Veszprém convincing in derby; PSG earn hard-fought win

• Veszprém were in the lead from the start to finish; seven goals was their biggest advantage in the game, including at the buzzer
• Hugo Descat had an outstanding first half and ended the night with seven goals, as did Mikita Vailupau, while Rodrigo Corrales added 15 saves to the victory against Szeged; Sebastian Frimmel scored six out of six attempts for the home team
• PSG claimed their seventh win overall against Wisla Plock after an improved performance in the second half
• Elohim Prandi and Kamil Syprzak were unassailable for Wisla's defence, with both netting eight times out of eight attempts
• 11 of Wisla's 14 field players scored at least once. Miha Zarabec and Przemyslaw Krajewski scored four each

PLAY-OFFS, FIRST LEG
OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) 30:37 (17:20)

Last season Veszprém had an easy task against Szeged in the play-offs, progressing to the next stage on a 74:56 aggregate win. This time around the first leg of the play-offs was a bit tougher, even though the result might not reveal that. Szeged worked hard throughout but Veszprém had the upper hand during the whole game.

Veszprém had a blistering start with 4:0 partial boosted by saves from Rodrigo Corrales, who was on a 50 per cent save efficiency at one point. Szeged waited six minutes for their first goal while it looked like their Hungarian rivals were outrunning them as Veszprém scored easily from counter attacks. However, Szeged came to life in the last minutes of the first half with a good defensive display closing the gap. Their ability to come back came to light once again in the second half. In the 38th minute, Veszprém hit the biggest lead of the game for the first time, 27:20, and only four minutes later Szeged spurred a new goal run to trail by three. Szeged could not keep the momentum for long despite a revived Emil Imsgard between the posts. The combination of goals from Dragan Pechmalbec and Mikita Vailupau sealed the deal for the away team.

Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) 26:30 (12:13)

Wisla Plock will have a tough time in the reverse fixture after losing to PSG at home — but the fact they beat Nantes away last season in a similar scenario and progressed further can give the Polish side hope. At the start of the first leg on Thursday, the hosts were determined to show they could keep up with the team they had never beaten in the top flight. With sturdy defence, Wisla forced PSG into mistakes and made them wait for the first goal. At a slower pace, Wisla held the lead until the 14th minute when Kamil Syprzak and Elohim Prandi sent PSG to 7:6. The French team cruised on that minimum advantage until half-time.

PSG’s better start after the break was not completely rewarded — even though the visitors were three up, Wisla's goalkeeper Marcel Jastrzebski stood in the way of an even bigger lead. And it went that way until the final whistle. Wisla were never down by more than five, managing on numerous occasions to be behind by only three with both sides having a strong grip in a match that saw plenty of two-minute suspensions. Almost with the buzzer, Prandi ensured PSG have a better goal difference ahead of the second leg as he sealed the four-goal win.

Main photo © Eliza Sólya