The EHF European League Men returned with five tantalising matches in leg 1 of the qualification round TSV Hannover-Burgdorf and Rhein-Neckar Löwen had strong away performances and came closer to the group stage had a tough time in Romania but came away with the win Aguas Santas Milaneza made an incredible comeback against Pfadi Withertur while their compatriots from ABC de Braga let their advantage slip against Trimo Trebnje Ystads IF HF (SWE) vs TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (GER) 28:33 (12:15) TSV Hannover-Burgdorf look close to the group phase after a clear 33:28 away win against Ystads IF HF the German side stepped up a gear and with the help of their top scorer Renars Uscins (nine goals in total) made a first break Ystads trailed at the break having converted only 50 per cent of their shots in the first half and the bad habits continued in the first 10 minutes of the second half when the hosts were able to score only three times with two goals being courtesy of Kasper Palmer their opponents stretched out to an eight-goal lead (23:15) Even though Hannover had almost assured victory in their hands with much more structured play They made a run for it and closed the gap to four seven minutes before the final buzzer leaving a door open for an potential return leg comeback RK Trimo Trebnje (SLO) vs ABC de Braga (POR) 31:29 (14:14) Trimo Trebnje managed to take the win with a strong finish and with a two-goal lead look towards a rematch in Portugal The first half delivered a well-balanced game The first side to gain a more significant lead were Braga when José Paulo Silva netted for 21:18 they seized their opportunity in the last 10 minutes of the game after a series of technical faults by Braga Stas Jovicic Slatinsek became Trimo's hero scoring not only the equaliser for 23:23 but also a decisive goal giving the hosts a 30:28 lead two minutes before the end Braga will have to learn from their mistakes if they want to get back to the group phase of a European competition after last playing the EHF Champions League 2016/17 season You said no to using cookies or similar tools that help improve your experience. To see this content, you would need to update your Privacy Preferences Aguas Santas Milaneza (POR) vs Pfadi Winterthur (SUI) 24:22 (12:15) The second set of Portuguese participants in the qualification round made an impressive comeback against Pfadi Winterthur to give themselves the advantage in the second leg The Swiss side had a dream start with five straight goals Aguas Santas seemed like they could not find the right rhythm and by the 22nd minute Winterthur led 15:8 Winterthur's attack faltered and Aguas Santas closed the gap Their strong performance continued and with Miguel Alves' goal in the 37th minute they were back in the game (17:17) as Winterthur managed to score only seven goals in the second half Noam Leopold's seven-goal outing just was not enough The last 10 minutes of the game saw only three goals scored by both sides but the last two gave Aguas Santas the victory HC Vardar 1961 (MKD) vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER) 25:34 (14:14) Rhein-Neckar Löwen celebrated their fourth-ever win against Vardar in European competitions and are very close to the group phase with a nine-goal advantage before their home match Löwen led by three for a good part of the first half after extraordinary performances by Juri Knorr and Mikael Appelgren The Swedish goalkeeper was holding a 50 per cent save efficiency and Knorr scored six out of 11 German goals Martin Tomovski gave his teammates a new chance and they took it with Milan Lazarevski standing out in particular The score was level at half-time and Vardar kept up the pace for the first seven minutes of the second half before conceding too many turnovers destroyed Vardar's hopes of a tight game and sealed a comfortable win CSM Constanta (ROU) vs Fraikin BM. Granollers (ESP) 27:29 (14:16) The 2022/23 European League runners-up did not have it easy in Romania Roberto Rodríguez gave Granollers a blistering start Constanta responded well and with Strahinja Stankovic's two strong back shots were only two behind the only thing keeping them in front was good play with wings When Granollers took the most of their fast breaks and important home defender Irakli Chikovani received a third two-minute suspension Dumitru Vladut Rusu came between the posts as the last resort and he delivered with five saves A new fighting spirit emerged among the hosts as they closed the gap to 25:27 and made Granollers nervous Faruk Yusuf scored his fifth goal and secured an away win FEATURE: Latvian right back to play with Melsungen at Maschinensucher EHF Finals in Hamburg FEATURE: Thüringer HC left back becomes MVP and top scorer of EHF Finals Women after netting 29 times in Graz SUMMARY: Thüringer HC are crowned in Graz as the new EHF European League Women champions following an intense final against Ikast Håndbold FLASH QUOTES: Comments from players and coaches after the EHF Finals Women 2025 final and third place match FINAL REVIEW: THC come from behind to beat Ikast 34:32 at the EHF Finals in Graz THIRD-PLACE MATCH REVIEW: The French side beat their opponents from Germany at the EHF Finals Women FINAL PREVIEW: Ikast Håndbold meet Thüringer HC in final; Blomberg and Dijon play for third place SUMMARY: Ikast Håndbold and Thüringer HC celebrated semi-final wins in Graz as they get ready for the final on Sunday SEMI-FINAL REVIEW: The German side beat Dijon 35:29 in the second semi-final of the EHF Finals Women FLASH QUOTES: Comments from players and coaches after the EHF Finals Women 2025 semi-finals HC Motor from Zaporozhye took the final Last 16 spot in group with their first away victory of the season winning the big duel against HC Eurofarm Pelister 29:27 the Macedonians are for the first time not among the best four teams and missed the knock-out stage Berlin took a record by winning their tenth from ten group matches while Bidasoa Irun ended their series of defeats against Skanderborg-Aarhus and finished in the third position Aguas Santas Milaneza (POR) vs Füchse Berlin (GER) 23:29 (10:17) In the third season of the EHF European League Berlin were the first side ever to win all ten group matches SC Magdeburg (2020/21 and 2021/22) and Wisla Plock (2021/22) held the record with nine victories from ten matches Host Aguas Santas remain on four points and had already been eliminated from the Last 16 before then were decisively ahead by seven goals at the break and were never endangered Best scorers were Fabian Wiede and Milos Vujovic with each five goals for Berlin and Joao Pedro Morais with four for Aguas Santas Berlin will face Danish side Skjern in the Last 16 Bidasoa Irun (ESP) vs Skanderborg-Aarhus (DEN) 29:26 (16:12) and confirmed their third position in the group and took revenge for the 38:27 defeat in the first duel The match had been without relevance for the visitors as they had already secured the second position and will face Granollers from Spain after becoming world champion on home ground line player veteran Julen Aguinagalde was the key to success for the Spanish side Boosted by ten saves of their goalkeeper Jakub Skrzyniarz A 5:1 run for the 23:19 finally was the key for Irun’s fourth group phase victory Jonathan Mollerup was best scorer of the hosts by six strikes and finished the group phase on 48 goals Irun will come up against Sporting CP in the Last 16 HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD) vs HC Motor (UKR) 25:27 (13:15) Even the support of a huge crowd in their famous arena in Bitola could not help HC Eurofarm Pelister to clinch their berth for the Last 16 The downswing continued for the team of Lars Walther who did not win any match since 29 November when they had taken the 33:30 away victory in Düsseldorf against Motor In contrast and after taking only one point from the first five group matches HC Motor improved brilliantly in the “second half” of the group phase and took two victories in their last two matches to book their ticket for the knock-out stage - now they will face group C winners Nexe Zakhar Denysov made the Ukrainian champions jump for joy securing the two points with the last strike A draw would have been enough for the hosts who had levelled the result for the last time at 19:19 in minute 41 But Motor’s advance had never been bigger than two goals in the last ten minutes Again Ihor Turchenko was Motor’s best scorer with seven goals and became top scorer of the group phase with incredible 85 goals in ten matches QUARTER-FINAL REVIEW: Line-up for Maschinensucher EHF Finals 2025 has been confirmed following second leg of quarter-finals The group phase of the EHF European League Men 2022/23 reaches its halfway mark Tuesday with round 5 which includes SL Benfica against Montpellier HB and Füchse Berlin against Skanderborg-Aarhus as two of the standout matches That is it for our coverage of a long and very enjoyable evening of European League action 10 of our 12 matches were genuinely hard-fought encounters Montpellier and Berlin hold on to their perfect winning records at the halfway mark of this group phase We'll be back with more of the same next Tuesday of just how brilliant Villeminot was for Montpellier in crunch time 4 of his side's final 6 goals and this was the best of them And let us not forget Charles Bolzinger with a ridiculous 18 saves at a 45% save rate This is a gem from Kyllian Villeminot! 💎👌 @mhbofficiel #ehfel pic.twitter.com/l8c72XaREx Great to see HC Motor get a point on the board today The club we are well used to seeing in the EHF Champions League are making the most of their situation and hopefully today's draw in Portugal will kickstart a brighter second half of the group for them Some beautiful switches here by #Motor to open up space for Dmytro Horiha to net! ✅ #ehfel pic.twitter.com/BLo7xssltk Motor and Aguas Santas share their first points Schaffhausen and Sporting both come from behind to grab away victories Aguas Santas Milaneza 26:26 HC MotorSL Benfica 24:26 Montpellier HBTM Benidorm 32:38 SG Flensburg-HandewittFrisch Auf Göppingen 24:25 Kadetten SchaffhausenAlpla HC Hard 30:30 Balatonfüredi KSESkjern Handbold 28:30 Sporting CPBidasoa Irun 32:20 HC Eurofarm Pelister Kyllian Villeminot has entered beast mode - scoring four of Montpellier's last five goals That paired with Charles Bolzinger's saves sees Montpellier two goals up Kyllian Villeminot smacks home a pair of thunderous shots We're into the final five minutes now and it's difficult to see a clear winner just yet 4 goals in a row and Benfica are on top again Belone Moreira hitting top gear and driving his side into a 21:20 lead with 11 minutes left on the clock A quickfire double from Lucas Pellas puts Montpellier three up Goals have not come easy to them tonight and Chema Rodriguez will have to act fast to find some solutions five of our seven matches are very much alive Benidorm's chances of a result tonight are not alive but that won't stop them from unleashing some smooth moves Some quick and silky hands here by the Benidorm boys!💥#ehfel @bmbenidorm pic.twitter.com/dQoWdkeRTi Montpellier have gone with the wise old heads of Valentin Porte Diego Simonet and Stas Skube in the back court and it appears to be working a treat Their composed attack combined with the same defensive tenacity of the first half sees them lead 16:14 after 5 minutes Notching to choose between our teams in focus and the majority of our late games are much the same The German sides have built decent leads and Bidasoa Irun are the only team to be running away with their game so far Aguas Santas Milaneza 14:15 HC MotorSL Benfica 12:12 Montpellier HBTM Benidorm 17:21 SG Flensburg-HandewittFrisch Auf Göppingen 14:10 Kadetten SchaffhausenAlpla HC Hard 14:15 Balatonfüredi KSESkjern Handbold 15:12 Sporting CPBidasoa Irun 20:12 HC Eurofarm Pelister Josip Sarac making the most of the chaos he created here 😅Nice work for the finsh! @FRISCHAUFGP #ehfel pic.twitter.com/KKPCwRuP89 and their defences are playing out of their skins tonight 9:9 a surprisingly low score with 24 minutes on the clock Yanis Lenne is off to a flying start for Montpellier with four goals but there is very little to choose between the sides so far the crowd is a bit sparse in Lisbon and I wondered why most Portuguese sports fans have their eyes fixed on their national team in another ball sport but the die-hard fans who came out tonight are being treated to an exciting and even start We're off with our final batch of matches tonight We'll begin focusing on SL Benfica vs Montpellier HB reigning champions vs 2018 Champions League winners sounds good to me We've already experienced so much this evening but believe it or not Here is what is coming your way at 20:45 CET Aguas Santas Milaneza vs HC MotorSL Benfica vs Montpellier HBTM Benidorm vs SG Flensburg-HandewittFrisch Auf Göppingen vs Kadetten SchaffhausenAlpla HC Hard vs Balatonfüredi KSESkjern Handbold vs Sporting CPBidasoa Irun vs HC Eurofarm Pelister Not 1, not 2, but 3 saves from the penalty spot tonight for Salah Boutaf! And two against the Danish legend, Hans Lindberg! 🚧🚧🚧 #ehfel #SkanderborgAarhus pic.twitter.com/FFxhrXUXxB Berlin run out six-goal winners in the end and claim top spot in group D all for themselves there will be plenty of positives for the Danish side to take knowing they could go toe-to-toe with one of the European League's finest there is late drama in Hungary as FTC score a last-gasp penalty to claim a draw against Valur Bendeguz Bujdosó holds his nerve and the spoils are shared in Budapest GranollersFüchse Berlin 30:24 Skanderborg-AarhusPAUC Handball 34:36 Ystads IF HF where the increasingly impressive Valur are on the verge of another away win.. Gustavsson stands strong here as Valur keep their big lead over FTC! 🚧 #ehfel pic.twitter.com/M7aYbB6a5l Berlin show us why they are top of the Bundesliga and going clear at the top of this group Holm and Drux pop up with quickfire goals and all of a sudden they lead 26:22 with just 7 minutes remaining You don't need to endure terrible football matches to catch penalty saves - Salah Boutaf has you covered 3 saves from the seven-metre line for Skandeborg-Aarhus' keeper so far tonight and his team have drawn level again - 20:20 with 15 minutes left on the clock Skandeborg-Aarhus doing well to stay in tough but I'll turn your attention momentarily to France where Ystad have hammered in 11 goals in 13 minutes to take control of that game They lead 26:23 and Kim Andersson is having a laugh with 5 goals so far 40-year-old Kim Andersson is playing like in his prime once again! @YIFhandboll #ehfel pic.twitter.com/r8sKQkR7c0 Berlin open up a 3-goal lead for the first time today 17:14 to the home side and an early test of Skanderborg-Aarhus' nerves The headline match between the unbeaten sides has lived up to expectations so far GranollersFüchse Berlin 15:13 Skanderborg-AarhusPAUC Handball 18:15 Ystads IF HF making all of them worth keeping an eye on when we return for the second half Da Rosa pulled for this huge save and handed @BMGranollers a nice fast-break goal, a nice 2-for-1 deal! #ehfel pic.twitter.com/mVt4W9zTZp A combination of excellent saves by Salah Boutaf and back court power from Balling and Sommer has kept Skanderborg-Aarhus in this contest - is it sustainable though who now realise they have to step it up a gear tonight It's an evening of pure power shots, Morten Balling Christensen gives us his take... 🤯#ehfel #SkanderborgAarhusREAD: https://t.co/UHNQnOo7XT pic.twitter.com/FyRu0XmBND Ystad were off to a flyer but are currently leve with PAUC Julius Lindskog Andersson sits the keeper down with this rocket! 🚀😮#ehfel @YIFhandboll pic.twitter.com/pttEcSbtRH Hákun West av Teigum will be moving from the Danish side to Berlin next season The Faroe Islands right wing is enjoying his first taste of action there with two early goals and we're still level at 8:8 with 15 minutes played Skanderborg-Aarhus have really impressed in their first European season to date but this is quite a step up tonight for them drawing 3:3 after 6 minutes and Morten Balling scoring all of their goals GranollersFüchse Berlin vs Skanderborg-AarhusPAUC Handball vs Ystads IF HF I think we'll start with a clash between the two teams in Group D with perfect records The Hungarian club turn things around in the second half to claim their first win of the group phase while Presov must wait to break their duck Benedek Éles scored the final goal for the home side concluding a performance that matched the up-and-down nature of the contest as a whole - 9 goals from 18 for him expensive shooting but the 9 goals he scored were all important into the final five minutes and Fejer B.A.L-Veszprém lead 28:26 so it will be fascinating to see how the tension affects both teams Straight over the keeper's head... and from that distance - that's audacious! Benedek Éles letting it FLY from centre back 🔥 #ehfel pic.twitter.com/G9z0wgm6r3 While Fejer goalkeeper Balogh has kept up his strong keeping stats with 15 saves and almost 40% save rate Marcos Colodeti has come on and made 2 saves but more needed as Presov trail 26:23 with 10 minutes remaining A cultured finish by Dominik Gál gives Veszprém a two-goal lead for the first time Gál is a local but only joined the club recently from Croatian side Gorica with whom he played in the third-tier European Cup this season It's his second European League game with his new side and he seems to be settling in nicely Fejer B.A.L-Veszprém have come flying out of the blocks in this second half three goals from Gabor Pulay has inspired a quick comeback and they now have the lead - 20:19 As the second half in Hungary has just begun here's a reminder of what is yet to come after this opening course 18:45 CETFTC vs ValurRK Nexe vs Fraikin BM 20:45 CETAguas Santas Milaneza vs HC MotorSL Benfica vs Montpellier HBTM Benidorm vs SG Flensburg-HandewittFrisch Auf Göppingen vs Kadetten SchaffhausenAlpla HC Hard vs Balatonfüredi KSESkjern Handbold vs Sporting CPBidasoa Irun vs HC Eurofarm Pelister That's it for the first half of an interesting game where both sides have enjoyed purple patches Presov will feel they could be more than three up but at the same time the home side will be confident they can turn things around Szmetán and big Oliver Rábek lead the scoring with 5 a piece The big man, Oliver Rabek, getting some airtime! 🛫💥#ehfel #TatranPresov pic.twitter.com/XMkOnfvcMi Presov open up a five-goal lead again before turning the ball over twice and allowing Peter Szmetán two goals on the break 5 goals already for the Fejer Veszprém right wing and he is keeping them in this game It took a bit of time but the home side have finally come to life A 5:1 run sees Fejer B.A.L-Veszprém reduce the deficit to 11:10 and force a Presov timeout Tibor Balogh is a mainstay in the highlight clips in the #ehfel, here is a quick example why: #ehfel 🚧💥 pic.twitter.com/Bj8yvFMLd5 Presov are off to a flyer here and look really confident in front of goal The most impressive aspect of their performance so far is that they have 7 different goalscorers with only Oliver Rabek scoring more than once Sergio Lopez doesn't get flustered here; look at that cool finish! 💥😎 #ehfel WATCH: https://t.co/llcfdN0NQh 📺 pic.twitter.com/aqo0XQMmoo Fejer B.A.L-Veszprém and Tatran Presov have yet to score a point in this group phase that is one thing we know will change at the end of this 60 minutes of handball the round throws off with an early game in the Veszprém Arena at 17:00 CET this time the group A meeting between Fejer B.A.L-Veszprém and Tatran Presov And while we have just spoken about the teams that have won all four matches so far both Veszprém and Presov have lost all four matches.. Can Veszprém please the home crowd today with the first points of the season? Watch the match live on EHFTV – just like the following 11 matches tonight Benfica against Montpellier is a game every handball fan would look forward to but this match is an extra special one for Benfica's Alexis Borges The line player was with Montpellier in the 2020/21 season before joining Benfica and helping them win the EHF European League last season “One day I said I was going to join this club and I was going to help to win titles and make history for SL Benfica. That's what's been happening,” Borges says in this feature written by EHF journalist Tiago Nogueira we are getting to the halfway point of this 10-round group phase tonight only four teams are still unbeaten – and two of them go head-to-head in Berlin at 18:45 CET: Füchse and Skanderborg-Aarhus Nexe in group C have the maximum of eight points and they host second-place Granollers at 18:45 CET in another promising tie this evening but the two-time EHF Champions League winners will be put to the test by defending EHF European League champions Benfica: this match in Lisbon starts at 20:45 CET here are the Top 5 Goals from last week's round 4 again: An exciting schedule tonight with 12 interesting matches across the four groups. Here is the round preview for you with detailed info on each game: ROUND PREVIEW: Füchse host Skanderborg-Aarhus in Berlin in round 5 of the EHF European League group phase A new round of the EHF European League Men throws off in one hour Let's quickly check the matches that are on the schedule: ROUND PREVIEW: The group matches will finish on Tuesday with 16 encounters in round 6 ROUND PREVIEW: 11 main round tickets are still available to grab as the battle is heating up in round 5 of the group matches QUARTER-FINAL PREVIEW: Nothing is decided before the second leg matches of the quarter-finals QUARTER-FINAL REVIEW: All ties close as road to Maschinensucher EHF Finals remains wide open for all quarter-finalists ROUND PREVIEW: The last quarter-final and play-off tickets are still up for grabs Bidasoa Irun and Montpellier Handball aim for revenge in the reverse fixtures ROUND PREVIEW: Flensburg and Montpellier hope to extend their winning streaks while Kiel are determined to claim two points against Porto while Montpellier can extend their winning streak against Kriens-Luzern