverse fixture
the French side is on four points, having only won both matches against Izvidac so far and need to win by at least eight goals in the Romanian capital to pass Dinamo
Bucuresti have the best attack of all 32 clubs with 182 goals scored and one of the best defences with only 135 goals conceded
before this season, the sides had never faced each other in an official match

It's going to be a hard game, the goal is to win, to play in the second round. I think that we are doing well in training, but I also think that Chambery is improving, they have recovered some important players from injuries that didn't play in the first game, and I am sure that this game will not be the same

Xavier Pascual

Head coach, Dinamo Bucuresti

We really want to finish this group phase with a victory. Maybe it won’t be enough to go to the next round but it will allow us to balance our ratio of victories and defeats in this round of the EHF European League

Erick Mathé

Head coach, Chambery Savoie Mont Blanc Handball

We have to do better than the match in Romania. We know that they had the supporters behind them, and that was important. Also, we have to be more aggressive against their shooters. We would like to get four points to the next stage, that won't be possible, so we need these two points.

Ricardo Costa

Head coach, Sporting CP