Today at Sky Studio in Vienna we saw a draw of quarter-finals for EHF Velux Champions League. This is the last stage before the final four that will play on 30 and 31 May in Lanxess arena in Cologne. Guests that help conduct the draw where EHF President Jean Brihault and EHF General Secretary Michael Wiederer.
During the weekend we get 8 clubs that manage to get into quarter-finals. First quarter-final pair was RK PPD Zagreb (Croatia) vs. FC Barcelona (Spain). Rivalry between these two clubs is almost 20 years old, since 1996 these two teams played 17 games versus each other. Unfortunately for all Zagreb fans, they only manage to win once in those 17 games. Barcelona is main favorite for title this year, but they need to respect Zagreb undefeated series in home games. Clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and THW Kiel also didn’t manage to win against Zagreb on their venue.
Second pair was Paris Saint-Germain (France) vs. MKB-MVM Veszprem (Hungary). It’s without doubt that Paris Saint-Germain is still remembering last year quarter-finals against same opponent. Last year Veszprem beat Paris Saint-Germain in both games; it was 28-26 in Paris and 31-26 in Veszprem arena. This year in group stage Veszprem end with 9-1 record while Paris Saint-Germain end with 6-4 and got a lot more problems in their Group A.
After Veszprem another Hungary giant found out their opponent, MOL-Pick Szeged (Hungary) vs. THW Kiel (Germany). It seems that Szeged is only playing against Germany clubs in knockout stage. In round of 16 they manage to kick out another German power house Rhein-Neckar Lowen with 65-59 (34-30; 31-29). Szeged and Kiel played only two times in history and both times Kiel was better team. No matter about latest Szeged results, Kiel is one of main title pretenders this season.
Last pair was HC Vardar (Macedonia) vs. Vive Tauron Kielce (Poland). After kicking out Wisla Plock in round of 16, Vardar will once more play against Poland team. This time they will have much stronger task in front of them. Last weekend Kielce manages to get their first defeat this season in EHF Velux Champions League, they lost return game of round 16 against Montpellier AHB 33-31 in Kielce. Interesting thing about this game is that Vive Tauron Kielce coach Talant Dujshebaev will play against his son Alex and former assistant from golden days in Ciudad Real Raul Gonzales.
EHF Velux Champions League Quarter-Finals Games, 8-14 April / 15-19 April:
RK PPD Zagreb vs. FC Barcelona
HC Vardar vs. KS Vive Tauron Kielce
Paris Saint-Germain vs. MKB-MVM Veszprem
MOL-Pick Szeged vs. THW Kiel
EHF Velux Champions League Quarter-Final Draw: Barcelona and Kiel manage to avoid Paris SG, Veszprem and Kielce in quarter-finals, Paris SG vs. Veszprem most interesting game of quarter-finals
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