Magdeburg take MOTW in Porto, Plock shock Veszprém

• Paris turned around a four-goals deficit in the last ten minutes of the game to finally take points in Aalborg (32:30)
• Pelister are the first team out of the Play-offs race, as the North Macedonian side lost their tenth straight game, this time against Zagreb on home court (22:23)
• Barça showed no mercy to Celje, winning by nine (39:30) and leaving their opponents still without points this season
• Magdeburg added an eighth victory to their winning streak, taking the points in Porto - in what was the last Match of the Week of 2023 (40:31)
• Janus Smarason was elected Player of the Match, thanks to his seven goals
• Plock made a big sensation beating Veszprém by seven (37:30) after taking the momentum in the first half and never letting go

GROUP A

HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD) vs HC Zagreb (CRO) 22:23 (10:13)

Zagreb clearly had the upper hand in the first half of the game, and the Croatian side can thank their goalkeeper Matej Mandic. With 14 saves and an efficiency of 61% in the first half, the 21-year-old did everything in his power to put his team ahead. And it worked, as the visitors took a maximum advantage of five goals many times in the first half. But as Khelifa Ghedbane matched his opponents' performance between Pelister's posts, the hosts managed to break down the gap to three goals at the break (10:13). While watching the first half, it would have been hard to believe that the Bitola side could make it back, but that's exactly what happened in the second. Thanks to Filip Kuzmanovski, best scorer of his team with eight goals, Pelister made the score even with 12 minutes left to play. But Luka Lovre Klarica made sure Zagreb would bounce back in the last ten minutes, showing enough experience to prevent their opponents from ever taking the lead, eventually pushing Eurofarm Pelister out of the race for the Play-offs.

Aalborg Handbold (DEN) vs Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) 30:32 (15:15)

After a very good start of the game for PSG, Aalborg managed to catch the right rhythm eventually closing the gap with Niklas Landin making saves and Lukas Nilsson finally finding solutions offensively. As a result, Aalborg went on a 6:1 scoring run to come back and even shortly took a two-goals lead just under 15 minutes into the encounter (9:7). But, thanks to Elohim Prandi and Luc Steins both netting three times in the first thirty minutes, Paris were in the race at the break (15:15). Aalborg might have thought they'd managed to seal the deal with ten minutes left until the final buzzer following a couple of Niklas Landin's important saves to help the hosts take a four-goals advantage. But, with Jannick Green matching his compatriot's performance for Paris, PSG came back by not allowing a single goal for seven minutes. That was enough for them to take the lead and win the game in the end, as Luc Steins scored his sixth and final goal into the empty Aalborg net.

GROUP B

Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs Telekom Veszprém (HUN) 37:30 (18:11)

Plock had what many would call a perfect first half. Straight from the throw-off, the Polish side was clearly in control of the rhythm of this one. And while their defensive performances have made them famous around Europe, in the first part of the game, it is offensively that Plock made a huge impression. While Gergo Fazekas netted six in the first half alone, goalkeeper Marcel Jastrzebski made seven saves to increase his team's advantage to a maximum of seven goals at the half. Veszprém came back from the dressing rooms with different intentions, however the Hungarians made way too many mistakes to really put the pressure on their opponents. They came back within three with 20 minutes left to play, but Mirko Allilovic saved some precious shots for Plock, making sure his team would remain on top. In the dying minutes of the game, Croatian right-handers Tin Lucin and Lovro Mihic put the nail in the coffin for the hosts, giving them the opportunity to take their second home win of the season.

FC Porto (POR) vs SC Magdeburg (GER) 31:40 (16:19)

Magdeburg almost immediately put their hands on the wheel of this game, as Porto never led on in the first half. The German side was able to find easy solutions on the wings, with Lukas Mertens and Tim Hornke scoring a combined nine goals in the first half. And while they were never able to shake off Porto's resistance, the visitors managed to remain three goals ahead throughout the first period. Magdeburg powered through the second half like they had in the first, showing Porto how tough it can be to score a goal. As a consequence, the advantage increased as the German side scored a couple of times in the hosts' empty goal. Left-handers Omar Ingi Magnusson and Tim Hornke proved to be the key for the visitors today, netting eight times each. While it never got more than nine goals, the gap between the two teams was too big for Porto to come back, as SCM cruised to their eighth victory in a row in the EHF Champions League.

Barça (ESP) vs RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko (SLO) 39:30 (21:13)

In what was their final EHF Champions League appearance of the year, Barca sealed the deal early against Celje. The visitors, who were yet to secure a point going into this one, were able to stay close only in the opening ten minutes of the game with Gonzalo Perez de Vargas grabbing important saves for the hosts, and Hampus Wanne using every opportunity to score. At the break, the Swedish left-winger had already scored five goals and his team was in firm control (21:13). Celje never managed to cut the gap, despite Tim Cokan leading Celje with eight goals. The Spanish side showcased the experience with the gap between the two teams never exceeding nine goals, but also never going under five goals either. Melvyn Richardson finished as the best scorer of the game, netting nine for Barça.