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Foreword EHF President
Dear handball friends,
Three exhilarating rounds until we wave goodbye to 2024!
The Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 resumes on Wednesday 20 November after a
three-week international break, with all to play for in both groups.
Round 8 sees the return matches from round 7, which delivered plenty of drama. HBC Nantes drew
with Barça to break the defending champions’ winning streak, and the Spanish club will want to return
to their victorious ways at the Palau Blaugrana on Thursday 21 November.
The last round was memorable for HC Eurofarm Pelister, who earned their first win in 25 EHF
Champions League games. Pelister will take that confidence to their home game against Fredericia
Håndbold Klub, who won their first game themselves in round 6 when they beat Orlen Wisla Plock. The
Danish side will travel to Poland in round 9 in a bid to repeat the feat.
Fans have witnessed some impressive wins in the first seven rounds of the competition – not least
Dinamo Bucuresti’s 38:31 victory over Füchse Berlin in the last round. That put Dinamo within touching
distance of the top two in their group. Round 10’s game between Bucuresti and Paris Saint-Germain,
currently second, will be key.
Sporting CP started the season strongly but suffered defeats to Dinamo and to PSG in the last two
games. They restart with a crucial home match against Paris, where a win will keep them very much in
the running.
Group A is currently led by Veszprém, with 12 points and a superior goal difference to PSG. Having
beaten Plock, Pelister and Fredericia in the last three rounds, the Hungarian champions should be
confident of adding a further six points to their tally in the upcoming games.
Pelister and Plock’s game in round 10 is also one to keep an eye on as the two battle for the last playoffs spot. Fredericia, who like Plock start round 8 with two points, also remain in contention.
In group B, just four points separate second-placed Nantes from seventh-placed SC Magdeburg and
the upcoming rounds will help clarify the situation ahead of the end of the group phase. Rounds 8 and
9, where the middle of the pack – OTP Bank-PICK Szeged, Aalborg Håndbold, Industria Kielce and
Kolstad Håndbold – all meet once more, will be absolutely critical. Kolstad and Szeged came out with
one-goal home wins against Aalborg and Kielce respectively in round 7, while round 6 saw away
victories for the two Scandinavian sides.
Meanwhile 2023 champions Magdeburg have a real fight on their hands in the coming weeks as they
seek to stay in the competition – a task that is looking challenging right now.
With all the excitement on the horizon, enjoy the last rounds of the Machineseeker EHF Champions
League in a record-breaking 2024!
Michael Wiederer
EHF President
