SUMMARY: PSG ease into quarter-finals; Dinamo win MOTW
The penultimate round of the group phase in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2022/23 featured eight interesting clashes, including CS Dinamo Bucuresti defeating GOG 30:27 in the Match of the Week on Thursday.
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Remember you can watch highlights from all matches on our Home of Handball YouTube channel. Here are the best scenes of Plock vs PSG:
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So, here are the full results of round 13, as we have just nine matches left in the 2022/23 group phase of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League:
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Save the best for last? Or: was the greatest goal of round 13 scored in the closing match tonight? This Aymeric Minne stunner is certainly a serious contender:
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Four matches, four reviews. Here you can read all what happened in the matches played tonight as round 13 has come to an end:
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Round 13 is done and dusted, time to update our overview of the 16 clubs. This is how things stand with only the rescheduled game Porto vs Zagreb on Sunday and the full round 14 next week remaining:
QUALIFIED FOR THE QUARTER-FINALS:
- group A: PSG (group winners)
- group B: Barça (group winners), Kielce (runners-up)
THROUGH TO THE PLAY-OFFS:
- group A: Magdeburg*, Veszprém*, GOG, Dinamo
- group B: Nantes, Kiel, Aalborg, Szeged
* Magdeburg or Veszprém will qualify directly for the QFs
CAN STILL REACH THE PLAY-OFFS:
- group A: Zagreb, Plock
- group B: –
OUT OF THE RACE:
- group A: Porto
- group B: Celje, Elverum
22:16 RESULT | Nantes vs Kielce 30:33 (14:17)
It has been an up-and-down second half but Kielce remain on top: the second-ranked team in group B win by three against a strong Nantes side, that could go deep in the competition again this season.
Szymon Sicko and Arkadiusz Moryto both finish on six goals for Kielce; Valero Rivera leads with seven for Nantes.
22:05
What a match this! Nantes have it all turned around for a 25:23 lead (also thanks to saves like the one below)... only for Kielce to reply with a 6:0 run and go four goals up again: 29:25 to Kielce. That's the decision in this match?!
21:56
Mission accomplished for PSG! They got the point – two, actually – they needed against Plock to seal top spot in group A. Let's hear from head coach Raul Gonzalez:
Of course it was a very important game for us and we needed to get one point to secure our first place in the group. We managed to achieve our goal and win today's match. We started a bit badly in defence, which was shown by the score at half-time (14:15), in the later stages we tightened our defense.
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Ten minutes into the second half and the margin is two: Nantes 21, Kielce 23. This is really anybody's game now.
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Kielce fans and the 'V' for victory? Find out and watch the second half of Nantes vs Kielce live on EHFTV now.
21:23 HALF-TIME | Nantes vs Kielce 14:17
An intense match to close round 13! Nantes are fighting to stay ahead of Kiel in the group standings, but the French hosts are running into really strong opposition. Kielce's Arkadiusz Moryto with five goals the best scorer; Valero Rivera has four for Nantes.
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Kielce have nothing really to play for tonight as their second place in group B is fixed. But great to see the 2016 champions giving it their all in France tonight, where they lead Nantes continuously since minute four (2:2). It is 15:11 to Kielce meanwhile.
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Here are some stats from the MOTW. How far can Dinamo go this season?
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A strong showing from Dinamo in our MOTW tonight. This is what coach Xavi Pascual and Player of the Match Ante Kuduz said after the 30:27 win over GOG:
It was probably not the best game that we played this season. It's complicated now, after the World Championship a lot of players are injured and the level is not the same level that we showed in the first part of the season. But I am happy with the team. If someone told me before the season: "You have 13 points..." It's amazing for us.
The most important thing is that we won. In the end we manage to bring the game to an end with a win. First two games were hard after the winter break, but today was a good day for the team, to finally win again in the Champions League.
20:25 RESULT | Veszprém vs Porto 32:30 (15:14)
Not their best game this season, Veszprém win and keep the race for a direct quarter-final ticket from group A open. PSG are first, Veszprém or Magdeburg will be second, to be decided next week in the final round 14.
20:19 RESULT | Plock vs PSG 26:32 (14:15)
Congrats to PSG, securing top spot in group A with a convincing win in Poland. PSG's Polish line player Kamil Syprzak with six goals the leading scorer.
20:15 RESULT | MOTW – Dinamo vs GOG 30:27 (14:13)
Congrats to Dinamo, they are now safely through to the play-offs! Again, Ante Kuduz the excelling player - and deservingly getting the Player of the Match award!
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Dinamo's performance in the MOTW is remarkable since they started the year 2023 with back-to-back defeats. To click into the next gear when it's needed most is a quality. Well done!
PS: An excellent goalkeeper also helps a lot, of course:
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Welcome to the play-offs. Dinamo! They lead GOG 28:23 with five minutes on the clock in the MOTW. Xavi Pascual has just given his instructions: the Romanian side is not going to give this lead away.
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Porto might be out of the race, it is still no walk-over for Veszprém tonight. But 10 goals so far (!) from Yehia Elderaa (and a 29:17 lead) make the Hungarian happy:
19:57
GOG might have their place in the play-offs locked up, they still go for it in the MOTW. Watch this rocket:
19:53
Team timeout GOG. The Danish side needs to come up with solutions otherwise Dinamo are running away with this match. It's 24:20! Ante Kuduz the big man for the hosts with eight goals so far.
18:18
So, we start the night with three group A games at 18:45 CET, which will tell us a lot about the possible outcome of this group with just round 14 left next week (and a rescheduled match Sunday).
Here is some more detail on out MOTW, Dinamo vs GOG:
- Dinamo can secure their place in the play-offs if they get at least a point;
- Dinamo have not lost to GOG in three previous duels: they won both encounters in 2019, and this season’s reverse fixture in Denmark ended in a 38:38 draw;
- Fourth-ranked GOG have already booked their ticket to the play-offs;
- GOG will appear in an EHF Champions League knockout phase for the third time in the club’s history, and for the first time since 2007;
- GOG have won their last three EHF Champions League matches and will equal their longest winning streak if they beat Dinamo;
- Dinamo have lost both their matches after the winter break: at FC Porto and at Paris Saint-Germain Handball;
- However, Dinamo are unbeaten in their last three home matches, defeating Orlen Wisla Plock and drawing with both HC PPD Zagreb and Veszprém.
17:54
GOG have arrived at the arena in Bucharest!
Less than an hour now until the MOTW between Dinamo and GOG throws off. The Romanian hosts will be chasing (at least) the point they need to secure their play-off spot tonight; the Danish visitors have already done so.
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Nantes have had a good season this year, and currently sit in third place in group B after seven - often high-scoring - wins. Tonight they welcome Kielce for a match against the group runners-up, who beat them 40:33 back in round 1.
Kielce of course have several French players in their squad, although Benoit Kounkoud is unfortunately injured, and Nedim Remili has left for Veszprém. But Dylan Nahi and former Nantes player Nicolas Tournat will be on court for the sold-out match. Nantes line player Jérémy Toto is looking forward to the occasion, as he told EHF journalist Kevin Domas before tonight's game.
We were aware of how difficult it is here in Zagreb and we are happy and proud of this win. We are still fighting for that second place in our group and I hope we will manage to secure the direct ticket to the quarter-finals in the end.
We are happy that we now managed to get into the next phase. We had very big problems with our defence in the beginning and did not manage to stop (Tobias) Grøndahl, who brought a lot of speed into the game. But we managed to stand close enough and we created a lot of chances and controlled the game most of the second half.
21:24 HALF-TIME | Zagreb vs Magdeburg 14:16
Zagreb had an early two-goal lead (3:1) but it is Magdeburg who take such lead into the dressing rooms. A close battle for the points, as both teams have a lot a stake.
Good-old Zagreb wing Ivan Cupic heads the goal scorers list this match, with six.
21:21 HALF-TIME | Barça vs Szeged 20:10
Big, big half-time lead for Barça, who are bound to secure top spot in group B tonight. Blaz Janc nets five times against Szeged as the defending champions are in unstoppable form once again.
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Nothing separating Zagreb and Magdeburg in the first 18 minutes: 7:7. Remember, Zagreb want to win to boost their play-off chances; Magdeburg want to win to stay in the race for a top-two finish.
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Team timeout Szeged. Barça have a runaway start for an early 9:4 lead and Szeged coach Juan Carlos Pastor needs to get his team on the right track soon.
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Let's go! The games are about to start so tune in to EHFTV right now if you haven't already done so.
19:22 HALF-TIME |
- Kiel vs Celje 17:15
- Aalborg vs Elverum 17:12
Both home teams score 17 times in the first half, but more importantly: it looks like Aalborg are going to book their play-off ticket tonight and Celje will be out of the race, regardless whether they can turn around their match in Kiel.
20:19
Did we mention Felix Claar earlier? Here he is:
19:14
Team timeout Elverum. They led 2:0 and 4:2 early on in Denmark but find themselves five goals down (15:10) approaching half-time. Hard to see a way back into this game for them, especially with hosts Aalborg eager to seal their play-off spot.
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Aalborg meanwhile 10:8 ahead against already-eliminated Elverum. Felix Claar the big man for the hosts so far, with five goals.
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Playing against a team with Niklas Landin as goalkeeper doesn't make things easier for Celje:
18:57
First 10 minutes done, Celje two goals down (6:4) in Kiel. Remember, if Celje lose this match, they are out of the race for the play-offs...
... which would send Aalborg through. And speaking of Aalborg, they are one down against Elverum (7:6) after 12 minutes.
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Throw-off in five minutes! Remember, EHFTV is your place to go for livestreaming!
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We take a short timeout but are back in the next hour to look forward to the late matches today. Join us again then as the action will get underway soon!
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The situation in the other match at 18:45 CET is clear: if Aalborg beat Elverum, they are through to the play-offs. A draw might even do the job for them, as long as Celje do not beat Kiel (again..) in the simultaneous match. Even a defeat would be enough for Aalborg, but only if Celje also lose in Kiel.
And Elverum? They are out of the race and play for the club's honour in this Nordic derby.
16:37
One of the early matches tonight takes place in Germany. While Kiel have done enough to advance to the play-offs but cannot qualify directly for the quarter-finals anymore, a lot more is at stake for opponents Celje.
Currently in seventh position and three points behind sixth-place Aalborg, they need to close the gap to the Danish side to two points maximum. In the last round next week, it is Celje vs Aalborg...
Well, something is at stake for Kiel, too: they surprisingly lost the reverse fixture in Slovenia earlier this season and therefore they have "eine offene Rechnung" with Celje as they say on Twitter:
16:22
Just before heading into the first of the last two rounds of the group phase, let's see where the 16 clubs stand:
QUALIFIED FOR THE QUARTER-FINALS:
- group A: –
- group B: Barça, Kielce
THROUGH TO THE PLAY-OFFS:
(* = can still qualify directly for QFs)
- group A: PSG*, Veszprém*, Magdeburg*, GOG*
- group B: Nantes, Kiel, Szeged
CAN STILL REACH THE PLAY-OFFS:
- group A: Dinamo, Zagreb, Plock, Porto
- group B: Aalborg, Celje
OUT OF THE RACE:
- group A: –
- group B: Elverum
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To whet your appetite before we dive into each of the four matches, here is your menu for tonight. Remember all matches will be streamed live on EHFTV – but restrictions may apply for some matches depending on where you are watching from.
15:53
The full rundown for round 13, with four matches on both days:
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In three hours' time we throw off round 13 – and this might become a lucky number for some teams!
Welcome to the live blog for the one-to-last round in the group phase of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2022/23. Eight matches today and tomorrow could bring more clarity: which teams go through to the quarter-finals directly, which teams advance to the play-offs, and which teams will have their European season come to an end next week?
To get on track, here is the round preview with info on all eight matches:
