Nantes face Aalborg; Veszprém host Berlin in thrilling round 6

In group A, One Veszprém HC host spotless leaders Füchse Berlin for a top clash, while Dinamo Bucuresti and Industria Kielce aim to end their losing streaks. Aalborg Håndbold and HBC Nantes duel in France, while Kolstad Håndball hope for their second win of the season against Sporting Clube de Portugal.

In group B, SC Magdeburg have the opportunity to win their sixth match in a row when they host HC Eurofarm Pelister, while second-placed Orlen Wisla Plock and Barça will play against each other on Thursday night. Paris Saint-Germain will try to bounce back at home against GOG, while HC Zagreb continue the hunt for their first points when they host OTP Bank - PICK Szeged.

GROUP A

Kolstad Håndball (NOR) vs Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)

Wednesday 22 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: no previous encounters in European competitions

• the 31:28 against Dinamo in round 2 is the only group phase victory for Kolstad, and they rank seventh with two points
• in the previous round, the Norwegian champions lost 38:27 at 2025 finalists Füchse Berlin, with Simon Jeppsson as their best scorer netting seven
• Sporting Clube de Portugal stopped their downtrend with a lucky 33:32 victory in last week’s MOTW against Veszprém, secured by the winning strike of Martim Costa
• with six points on their account, the Portuguese champions are equal with Nantes and Veszprém before their first duel with Kolstad
• three Sporting players have 24 or more goals to their names: Francisco Costa (35), Orri Þorkelsson (25), who scored 10 goals against Veszprém, and Martim Costa (24); Jeppsson is the best Kolstad scorer with 20 goals
• both sides took away victories in their domestic leagues on Sunday: Kolstad won 37:28 against Sandefjord, while Sporting took an even clearer victory, 34:18, against Povoa in the Portuguese league

HBC Nantes (FRA) vs Aalborg Håndbold (DEN)

Wednesday 22 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 3-1-2
Last match: HBC Nantes vs Aalborg Håndbold, 5 March 2025 (29:29 (18:14))

• both sides have an equal run of three wins in a row; last week, Aalborg won 34:28 against Dinamo, while Nantes took a 35:27 victory at Kielce
• the Danish champions are second-ranked with eight points, two ahead of the French runners-up
• Nantes are unbeaten in three matches at home against Aalborg, winning twice before the 29:29 draw in the previous season
• the top scorers of both sides are equal on 26 strikes: Thomas Arnoldsen (Aalborg) and Aymeric Minne (Nantes); the latter netted 13 times against Kielce last week
• both sides faced EHF European League participants in their last domestic matches: Nantes drew 31:31 in the top match of the French league against Montpellier, while Aalborg cruised past Fredericia easily with a 38:20 win

One Veszprém HC (HUN) vs Füchse Berlin (GER)

Thursday 23 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 2-0-2
Last match: One Veszprém HC vs Füchse Berlin, 6 March 2025 (32:33 (16:17))

• Füchse Berlin are the only team of group B with the optimum of 10 points, their last of five wins was a 38:27 against Kolstad
• One Veszprém HC are spotless on home ground, but already lost two away matches at Aalborg (32:28) and last week at Lisbon (33:32), and they are now four points below leaders Berlin
• last season, both sides won their respective away matches in the group phase, with Veszprém directly proceeding to the quarter-finals
• the opponents met in two EHF Champions League seasons before: 2011/12 and 2024/25; Berlin made it to the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne both times
• the match is a duel between the MVPs of the last major tournaments: Nedim Remili (EHF EURO 2024) and Mathias Gidsel (Paris 2024 Olympics and 2025 IHF World Championship) – both are also the current top scorers of their clubs: Gidsel tops the ranking with 50 goals, Remili is ninth on 34
• in the German Bundesliga, Füchse took a 36:30 win in Stuttgart, while Veszprém did not have a match in the Hungarian league in the past week

Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs Industria Kielce (POL)

Thursday 23 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 1-0-1
Last match: Lomza Vive Kielce vs CS Dinamo Bucuresti, 9 March 2022 (34:29 (20:13))

• Dinamo Bucuresti lost all five group matches so far, while Kielce lost the last four after beating Kolstad in their opener
• in round 5, Bucuresti lost 34:28 at Aalborg, while Kielce were defeated by Nantes on home ground, 35:27
• the only duels of both sides were in the 2021/22 season, when Dinamo and Kielce each won at home
• four Spanish players will be on the court: Alex Pascual for Dinamo, the Dujshebaev brothers and Jorge Maqueda for Kielce; Kielce’s coach Talant Dujshebaev and Dinamo’s sports director David Barrufet played together in the Spanish national team
• the best scorers of both sides are Piotr Jarosiewicz (21 goals for Kielce) and Haniel Langaro (20 strikes for Bucuresti)
• Kielce lost the top match of the Polish league at home against Wisla Plock, 32:27, while Dinamo had a match-free weekend in Romania, as their game in Suceava was postponed

GROUP B

HC Zagreb (CRO) vs OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN)

Wednesday 22 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 7-3-12
Last match: OTP Bank - PICK Szeged vs HC Zagreb, 12 February 2025 (26:27 (13:15))

• Zagreb are currently one of the only two teams without points in the competition and are, therefore, at the bottom of the group, while Szeged are fourth with four points
• last Thursday, Zagreb suffered their fifth defeat of the season against GOG (36:31), with Luka Lovre Klarica and Giorgi Tskhovrebadze scoring six each
• Szeged suffered their second straight defeat last week against Magdeburg (34:30), despite Mario Sostaric netting eight times
• Mario Sostaric is the current third-best scorer of the season with 41 goals, while Luka Lovre Klarica is in the top 10 with 29
• the two teams faced each other 22 times in European history — Szeged won 12, Zagreb seven and three games ended in a draw
• Zagreb took the points against Umag in the Croatian league last weekend (32:25); Szeged also defeated Csurgoi in the Hungarian league (30:27)

SC Magdeburg (GER) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)

Thursday 23 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 2-0-0
Last match: SC Magdeburg vs HC Eurofarm Pelister, 30 March 2021 (35:24 (14:9))

• after five rounds, Magdeburg are at the top of the group with 10 points, while Pelister are second to last with two points
• in round 5, Magdeburg got their fifth victory in Szeged (34:30) with Oscar Bergendahl scoring seven goals
• Pelister suffered their fourth straight defeat in round 5 against Barça (34:30), despite Dejan Manaskov and Nik Henigman scoring eight each
• the two teams only played twice against each other, with SCM winning both games
• Magdeburg’s Ómar Ingi Magnusson is the current fourth-best scorer of the competition with 39 goals, while Pelister’s Dejan Manaskov has scored just two less
• last weekend, Magdeburg won in Leipzig in the Bundesliga (36:23), while Pelister won against their B-team (34:27) in their domestic league

MOTW: Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs Barça (ESP)

Thursday 23 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 1-0-7
Last match: Barça vs Orlen Wisla Plock, 23 November 2023 (32:25 (16:13))

• after round 5, both teams are level in the group on second place, with eight points each
• in round 5, Plock defeated Paris (35:32), their fourth victory of the season, with Melvyn Richardson scoring 10
• Barça also took the points last week, in Pelister (34:30), as Dika Mem and Domen Makuc scored six each
• out of the eight confrontations between the two sides, Plock only won one, back in 2014
• Plock’s Melvyn Richardson is the second-best scorer overall with 42 goals, while Barça’s Aleix Gómez has netted 23 goals across the first five matches
• both teams took the points in their domestic games last weekend: Barça at home against Irun (33:31), Plock in the Polish clash in Kielce (32:27)

STAT OF THE MATCH (by Julian Rux): The Match of the Week features a clash between the best attack and the best defence of the Machinseeker EHF Champions League. Orlen Wisla Plock have the best offence with 33.1 goals per 50 possessions, and Barça boast the best defence with only 25.2 goals conceded per 50 possessions.

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) vs GOG (DEN)

Thursday 23 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 3-0-1
Last match: GOG vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball, 30 November 2022 (35:40 (19:22))

• before round 6, Paris and GOG have the same number of points, four, and are level on fifth place in the group
• last Wednesday, Paris were defeated in Plock (35:32), despite Elohim Prandi scoring 12
• GOG took the points in Zagreb (36:31), with Frederik Bjerre and Lasse Vilhelmsen netting eight times each
• Paris and GOG played four times against each other in European competitions, with GOG winning only once, back in 1997
• Paris’ Elohim Prandi is the current sixth-best scorer in the competition with 38 goals, while Frederik Bjerre is the fourth-best scorer with 39
• Paris are now the sole leaders of the French league after the win in Chartres on Sunday (34:26), while GOG won against Mors in the Danish league (39:31)

Photos © Henrik Hansen (main), Foto Lächler , Lars Rune Skaug, Aleksandar Kotevski, Lau Nielsen (in-text)