Szeged and Nantes proceed to quarter-finals

• like last season against Füchse Berlin, Industria Kielce were eliminated in the play-offs
• a late 4:0 run provided Szeged with the ticket to the quarter-finals after being down by four goals several times
• it was the last Champions League match for the Dujshebaev brothers in Kielce’s jersey
• HBC Nantes took their sixth consecutive win and outdistanced GOG after the close reverse fixture
• Valero Rivera topped Nantes’ scorer list with nine goals

Industria Kielce (POL) vs OTP Bank – PICK Szeged (HUN) 32:32 (17:19)

First-leg result: 23:26; Szeged won 58:55 on aggregate
H2H: 10-2-6
Top scorers: Szymon Sicko (Industria Kielce) 8/14, Lazar Kukić (OTP Bank – PICK Szeged) 6/6

What a drama for Industria Kielce, what a joy for OTP Bank – PICK Szeged: after an extremely thrilling endgame, the hosts missed the chance to proceed to their ninth EHF Champions League quarter-final and, like last year against Füchse Berlin, were eliminated in the play-offs. For Szeged it will be the seventh quarter-final, and they will face defending champions SC Magdeburg. Szeged started with a 4:0 run and constantly stayed ahead until 20:19 right at the start of the second half, then Kielce managed to fight back. After a double strike and the 22:21, the hosts had not been behind until the final buzzer. Exactly in minute 46, everything was levelled again when Kielce were ahead 26:23, exactly the result by which they had lost the first leg. It took another five minutes for the Talant Dujshebaev side to be virtually in the quarter-finals for the first time, leading 29:25, followed by the red card for Szeged’s defensive cornerstone Gleb Kalarash after his third suspension.
With five minutes remaining, Kielce were ahead 31:27, but then two crucial saves from Szeged’s goalkeeper Roland Mikler turned the page: the Hungarian side grabbed their last chances, shocking Kielce with a 4:0 run for 31:31, as the hosts became too hectic in attack. After almost a decade, this was the last Champions League match for the Dujshebaev brothers Alex and Dani in Kielce’s jersey, as both move to the German Bundesliga next season.

HBC Nantes (FRA) vs GOG (DEN) 40:28 (21:12)

First-leg result: 34:33; Nantes won 74:61 on aggregate
H2H: 3-1-0
Top scorers: Valero Rivera (HBC Nantes) 9/9, Lasse Vilhelmsen (GOG) 6/10

After a lucky finish in the reverse fixture, scoring the last three goals for the 34:33 win, HBC Nantes left no doubt at home, as 15 impressive minutes right before the break caused an early decision in this one-sided encounter. Nantes delivered an 11:3 run after the 9:8 and had full control when leading 20:11 three minutes before the break. Goalkeeper Ignacio Biosca and a strong defence provided the French side with the base for their powerful attack, boosted by Aymeric Minne’s distance shots and Valero Rivera’s counter-attacks.
In the second half, Nantes were constantly ahead by at least ten goals – and now have their fifth quarter-final ahead, against the team they beat last year in the placement match 3-4 of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 in Cologne: record winners Barça. For GOG, the international journey came to an end with their second-biggest defeat of this EHF Champions League season, below the 28:41 against Barça.

Photo © HBC Nantes, Patryk Ptak / Tomasz Fąfara