SUMMARY: Plock stun Veszprém; Magdeburg win last MOTW in 2023
The last round of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League in 2023 featured three matches on Wednesday and five on Thursday, including the MOTW in which titleholders SC Magdeburg beat FC Porto 40:31.
We fought for 60 minutes and fully deserved to win. We played probably our best match in the the EHF Champions League. We are very happy with our scoring. Now it's time to celebrate, because when you win against a team like Veszprém, you deserve to have some fun.
We are really proud to win against Porto in Porto. It's not too easy – it looks like it's easy, maybe, but it isn't. It's a difficult, tough game tonight. We are really proud to win two important points for our big goal – to fight for the first and second places in our group.
Magdeburg really played quite well ... Unfortunately, we couldn't defend so well. They have a very good one-against-one. We tried to help each other but in the end it was not the defence that we wanted in any case. Every mistake we did in attack, they punished us with fast breaks.
22:22 RESULT |
_ Plock vs Veszprém 37:30 (18:11)
_ Barça vs Celje 39:30 (21:13)
Group B leaders Barça going into the winter break as the proud No. 1, but Veszprém get a rough hit. After their home loss against Barça last week, they suffer a big defeat in Plock tonight, and drop out of the top-two positions in the group, which enable direct entry into the quarter-finals. Head coach Momir Ilic has 10 weeks to do his homework ahead of the last four group matches.
22:13 RESULT | MOTW Porto vs Magdeburg 31:40 (16:19)
Nikolaj Læsø misses a last-second penalty as his shot bounces off the cross bar... it would not have changed much to the result, but is typical for a night where it has all gone wrong for Porto. Margdeburg cruise to their eighth straight win and now firmly hold second place in group B following Veszprém's defeat in Plock.
22:09
Elsewhere, Plock do cruise towards a big win over Veszprém, now leading 34:28. It is going to be only Plock's second ever win against Veszprém, and almost 10 years after the first: 34:33 in the first leg of the 2013/14 Last 16 (which Veszprém then clearly won in the return leg). Captain Gergö Fazekas nets seven times:
22:02
Cool and calm, Bennet Wiegert talks to his players during a team timeout. Magdeburg are in control in the Pavilhao Dragao Arena tonight, leading 34:27 with about eight minutes left on the clock. Three Magdeburg players with seven goals each: Ómar Ingi Magnússen, Tim Hornke, and Lukas Mertens.
21:57
Porto can't keep up with Magdeburg as the difference keeps growing – to seven goals at the moment. This MOTW likely becomes Magdeburg's 20th straight victory, what a streak!
Still, the hosts show they know how to play the game, too:
21:52
Meanwhile, Veszprém have closed the gap to Plock to just three, 25:22. Can the Hungarian powerhouse still take something home from this game?
21:48
Lukas Mertens with his fifth of the game puts Magdeburg six ahead in Porto, 25:19. Is that the early decision in our MOTW?
21:44
While we don't see it every week, here is some gallery play against Barça:
21:26 HALF-TIME |
_ Plock vs Veszprém 18:11
_ Barça vs Celje 21:13
Group B leaders Barça doing against Celje what we expected them to do, but what has been happening in the first half in Plock? Led by a fantastic six from six by Gergö Fazekas, Plock open a seven-goal lead over Veszprém! Incredible stuff from Plock.
21:23 HALF-TIME | MOTW Porto vs Magdeburg 16:19
Porto led a chance slip to level the score at 15:16, since then, Magdeburg built a gap. Ómar Ingi Magnússen with five the best scorer so far.
21:17
Magdeburg edge in front, but Porto stay close: 18:15 as Carlos Resende calls a team timeout. The hosts need to stay in touch now.
21:02
Ómar Ingi Magnússen doing Ómar Ingi Magnússen things:
20:57
Focused start from Magdeburg this MOTW: 8:5 within the opening 11 minutes in Porto. The titleholders are seeking their incredible 20th straight win across all competitions, and eighth in the EHF Champions League.
20:45
Ready for the final EHF Champions League matches in 2023? You better be! We will focus on the MOTW between Porto and Magdeburg, but remember that Veszprém (in Plock) and Barça (at home against Celje) are also in action.
What a heavyweight closing of round 10!
19:28 HALF-TIME | Pelister vs Zagreb 10:13
Zagreb have been up five goals (8:3, 10:5) a couple of times, but bravely battling Pelister keep hanging in. If they lose, they will officially become the the first team this season to be eliminated from the race to the ply-offs. But there is still a second half coming up...
19:24 HALF-TIME | Aalborg vs PSG 15:15
There you go, Aalborg and PSG all level at the break. Paris had a few three-goal leads early on, Aalborg some two-goal leads later. But they leave it all to play for in the second half. Aalborg's Lukas Nilsson with four from four the best shooter so far
19:14
Team timeout for Aalborg. The hosts lead PSG by a single goal, 12:11, with just over six minutes left to play in the first half. No big tactical changes expected, or needed, from Stefan Madsen here.
19:07
A brilliant no-angle goal for Bogdan Radivojevic, but his Pelister are facing a tough match as Zagreb take an early 8:5 lead in Bitola.
19:01
First quarter done and Aalborg vs PSG is just as close as you expect: 9:8 to the home team from Denmark. Simon Hald with three goals the leading scorer so far.
18:45
For this very last night of the EHF Champions League live blog in 2023... let's go! We round off round 10 for group A first. Remember, you can see the matches Pelister vs Zagreb and Aalborg vs PSG live on EHFTV – though geo-restrictions may apply if you want to tune in from certain regions due to local broadcaster rights.
I’m very satisfied with both the result and the attitude of the players tonight. The performance in one match does not necessarily reflect the true value of the two teams. It’s particularly satisfying to see your desire to be ambitious, and we are becoming more and more sure of our strength, particularly at home.
That was a real Champions League match at the highest level. Two strong defences pushed the attack to the edge. There was a lot of fight in this game, a lot of adrenaline. I'm proud of my guys for staying calm.
At half-time, I jokingly told Andreas Wolff that he could stop saving the penalties, but he didn't stop. It was a real team success for us; we achieved it together. We knew that we really needed these extra points to progress from the group. Against such an opponent, we could only achieve this with extra performance.
20:25 | FULL-TIME
THW KIEL 26:25 KOLSTAD HANDBALL
Rune Dahmke scored just once in this match, but what a goal! His buzzer-beater, off the back of some excellent passing from Kiel, beat a good Torbjørn Bergerud and handed Kiel victory after a close, physical game.
Niclas Ekberg was the standout field player with eight goals; Sander Sagosen, despite his red card, Simen Lyse and Sigvaldi Bjørn Gudjonsson all netted five times.
Bergerud's second-half antics meant he finished with 14 saves from 38 shots (36.8 per cent); Samir Bellahcene managed 12 saves from 27 shots (44.4 per cent).
OTP BANK-PICK SZEGED 26:25 INDUSTRIA KIELCE
A crazy last few seconds in Hungary! Kielce steal the ball in the closing seconds, and the buzzer goes - but Talant Dujshebaev protests and the clock is wound back three seconds to give Alex Dujshebaev a chance at saving a point for Kielce. His long-range shot is saved and Szeged can celebrate a win, although one which they almost gave away in the last quarter of the game.
Dujshebaev (that's Alex, not Talant or Daniel!) is top scorer with six goals from nine shots. Four Szeged players score four times, and 20 players in total have found the net.
Roland Mikler ended the game with 12 saves from 32 shots, and Andy Wolff 15 saves from 40 shots (both 37.5 per cent); Emil Kheri Imsgard added three saves from six shots for Szeged.
20:14
Kolstad lose Sander Sagosen to a red card, after a rather physical bit of defending that saw Domagoj Duvnjak go down hard and a video replay by the Bonaventura sisters, who are refereeing. Kiel take instant advantage and make it 23:23 as Sagosen sits on the sidelines and watches on.
20:10
Alex Dujshebaev has led a bit of a comeback by Kielce, and it's 25:23 now in Hungary. Kielce even have time to close the gap again!
20:05
We're ticking into the final 10 minutes. The home fans are going crazy - Kiel because their team are still losing, but only by a goal, Szeged because their team are heading for victory. It's 20:21 in Kiel and 24:19 in Szeged.
19:58
Two teams are struggling to score right now - Kiel, and Kielce. It's seven minutes since Kielce's last goal and they've scored only 15 times in 45 minutes. Roland Mikler and Andy Wolff are both still stopping a crazy number of shots, but Mikler is doing better.
19:53
Torbjørn Bergerud had a pretty average first half but he's come alive in the second half of this match, and Kolstad lead Kiel 19:18. Nobody's scored for a few minutes as both teams' defences are holding firm.
19:47
Kolstad steal the ball and on a great counter-attack Adrian Aalberg scores a beautiful goal to make it 17:17. As Kiel regain the ball there are a couple of tussles and Vetle Eck Aga picks up a two-minute suspension - but so does Filip Jicha, as he argues with the referees over their decision-making.
There's a similar level of physicality between Szeged and Kielce, but Szeged are holding on to a four-goal lead (18:14).
19:41
Kolstad shot out the blocks with extremely solid defence and efficient attacks, and quickly brought it back to a one-goal game before Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu did his thing and made it 16:14.
Over in Hungary, the second half started with two seven-metre penalty throws, both scored.
19:38
Here we go for the second halves - can either visiting team snatch a win?
19:25 | HALF-TIME
THW KIEL 15:12 KOLSTAD HANDBALL
Leading by two goals after Adrian Aalberg and Sander Sagosen both missed, Filip Jicha calls a timeout and is rewarded by a Hendrik Pekeler goal to give Kiel a three-goal lead going into the break. It's still pretty close, however, and Kolstad are playing better than they did against Aalborg last week. That introduction of Samir Bellahcene between the posts has been the big difference.
OTP BANK-PICK SZEGED 15:11 INDUSTRIA KIELCE
Kielce concede a penalty as the buzzer goes, and Dean Bombac steps up to take it. It goes easily past Andy Wolff and Szeged have a four-goal advantage.
Both Mario Sostaric and Szymon Sicko have scored three goals in a game where 18 players have so far found the net!
19:17
Still close games! Kiel now have a bit of momentum but every time they grab a one-goal lead, Kolstad score again. A change in goal from Tomas Mrkva to Samir Bellahcene seems to be paying off for the hosts, however.
19:10
Both goalkeepers are playing a large role in keeping the score low and close in Szeged. Roland Mikler has saved six from 11 shots (54.6 per cent) while Andreas Wolff has made six from 14 (42.9 per cent). Incredible!
18:59
Almost 15 minutes in and Kolstad, spurred by some Sander Sagosen brilliance, keep their two-goal advantage as the scoreline stretches to 5:7.
18:52
Both games are now well underway, and it's a good start for both visiting teams. Haukur Thrastarson scored first for Kielce against Szeged, while Kolstad lead 2:0 with goals for Sander Sagosen and Gabriel Setterblom.
18:37
Streaming of the matches has begun on EHFTV, so it's time to pick your game, or use our dual-screen option to watch both at once. Throw-off is in less than 10 minutes.
18:25
The last match today goes to group B, with Montpellier hosting GOG. Fourth-ranked GOG have 10 points on their tally, fifth-ranked Montpellier eight. Montpellier lost the reverse fixture 27:32 and know how important a win tonight would be.
GOG's Emil Madsen and Aaron Mensing are both the third-best scorers of the EHF Champions League with 54 goals each, the same tally as Sander Sagosen’s for Kolstad. The young backs will surely play a big role again this evening.
In their national championship, GOG are having difficulties. But they are having good results in Europe. Our aim is to finish ahead of them in this group. This is our last match of the year in the Champions League, at home. If we consider ourselves ambitious, we must beat them. If we win today, we will have taken a big step towards qualification.
