Veszprém host Magdeburg in MOTW for last quarter-final spot

With THW Kiel and Aalborg Håndbold advancing from group A and Barça having booked their place from group B, there is one direct ticket to the quarter-finals still available. And the only two teams who can book it meet each other next week in a mouth-watering MOTW in the last round of the group phase.

Magdeburg edged out Barça 29:28 in round 13 on Thursday, and Veszprém defeated Montpellier HB 37:31, leaving those two sides in contention for the quarter-finals, with Magdeburg on 22 points and Veszprém on 20.

The situation ahead of the MOTW in Hungary is straightforward: Veszprém must beat Magdeburg to go to the quarter-finals directly, any other result will see Magdeburg go through. Of course, the team missing out on a direct quarter-final spot will continue their journey in the play-offs, where they then meet the sixth-ranked team from group A.

If Barça lose next week (at home against Montpellier) and Veszprém beat Magdeburg, all three teams would finish level on 22 points. In that case, Veszprém as the group winners and Barça as the second-ranked team will advance to the quarter-finals, with Magdeburg continuing in the play-offs.

In round 1, Veszprém beat Magdeburg 33:28 in Germany, but since then the German club has had a slightly better season, winning 11 games and losing two in total, with Veszprém losing one more.

Veszprém have not missed the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier competition since 2017/18, when they went out in the Last 16, but in the past three seasons have always had to come through the play-offs.

Magdeburg’s triumph last season marked their return to the competition after nearly two decades, and their first win since 2002. They skipped the play-offs, finishing second in group A behind Paris Saint-Germain Handball – and ahead of Veszprém.

On a head-to-head basis, Veszprém lead with five wins to Magdeburg's four, with one draw, a high-scoring 35:35 result in last season's group phase. But seven of their previous meetings happened in 2002 or earlier, so the score is level when it comes to previous encounters. 

Round 14 Match of the Week

Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)
Thursday 7 March at 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV

photos © 2023 Eroll Popova / Erpopress