A history of epic duels between two EHF Champions League giants

EHF Champions League participations: One Veszprém HC are playing their 31st season, bettered only by HC Zagreb. Industria Kielce are playing their 23rd season in the competition.

All-time ranking: Having won 255 of their 387 EHF Champions League matches so far (plus 22 draws and 109 defeats), Veszprém are ranked second in the all-time table, which is topped by Barça (311 victories in 407 matches); Kielce are ranked fourth with 151 victories in 267 matches (plus 24 draws and 92 defeats).

EHF FINAL4 participations: Veszprém have made it to Cologne seven times, most recently in 2022, and Kielce six times, with 2023 their latest appearance. While Veszprém have lost all their EHF Champions League finals (including the 2002 edition, under a previous format), Kielce have won one of their three finals, against Veszprém in 2016. All of Kielce’s finals were decided after overtime at least: in 2016, the penalty shootout against Veszprém; in 2022, another penalty shootout against Barça; in 2023, overtime against Magdeburg.

EHF Champions League winners in the squads: All Veszprém players who won the trophy in the past have done so with Barça. They are three-time winners Thiagus Petrus and Luka Cindric (who also won the title once with HC Vardar) and Ali Zein, who has one winner's medal. For Kielce, Jorge Maqueda and Alex Dujshebaev are the former champions, as both won the trophy with Vardar. None of the 2016 winners are still in the squad.

Coaches: Both sides count on successful Spanish coaches: Veszprém’s Xavi Pascual won the EHF Champions League three times with Barça (2011, 2015, 2019), while Kielce’s Talant Dujshebaev won the trophy as a player for Santander in 1994 and later as coach of Ciudad Real (2006, 2008, 2009) and Kielce (2016). In 2011, Pascual and Dujshebaev met in the final, won by Barça against Ciudad Real.

The Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 season: Veszprém have four points so far, after they lost their opener at Aalborg Håndbold (32:28), then beat HBC Nantes (30:25) and Dinamo Bucuresti (30:27). Kielce have just two points thus far, having started with a 38:27 victory against Kolstad, but then lost 41:37 to Sporting Clube de Portugal and 37:32 against Füchse Berlin

Current top scorers: Nedim Remili has scored 21 goals for Veszprém in this season's top flight so far; Alex Dujshebaev has netted 15 times for Kielce.

Their head-to-head in the EHF Champions League: In their 19 previous matches in the EHF Champions League, Veszprém were victorious 11 times, Kielce six times, and two matches ended in a draw.

The top 5 clashes between both sides

5: 11 February 2012, group phase — MKB Veszprém KC vs KS Vive Targi Kielce 21:24 (13:12)

After five defeats against Veszprém between 2003 and 2011, Kielce finally earned a first victory against the record Hungarian champions — and in the lions' den by Lake Balaton. Since then, Kielce have only added two more away wins to their tally at Veszprém. After being down 13:12 at the break, Michal Jurercki was Kielce’s hero with nine goals. The coaches of the two sides at that time were another two legends; Lajos Mocsai and Bogdan Wenta, who both steered their respective national teams to world championship finals; Mocsai with the Hungarian women in 2003, Wenta with the Polish men in 2007 — both won silver.

4: 18 May 2023, quarter-final second leg — Barlinek Industria Kielce vs Telekom Veszprém HC 31:27 (18:12)

It was a do-or-die battle for a ticket to the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 after a 29:29 draw in Veszprém the week before. Kielce laid the foundations for their eventual progress to the final in the first half, leading 18:12 at the break. The victory was never endangered, and finally sealed when Dani Dujshebaev netted for 28:20 in the 49th minute. The top scorers for Kielce were Alex Dujshebaev and Szymon Sicko with six goals apiece, but Nedim Remili — who just had left Kielce to sign for Veszprém — outscored everyone with seven goals for his new club.

3: 1 June 2019, EHF FINAL4 semi-final — Telekom Veszprém HC vs PGE Vive Kielce 33:30 (13:13)

By beating Kielce, Veszprém made it to what is still their most recent EHF Champions League final. Hero of the day was Serbian shooter Petar Nenádic, who scored 12 goals for the victors. After a brilliant 5:1 start for Veszprém, Kielce turned the match around with a 9:3 run for a 10:8 lead. After the level half-time score (13:13), a red card against their key defender Blaz Blagontinsek at 18:18 was the start of another 4:0 run of Veszprém. The match was still close until the score of 29:28, before Nenadic scored his last three goals and secured the passage to the final.

2: 18 June 2022, EHF FINAL4 semi-final — Lomza Vive Kielce vs Telekom Veszprém HC 37:35 (16:18)

The most recent duel between Veszprém and Kielce in Cologne was a classic of two different halves. The Hungarian side was constantly ahead until the break, with the biggest margin at 18:15, then another red card against Blagontinsek turned the momentum. Kielce put together a 3:0 run for 23:20 and did not let the lead slip from their hands until the end. Five minutes before full-time, Sicko decided another thriller in favour of Kielce, which one day later was perhaps bettered in terms of drama, as Kielce lost their second-ever final after a penalty shootout, having led until the final moments of regular time.

1: 29 May 2016, EHF FINAL4 final — KS Vive Tauron Kielce vs MVM Veszprém 39:38 (13:17, 29:29, 35:35)

When you ask fans about the best handball match ever, many will name the 2016 final of the EHF Champions League. 14 minutes before the end, Veszprém celebrations were already starting, being ahead 28:19. What happened next was a miracle; Kielce reduced the gap goal by goal, took the lead and could have won in 60 minutes, but failed twice with penalty shots. Veszprém took the upper hand again, before Krzysztof Lijewski levelled the scores three seconds before the end to send the match to overtime. Now the Polish side had the momentum, only for Christian Ugalde to equalise three seconds before the end of the extra period, and for the first time ever, a men’s EHF Champions League final needed to be decided by a penalty shootout. The last shot, from Julen Aguinagalde, sent Kielce into ecstasy, while Veszprém lost an EHF Champions League final for the third time. The last man standing from this classic final of 2016, who will be on court on Thursday in the MOTW, is Veszprém’s Slovenian wing, Gasper Marguc.

Main photo © Uros Hocevar; feature photos © Axel Heimken, www.pekaroland.hu, Industria Kielce