Fredericia HK and Paris Saint-Germain did experience a tough Thursday, but with different drop. Meanwhile, things are looking up for Sporting CP and Veszprem HC looks like the team to beat in group A.
SC Magdeburg acted like expected, being the superior team to Kolstad. Albin Lagergren and Manuel Zehnder set the tone with a gap (10–3) that the guests couldn’t repair and the solid team effort from Magdeburg picked up well deserved points.
Pick Szeged has a very interesting team to follow throughout the season. In a game with two faces, Barca owned the opening part with Gonzalo Perez de Vargas in command of home team defense and speedy attacks. After 20–12 at half-time Szeged entered the court with a change in mindset and got ever so close in the comeback. Mario Sostaric shone for the Hungarian team and it was just one goal between the teams towards the end, 31–30 after 60 entertaining minutes.
The match-ups in group A provided no drama at all. Though, behind the scenes there will be some nerves surrounding the trend of PSG. Veszprem was completely in charge and the French champion was very pale with the attempts in the second half. Mikita Vailupau and Nédim Rémili was unstoppable in the 41–28-triumph.
The newcomer, Frederica stood no chance on home ground against Sporting CP. While the away team managed many fast-paced actions, FHK could count a number of mistakes that overshadowed the goal production. Francisco Costa broke through six times for Sporting and the goalkeeper André Kristensen stopped Fredericia too many times for the home fans liking.
– I’m disappointed in our performance. We didn’t even come close to what we are capable of, and that is frustrating.
– It’s not the standard I expect from this team, and we need to take a hard look at ourselves and correct these issues quickly, said Fredericia coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson to eurohandball.com
Champions League
Group A, Fredericia HK–Sporting CP 19–37 (8–17)
Veszprem KC–Paris Saint-Germain 41–28 (18–15)
Group B, Barca–Pick Szeged 31–20 (20–12)
SC Magdeburg–Kolstad 33–25 (18–9)