Aalborg and Barça clash in MOTW as group phase resumes
The last four rounds of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 start this week and currently only four teams have booked their tickets for the knockout stage — One Veszprém HC, Paris Saint-Germain Handball and Sporting CP from group A and defending champions Barça from group B. In the MOTW the record champions will face their 2024 final opponents from Aalborg.
Fredericia defend offensively and play a lot of seven-on-six. It's a team that you shouldn't underestimate under any circumstances. They've had very good halves recently and play technically fast handball. It will depend on us delivering our performance.
It’s a challenge for us to play against a team like Dinamo Bucharest. I know the atmosphere in their arena, how the players fight, and how the fans support their team. It won’t be easy. This season, they have only lost one home game, and that was against PSG. So, I’m expecting a hard-fought battle. It’s crucial that we get these two points because our goal is to finish first or second in the group.
We are going to face Pelister, an opponent that we didn't manage to beat in the first game. We now play with the support of our fans and we are prepared to face all the difficulties they are going to put ahead of us.
We need to get all these players focused on the team after a vibrant World Championship for Portugal.
Sporting is a very difficult opponent who, led by the Costa brothers, has been playing very good handball both offensively and defensively in recent years. It will be very difficult to play on that field in Lisbon. We go to every match to win, no matter what competition is. We will give our maximum and we are preparing well for the match.
We start this second part of the season with a lot of motivation and renewed energy. Now, we are finally together as a whole team after the World Championship. The first match is against a great team like PSG. We know that we need to play a really good game to try to surprise them, but we will go there only with this idea.
We are facing a hardworking Nantes, who we saw had several players in the World Championships in January. We have to keep an eye up for Minne, Briet and Tournat, but if we get to control them, they will only send some other good players. So all in all it is a very good team we are facing on Wednesday.
This is one of the games that we look forward to. But it is without a doubt also one of the strongest opponents. This weekend our defence was very good and we need to continue to improve from there. We need to be ready from the first second and play well-considered against a good team as Barca is. Then I know we can win.
This match is very important for us. We lost Petar Cikusa last weekend and now Pol Valera, but there is no excuse. All teams suffer injuries and we’ll go with what we have.
Winning would be a huge step to qualify for the quarter final, and that’s our goal.
An important meeting awaits us, we are at the finish line of the group stage of the Champions League, so every meeting is of particular importance. We want to get the best possible position, which is why I can only visualise victory. The Croatian record champions are a dangerous opponent, but at home, in the PICK Arena, with our wonderful fans, I can only imagine victory.
This is the most important match for us; if we win against a strong team that has been struggling with problems recently, I am sure that it will give us a 99 per cent chance of advancing to the next round. They focused all their thoughts on Magdeburg. We know that the table is tight, we know the schedule of each team and every match is worth its weight in gold for Kielce, Magdeburg and Kolstad.
We've had a long break and are delighted that things are finally starting up again. We are also looking forward to the match in Kielce in the Champions League.
