Summary: Kielce, MHB, Veszprém and PSG join quarter-finals
The second leg of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League play-offs saw the four remaining quarter-final places decided.
On Wednesday, Industria Kielce and Montpellier HB booked their quarter-final tickets with wins over GOG and HC Zagreb, respectively. On Thursday, Veszprém secured their spot in the next stage as they beat Szeged, before PSG won their second leg against Plock to follow suit.
23:05
We come to the end of our live blog coverage of day two of the second-leg play-offs, and just like that, it's time to look ahead to the final obstacle on the road to Cologne — the quarter-finals.
The pairings for the next stage are as follows:
- Montpellier HB vs THW Kiel
- Industria Kielce vs SC Magdeburg
- Telekom Veszprém HC vs Aalborg Håndbold
- Paris Saint-Germain Handball vs Barça
The first-leg quarter-finals will take place on April 24 and 25, with the second legs on May 1 and 2.
22:53
Don't forget you can enjoy highlights of all matches on the Home of Handball YouTube.
22:43
Day two of the second-leg play-offs is done and dusted and the next stage of the competition is set. Recap all today's action with our review below.
The goal was to be qualified and it’s done. Before the game, we knew Plock was a tough team and they showed it again tonight. We missed some actions but we fought until the end. It’s crucial for the dynamic. We have several games coming. The step of round of 16 is done and now we have to stay focused.
Paris played a fantastic game. I think that I can be proud of my team and my players. One more time, we showed that we have a high level. We came here with ambition, and this is the most important for me. We improved year by year — not still at the level of PSG but I am sure that if we continue, we will be soon.
22:20 RESULT | PSG VS PLOCK 34:33
A late surge sees Plock come close to a draw, but that would not be enough for the result they need in any case. PSG collect the win and an aggregate victory of 64:59.
22:15 57th MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 33:30
Timeout Plock as PSG net three in a row to quash the temporary hopes Plock must have held at the equaliser. Two of the three goals have come from Nikola Karabatic, who proves he is still a hugely valuable player in the critical high-pressure stages.
22:12 55th MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 30:30
Equaliser! Five minutes to go and the Polish team make it all square in France. Can they keep the momentum going and grab the necessary five-goal win?
22:08 53rd MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 30:29
Plock's efforts are rewarded as they finally decrease the score line from the pesky three goals they could not shake. PSG's lead stretched as clear as six early in the half, but the Polish side have persevered and, led mainly by goals from Dmitry Zhitnikov and Przemyslaw Krajewski from the 40th minute on, made it much closer as we enter crunch time.
A win is definitely within reach for Plock, but a win by five would be an extraordinary — yet not impossible — achievement.
21:58 45th MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 28:25
15 minutes to go and the score line remains the same, with Plock unable to close the gap but keeping PSG right where they are.
While they have prevented PSG from pulling further away, Plock have been facing trouble against PSG's defence, and the fact they have an attacking efficiency 20 per cent below PSG's reflects that. The Polish side have also taken more shots than PSG — 38 to PSG's 33.
In Plock's favour is their far more significant rotation, as every player has been on court in this encounter, with the visitors throwing everything they can at their last chance to progress in the competition. PSG do rely heavily on a small number in attack, with only six players having scored and three of those — Elohim Prandi, David Balaguer and Kamil Syprzak — combining for 20 goals.
21:46 38th MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 23:19
The difference continues to look too big for Plock to ovecome as the second half progresses and PSG stay steady in front.
Elohim Prandi is having a scorcher with seven goals for PSG, while Jannick Green has had a stronger half in goal for the French team, with four saves.
If PSG hold on and take the win, Danish goalkeepers will be very well represented in the quarter-finals — and will face each other. Mike Jensen has just made it with PSG, setting up a clash with Aalborg's Niklas Landin, while Emil Nielsen awaits the winners of this tie with Barça. Jensen is the only one of the four not to have played for Denmark, with Green being key for the side in the past while Nielsen has well and truly clinched the spot in the current core team after his exceptional performances at the EHF EURO 2024.
21:37 31st MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 18:15
The final half of the play-offs begins, with Plock hoping to overcome a seven-goal deficit to take the aggregate victory. But right now it's PSG on track to reach the next stage.
21:22 HALF-TIME | PSG VS PLOCK 18:15
A three-goal gap in PSG's favour at the break in France means a seven-goal lead overall, placing the home side in a strong position with 30 minutes to go.
21:12 22nd MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 13:10
A 3:1 partial sees PSG turn a one goal lead, 10:9, into a three-goal game within five minutes.
With Nikola Karabatic and Luc Steins playing an important role on the back court helping set up great opportunities for Elohim Prandi and line player Kamil Syprzak, the latter two have netted four goals each already.
Syprzak has plenty of history with Plock, as he started his professional career at the club and was born in the city.
21:01 14th MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 8:8
Still all square in Paris. There's a long way to go yet, but keep in mind a close result will not be enough for Plock to overturn the difference from the first leg, as they must win here by five in order to do it.
It's still a very difficult day in goal, with Plock's Marcel Jastrzebski the only keeper to record any saves so far, as he tallies two.
Although they are level on the score board, Plock have lower attacking and shooting efficiencies than PSG, which could end up being telling over time.
20:52 7th MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 5:5
Seven minutes into the last of the play-off matches and it's all on even footing so far, in almost every way — both teams have two players on two goals apiece already, and neither teams' goalkeepers have made any saves yet.
Since PSG returned to the Champions League in 2013/14, for what was their second season in the top flight after 2005/06, they have never missed the quarter-finals. The French side made it all the way to Cologne in six of the seasons since 2013/14, but have never won the title.
Plock made it to the quarter-finals for the first time in history last season with the most dramatic of the play-off ties, as both their games against Nantes ended in a draw and a penalty shootout was needed to decide the aggregate winners.
20:45 1ST MINUTE | PSG VS PLOCK 0:0
Throw-off in Paris with Plock starting in offence.
20:35
It's time to join us on EHFTV for the very last match of the play-offs, PSG vs Plock, starting in 10 minutes.
I am very proud. The work is not done yet. I am very proud that we managed to defeat Szeged twice in a row. Both teams respected each other, and that is how it should be. We fight. We move on.
Roland Mikler said that whoever knocks this Veszprém out of the Champions League deserves to win the series. I agree. We had a lot of technical mistakes. With this, you cannot win a match. We were at a big disadvantage and we carried that with us throughout the match. It turned into a running game, which favoured Veszprém. Unfortunately, we only had moments in this duel. We have to pull ourselves together physically and mentally and try to somehow surprise Veszprém in the Hungarian Cup or the championship.
20:02 RESULT | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 39:32
Veszprém clinch the win in the match and with that the aggregate victory and a place in the quarter-finals. The overall result between the sides is 76:62.
20:06
Forget Mikkel Hansen's headband — this guy's is much more impressive! What a great and unusual tribute to the (past) Szeged squad.
Speaking of Hansen, the Danish legend will likely be watching Veszprém vs Szeged, with his side Aalborg set to meet the winners in the quarter-finals. Hansen announced his retirement this week after a spectacular career that has seen him win everything there is to win with Denmark. The one competition that has eluded him is the Champions League. Veszprém will be hoping he won't make that dream come true in his farewell season...
20:02 53rd MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 33:26
Into the final minutes now and it's all but over, with Veszprém on a 13-goal aggregate advantage that would take an absolute miracle for Szeged to overcome now. No doubt the visitors will fight to the dying seconds though.
For Veszprém, the quarter-final participation would be the sixth in a row, as they last missed the stage in 2017/18 when they lost to Skjern Handbold with a very different squad from the current line-up — but still a mighty one. Since then, the club have made it to the EHF FINAL4 three times. They were eliminated in the quarter-final stage last season.
19:55 47th MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 29:24
Szeged manage once again to come a little closer, but considering the aggregate score line, it is far from enough for Veszprém to feel threatened at this stage.
But some Szeged players have been showing a great individual performance nonetheless. Portuguese centre back Miguel Martins has notched up seven goals at an accuracy of 100 per cent, while Martin Nagy has made eight saves for the visitors — the same number as Veszprém's Rodrigo Corrales and Mike Jensen combined.
19:44 38th MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 25:19
Hope looks to be fading for Szeged, as they trail by six goals in the match and therefore 13 goals on aggregate.
If Szeged bow out of the competition tonight, it will be the fourth straight time they have been eliminated in the play-offs. Before Veszprém last season, it was at the hands of Flensburg in 2021/22 and Kiel in 2020/21. In 2019/20, the season end was disrupted by Covid-19 and no play-offs or quarter-finals took place. 2018/19 was the last time Szeged reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Vardar, who were on the path to the top of the podium.
19:36 31st MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 19:15
Back to it in Veszprém, with Szeged facing a mammouth comeback task or the end of their season in the top flight. 11 goals is the current aggregate margin in Veszprém's favour.
19:20 HALF-TIME | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 19:15
Szeged manage to reduce the deficit a touch but it's still a clear lead for Veszprém at the break, and a decisive aggregate advantage of 11 — 56:45 to be exact.
It's possible, though not likely, for Szeged to pull off a big enough comeback, but if they cannot make a difference in the opening minutes of the second period then the chance will be lost.
19:11 23rd MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 15:10
Timeout Szeged as Veszprém re-open a commanding lead of five goals courtesy of Dragan Pechmalbec's third goal from three shots. After their wings led the way to begin with, Veszprém have relied increasingly on the back court and line players, with no goals from the wings for almost 15 minutes.
The same is true for Szeged, with the likes of Miguel Martins and Luka Stepancic responsible for all their team's goals since the 15-minute mark.
19:04 18th MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 10:8
Szeged have really flipped the momentum here. Although they trail by two, the match is very much not the one-sided one we saw in the opening minutes.
On the official Szeged website, captain Bence Banhidi shared how fighting back from the early deficit in the first leg cost his team a lot of energy and was one reason they could ultimately not keep the game close. Despite their recovery, the visitors may be looking at a similar scenario tonight, given the powerful opening minutes from Veszprém that have left Szeged on the back foot in the position of the hunters.
18:55 10th MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 6:5
We hit the 10-minute mark with Szeged having found their game, both slowing Veszprém's frenetic pace and solving their own attacking problems to close the gap quickly.
Neither team are seeing their best day in goal so far, with three saves made in total — two by Szeged's Roland Mikler and one by Rodrigo Corrales for Veszprém.
18:49 3rd MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 3:0
Three fast break goals unanswered, all scored by Mikita Vailupau, see Veszprém grab the lead immediately. Szeged have struggled to find any strong shooting opportunities so far and have been punished quickly for the lost balls.
18:45 1st MINUTE | VESZPRÉM VS SZEGED 0:0
Opening whistle in Veszprém. Szeged start in attack.
18:39
The players are taking the court and Veszprém Arena is clearly fiery tonight.
Looking back to the first leg, the top scorers individually were wings — Hugo Descat and Mikita Vailupau with seven apiece for Veszprém, and Sebastian Frimmel with six for Szeged. In goal, Rodrigo Corrales had a superb match, with 15 saves for Veszprém.
We played a not so good first half, and an even worse start to the second half. After a timeout we regrouped the defence, played some good fastbreaks, better realisation and 100 per cent shots. We deserved to win. It’s really hard to play the Champions League, we have to be really proud that we qualified to the quarter-final and hope we will not stop there.
We are very satisfied. Everybody knows that it is difficult to play this game when you have nothing to win. GOG showed today why they are a pretty interesting team. Next round we will play against the best team in the world. Magdeburg is twice world champion and Champions League winner, for 99 per cent they win German Bundesliga again. We are very motivated playing against one of the best teams in the world.
22:24
Montpellier centre back Stas Skube is the Player of the Match after scoring six goals, including four penalties, and helping dictate the pace of play.
22:21 | FULL-TIME
MONTPELLIER HB 30:24 HC ZAGREB
Credit to Zagreb, who battled valiantly even when things stopped going their way. They made too many mistakes in the last quarter to force a comeback against a good Montpellier side, who found more solutions in the later stages of the game and take the win and a place in the quarter-finals, where they will face THW Kiel.
22:15 | 25TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 27:23 HC ZAGREB
An empty net goal for Remi Desbonnet makes it a five-goal game; Desbonnet is also doing plenty of saving, and Montpellier are almost through to the quarter-finals.
22:09 | 50TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 24:20 HC ZAGREB
Stas Skube is the top scorer of the game with a really good second half, helping Montpellier to their lead.
Zagreb are still struggling in attack, missing a lot of the fluidity of the first half, and they're running out of time for a comeback.
22:03 | 46TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 23:19 HC ZAGREB
Zagreb have gone seven-on-six in attack after Montpellier extended the lead to four goals, but it's not working; eventually they force a penalty, but Ivan Cupic misses it. Montpellier have all the momentum at the moment and their fans are absolutely loving it.
21:58 | 43RD MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 22:19 HC ZAGREB
Montpellier have stepped up in defence and that's paying off, giving them counterattacking opportunities they are taking advantage of. They grab their first three-goal lead as Zagreb left back Miloš Kos falls hard and has to receive treatment.
21:53 | 41ST MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 20:18 HC ZAGREB
After a flurry of action, including several missed or blocked shots, Luka Klarica fouls Diego Simonet and is suspended and Stas Skube scores the penalty to give Montpellier a two-goal lead. Andrija Nikolic calls a timeout. Zagreb are far from out of the game, but the momentum right now is with Montpellier.
21:48 | 38TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 18:17 HC ZAGREB
Montpellier take advantage of a turnover by Zvonimir Srna, which Sebastian Karlsson snatches up and scores on a lightning-fast fastbreak. The hosts lead!
21:43 | 33RD MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 14:16 HC ZAGREB
Patrice Canayer takes a very early timeout to switch things up tactically, after Zagreb take a two-goal lead.
21:38
Things are about to get underway again. If the teams are still tied at the end of full-time, we go straight to a penalty shootout!
21:25 | HALF-TIME
MONTPELLIER HB 14:14 HC ZAGREB
The half ends as Bryan Monte misses a direct free throw, and the two sides go into the break absolutely level - both in this game, and on aggregate.
Zagreb goalkeeper Matej Mandic has been amazing, although Montpellier have been persistent despite his superb performance. Mandic has made eight saves (36.4 per cent) compared to only four for both Montpellier goalkeepers.
Luka Klarica, who did return to court after that injury, is the top scorer with three goals, and eight players from both sides have found the net.
21:19 | 27TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 13:14 HC ZAGREB
Things are still narrowly in Zagreb's favour, with Matej Mandic absolutely shining in goal and keeping his side just ahead.
21:16
We mentioned this goal earlier on and it's definitely one to share.
21:14 | 22ND MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 10:12 HC ZAGREB
Montpellier coach Patrice Canayer takes his first timeout, telling his players to dig deep and do more running. It results in a good goal for Valentin Porte.
21:10 | 20TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 10:11 HC ZAGREB
Zagreb right back Luka Klarica goes off with an apparent hand injury, forcing Zagreb to be inventive in the right back position - Klarica being arguably the only true right back on the side. Aleks Kavcic is currently doing right back duties.
21:07 | 17TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 8:9 HC ZAGREB
Can Zagreb capitalise? Yes, they can - they're quickly back in the lead.
Remi Desbonnet has replaced Charles Bolzinger in the Montpellier goal, after a poor start for the number-one goalkeeper.
21:03 | 15TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 8:7 HC ZAGREB
A brilliant behind-the-back goal from Bryan Monte gives Montpellier a lead, although Zagreb are a man up. Can the hosts capitalise on this?
20:56 | 10TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 5:5 HC ZAGREB
A few mistakes and unlucky misses by Zagreb have allowed Montpellier to draw level, but you get the sense this will again be close the whole way.
20:51 | 5TH MINUTE, MONTPELLIER HB 2:3 HC ZAGREB
Zagreb had a good start, pulling out to a two-goal lead with a couple of good Matej Mandic saves, but Montpellier eventually got on to the scoreboard. Zagreb's defending has been pretty solid and is keeping them up.
20:45 | THROW-OFF
Here we go, with Zagreb throwing off.
20:35
There's no changes in the Zagreb squad to the 16 men who welcomed Montpellier last week.
20:30
It's MOTW time, as Montpellier and Zagreb start level in a bid to make it to the quarter-finals. Throw-off is 15 minutes away at 20:45 CEST, and coverage on EHFTV starts now, with English commentary by Chris O'Reilly.
