Start of the main round offers exciting clashes
In group I, only one team starts the main round with four points: Hannover Burgdorf, who will host EHF Finals contenders HBC Nantes. Górnik Zabrze, the only team without a point, need a perfect start against Rhein-Neckar Löwen if they want to keep their hopes of progressing alive.
IK Sävehof are looking to remain unbeaten in the competition as they travel to Nasice for a tough away game against Nexe. The second Scandinavian team of group II, Skjern Handbold, will try to start the main round with a win at home against Gorenje Velenje.
In group III, all four teams start their main round with two points. Flensburg host their Danish neighbours from Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, while the Serbian champions from Novi Sad travel to Schaffhausen.
Group IV sees leaders Füchse Berlin, the only team with four points, travelling to Romania to play against Constanta, while the other Romanian team, Dinamo Bucuresti, will play on away court, in Lisbon against Sporting.
Now the European League is starting new for us, not only because it is the next round, but also because we have new opponents in the form of HBC Nantes and Rhein-Neckar-Löwen, who will definitely challenge us at a higher level. And that's exactly where we wanted to go. We have confidence in the duels and want to score points against these top European teams.
Rhein-Neckar Löwen are one of the best teams in German handball history. There are many players playing also in national teams, so they have everything needed: experience, strength, and will of fight. But we want to play as well as it's possible and want to fight to the end.
I expect a tough match against a tough opponent. Gorenje are a good team with a lot of European experience and I expect it to be close until the end. We are in a good period in the domestic league at the moment and recently we delivered a strong performance - and that performance must be repeated tomorrow.
A team that is one step better than us is waiting for us in Denmark. We have done a lot just by reaching the main round of the competition. We travel to the north of Europe motivated, with the desire to fight and gain experience. We will show our maximum and represent Slovenia in the best light.
This is a very important match for us, Sävehof took three points into the main round, and we took two, so we shouldn't allow ourselves to slip up. We know that they are a team that runs a lot, so we will have to be very aggressive in defence, concentrate as much as possible and try to make as few technical mistakes as possible
It’s great that we’ve reached the main round. Now we’re off to a very tough start at this stage of the competition, playing Nexe away. It’ll be extremely difficult, but we’re looking forward to the challenges that await us.
This is a very important game for both teams. Due to the fact that in our group four teams start with two points, we not only have to fight for all points, but also for each goal. Vojvodina play a very agressive defence and in attack they have many players with a lot of experience. For us, it is not the best time to play this important game, because we have some injured players and in addition Ariel Pietrasik is not eligible to play due to a red card in the last game.
In the last three years, I have played against BSH 16 times – and GOG won 15 times. For me, BSH's game became pretty easy to read. But now Morten Olsen brings a completely different tactical quality. We won't underestimate them, but we accept our role as favourites. We want to win this group.
We have the opportunity to play against some top tier players, it will be a tough encounter against Füchse Berlin, we have nothing to lose, we have to show up on the court and enjoy the best handball we can deliver. I am so happy to be back, as there is no pressure for us, it's our joy and accomplishment, being in the position to play our best handball. I'm happy to be back as for these games we'll expect a full arena and the energy from our fans will be amazing!
We will face a team that is very strong this season, having won all 16 rounds of the Romanian championship. We know the qualities of the opponent, in addition to being a strong team, they also have a lot of individual quality. It will be a very important game for the group's final results and for our chances of progressing to the next stage. We count on the support of our fans, because we know that, with them, we are much stronger
It's an important game. Sporting have amazing young players, an incredible attack and they're showing everyone that handball in Portugal has improved tremendously in recent years. This will be a tough match-up to crack for both ourselves and for them, but it's going to be an amazing game to watch.
