Final rematch at Kielce; Sporting aim to conquer Szeged’s fortress in round 3
Round 3 of the EHF Champions League Men 2026/27 promises high-stakes clashes, as powerhouses aim to extend winning streaks and take important steps towards a main round berth.
I expect us to keep progress as a team. Obviously we didn’t show a good image in the first game at home, and we work hard every day to improve ourselves. There isn’t a bigger challenge then Veszprém so it will be a great test for us to see where we stand.
Partizan have been doing an amazing job since the beginning of the season, creating a new project. For sure, these are only the first steps for the team, but in the future, it can become an amazing project. They have an amazing coach, important players and a great fan base. I think they are also building for the future. We have to pay attention because after winning the Club World Championship, it could be easy for us to lose our focus.
FC Porto has a strong defensive unit. They possess a wide range of qualities on that end. Still, I think it’s good that we’re once again facing a team with a strong defence, because that will force us to further improve our attacking play. It’s a key match in the battle for a spot in the main round.
We are going to face an excellent team, and we know that we have to control our attack, avoid losing easy balls, and be very quick in our defensive recovery. They are a top Bundesliga team that has one of the best players in the world, and they make ball circulation speed, continuity, and transitions extremely dangerous weapons.
Therefore, we know that we must be at our very best level in order to compete. We will play in a full arena, and that gives us even more motivation to demonstrate our quality.
In my opinion, Wisla are currently playing the best defence in the Champions League. They have three defensive specialists. They are very mobile and aggressive, and their defensive system is very specific. Our attack must produce its best performance of the season so far.
It will be a very difficult game. Everybody knows it’s really hard to win there with this amazing atmosphere. This two last years, the team of Vardar improved a lot. It will be an important match for them and for us too for the future of this competition. But we are very motivated to win this match. Everybody is in good health so, yes, it will be a very good game.
We’re in a very positive dynamic at the moment. Five wins from five in the league is a strong start, and Thursday’s win against Saran was another important result for us. We’ve also started well in the Champions League, and after two weeks without a European game, we’re really looking forward to being back in the competition. Celje are a tough opponent and they also come into this game after a win in their domestic league, so we know we’ll have to be ready from the start. We’re very happy to be back at Coubertin and we want to deliver a strong performance in front of our fans.
We are fully aware of how tough the upcoming match will be, especially as we look to bounce back from a difficult period. However, the team remains confident and united. We have been working hard to fix our mistakes, and with the passionate support of our home fans in Paris, we are determined to secure a strong performance and keep fighting for two points to come in Celje.
We’ve struggled with our play in recent matches, but very much see this game as the perfect opportunity to get back on track with a win — an opportunity we are all looking forward to taking advantage of.
We are facing a challenging game in Sweden. Away games in the Champions League are always difficult, and we know that we will have to perform well if we want to beat Kristianstad. We have played some good games in recent weeks and are looking to build on our recent performances.
Playing Champions League at home is always something special. We have great respect for GOG and the challenge they bring, but we’re excited and ready to compete. With the support of our fans behind us, we want to play with passion, fight for every ball and give our supporters something to be proud of.
One of the best teams in Europe will be our opponent on Saturday evening. It will be great to play at the weekend, and I hope we will receive plenty of support from our large fan base. We want to win because our goal is to advance from the group. We know it won’t be easy, but we are capable of doing it.
Of course, we want to bounce back after our defeat last week. The team already showed personality in our league game on Saturday and we want to keep improving the sensations, specially with our fans and at Palau.
Dinamo is a tough rival and everything in the group is still in a little margin, so the points matter a lot for us and for them as well. I expect a hard match and we’ll need our best performance to earn a win.
It will be a very special game for me. Barça is the club where I grew up as a player, so playing against them will bring back a lot of emotions and memories. We know we are facing one of the best teams in the world, but we will fight, give everything on the court and dream of getting the victory.
This is already a crucial match in the race for qualification. Considering the two teams’ recent results, we are expecting a huge tactical battle in Denmark. They are a team that play very, very good handball and have achieved some excellent results over the past few seasons. We expect a game of very high intensity.
We look forward to play Kriens, a new opponent for us! They have a lot of high quality players, and with Andy Schmid as coach I expect that we have to be creative in both our offence and our defence to have a chance against them. An important match for both teams as well, wanting to secure our first points in this years EHF Champions League.
The games against Magdeburg in previous seasons showed that we can beat them, including away from home. But we had a different team back then. Today, we are facing a difficult task, but we are the home side and our goal is to win. Against Magdeburg, it is not enough to play well for 55 minutes. Just a brief lapse, a period of inefficiency or hesitation is enough for the opponent to take advantage immediately and build a lead. Defence will be crucial. SCM need very little to create a shooting opportunity — sometimes just two or three passes. Full concentration will be essential.
This could be the most important game of the group stage. Kielce has a strong squad and are especially difficult to beat on their own court. It’s going to be a heated atmosphere. We will do everything we can to win. These two points could be very important for us — in this round and the next.
