Flensburg and Nexe win away; Fredericia shock Melsungen

The highlight match of the round saw the defending title holders Flensburg claim an away win at SAH - Aarhus, 38:32. Aarhus, aiming to reach their first international quarter-final ever, face a tough task to turn the tie in their favour away at Flensburg next Tuesday. 

In Sweden, IFK Kristianstad and RK Nexe played a close encounter that ended with a critical away victory for Nexe, 36:34, who came back from a three-goal half-time deficit. 

Montpellier and Fredericia capitalised on their home advantages to set up big leads for the second leg. Montpelllier, who reached the European League final last season, overcame Elverum Håndball 36:24. Fredericia shocked 2025/26 semi-finalists MT Melsungen, leading the whole game and finishing with a 35:29 win. 

HIGHLIGHT MATCH

PLAY-OFFS, FIRST LEG

SAH - Aarhus (DEN) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 32:38 (15:18)

The back-to-back champions of the EHF European League Men stretched the score line to a clear one in the end and had the advantage through most of the match, but the threat from SAH - Aarhus was ever-present. After the home side took a narrow lead to start, four saves in a row from Benjamin Buric enabled Flensburg to score four unanswered goals, turning the score from 4:2 in favour of Aarhus to 6:4 in the German team’s advantage. 22-year-old centre back Marko Grgić played a crucial role for Flensburg, scoring four of his eight goals up to minute 21, when his side hit a four-goal lead for the first time, 11:7. Flensburg had the upper hand from the 17th minute and held steady at the break. 

However, Aarhus proved that three goals is not a decisive difference — the Danish team came back, drew level at 22:22 off an intercept and fast-break goal from Christoffer Dreyer in the 42nd minute and kept the challenge alive up to the 47th. 13 minutes out was the last time the score stood level, 25:25 — from that point, Flensburg reclaimed the lead and had victory in sight when line player Johannes Golla (nine goals) gave them a 34:30 advantage at the 55-minute mark. A 4:2 run to finish earnt Flensburg a crucial six-goal lead in the aggregate score. 

IN OTHER MATCHES

PLAY-OFFS, FIRST LEG

IFK Kristianstad (SWE) vs RK Nexe (CRO) 34:36 (21:18)

Montpellier Handball (FRA) vs Elverum Håndball (NOR) 36:24 (17:9)

Fredericia Håndboldklub (DEN) vs MT Melsungen (GER) 35:29 (19:13)

Main image: Niklas Lau Petersen