"A Handball Holiday"
All the teams and officials involved in the VELUX EHF Champions League Last 16 spoke exclusively to Björn Pazen, ehfCL.com journalist at the draw event in Denmark.
If you are a member of the media and require hi-res photos from the event then please email media@eurohandball.com.
Tor Lian, EHF President, said:
“It has been an interesting VELUX EHF Champions League season so far with some special results.
“It is really important to have the new deal with VELUX. We have been working with them together for a long period of time and we are looking to continue and increase our work with them – we are very happy to have such a sponsor.
“The VELUX EHF Champions League is developing as we now see many teams from many countries and not just Spain, France and Germany; this makes it more attractive for the audience.
“Denmark winning EHF EURO 2012 has made it even more attractive for fans coming to watch club handball because this is the daily work of the players.”
Michael K. Rasmussen, VELUX Group Director of Branding and Marketing, said:
“The VELUX EHF Champions League is really the best of the best teams and it is a great sport. We share the same geographies and it means our customers can see their local heroes – it is a very good fit for us and a good cooperation.
“Our sponsorship of the VELUX EHF Champions League has been a fantastic journey so far in just one and a half years, approaching two years. In terms of results, against what we put up as our targets at the beginning, we have had everything fulfilled, we have got exposure and unique experiences and we have this very good cooperation with the EHF and also the clubs across Europe so we can really provide something for our customers with great value.
“We signed for another three years as you should never change a winning team! It works, it works really well and we think that there is a lot more potential in terms of the VELUX EHF Champions League and also in terms of our business involving customers in the events and getting our brand out into TV rooms across Europe for 6-8 months a year.
“I went to see the AG København vs. THW Kiel match on Sunday (26 February) and it was fantastic and great until the last moments."
Peter Vargo, Managing Director of EHF Marketing GmbH, said:
“We are very excited with the new VELUX deal because after working together for just one and a half years, they feel like we are doing things in the right way and they are ready to go further with us so we are really excited about this.
“The sponsorship with VELUX has a big sponsorship for us depending on how the sponsor approaches the sponsorship. With VELUX we have really found the right partner who’s really living with us together on this product on a daily basis.
Füchse Berlin vs. HSV Hamburg
HSV Hamburg Manager Christoph Wendt said:
"It’s a very tough draw and it will be two very difficult and close matches for us, but, of course, we hope to reach the Quarter-Final.
“I wouldn’t say an all-German match is our idea of a dream draw – two German clubs playing each other but we will take the draw as it is and we will go on and have two good matches for spectators and we will look forward to it.”
Füchse Berlin Office Manager Stefan Güter said:
“It is a very big success for us to reach the Last 16 and we knew before the draw that we would face a very tough opponent. HSV Hamburg are one of the strongest teams in Europe who are German champions and have appeared in the VELUX EHF FINAL4 before. We and the fans will see two close games.
“I think Hamburg are the favourites in these two matches, but we will see!”
Montpellier Agglomeration HB vs. FC Barcelona Intersport
Montpellier Agglomeration HB Vice President Robert Molines said:
“To finish fourth in our group is not a good situation as we were obliged to compete against a strong team, so the draw for us is very difficult and I think it is the strongest team we will have to meet, but we now have to compete – it is difficult for us.
“I think FC Barcelona, as champions, are the favourites, but we have a chance as we are competing.”
FC Barcelona Intersport Handball Manager Xavier O'Callaghan said:
“The draw was not lucky for us and it is becoming a tradition for us to have a tough opening in the draw but these things happen and it happened last year but we won the final. If you want to be the champions you have to beat all the opponents no matter if it is at the beginning or end of the season – we will try our best to compete against a top-class team like Montpellier.
“We are defending champions, but this is from last season and now it is a different moment, different players and different approaches so it’s going to be tough for both teams but we have the second game at home in Barcelona so we maybe have the better chance but Montpellier are a top team with top players and a top coach so it is going to be very, very complicated for both of us.”
Orlen Wisla Plock vs. THW Kiel
Orlen Wisla Plock President Andrzej Miszczynski said:
“We have a good connection with Kiel and last summer we had a match and training camp with them and we have already agreed two matches this year in August against them - we have a lot of history with them.
“There is no doubt that they are one of the best teams in the world and it is a great pleasure to play against a team like that – we are just on the way in being a top European handball and any match a great team like this gives us a great opportunity to get better and better.
“We will do our best to play good handball and promote good discipline in the match. The arena will in Plock will be full up for this match with over 5,500 spectators.”
THW Kiel General Manager Sabine Holdorf-Schust said:
“It is good that we have drawn Plock – I already received a SMS from our coach Alfred Gislason saying ‘well done’ on the draw! Which, if he is satisfied, is good, but the way to Cologne and the FINAL4 is difficult and we have to think from match-to-match and it is not all easy, Plock have a good team.
“I think we are favourites in this match but we have to play the matches and see."
Kadetten Schaffhausen vs. BM Atletico Madrid
Kadetten Schaffhausen Marketing Representative Eva-Maria Kröger said:
“I think this will be a very, very strong game for us because we are playing a former winner of the Champions League so we will see what happens.
“We hope for a win against Madrid, it will be great, but I think it is not so easy for us. The BBC Arena will have many, many spectators because Atletico Madrid are a great team and there will be over 3,000 spectators there.”
BM Atletico Madrid General Manager Luis Miguel López said:
“In the first instance we are happy with the draw because we did not get Montpellier, which all clubs who finished in first place in the Group Phase, could have drawn.
“However, for Atletico Madrid, always the best club we play is the next match and now we go to Switzerland to play a serious match and it will be difficult playing at their home and we are only favourites because we finished in first position in our group so we have the opportunity to play our second match at home but we know Kadetten have a very good team – the best team in Switzerland with very good players who play very good handball, technical handball.
“We think this match provides a great opportunity to watch two very good matches. We would like to play in Cologne and win the FINAL4 but now we are in the Last 16 and only after this can we think a bit more about the FINAL4.”
Reale Ademar Leon vs. MKB Veszprém KC
Reale Ademar Leon Manager José C. Ludena Montenegro said:
“We are very strong in our home matches in Leon and we had a really good Group Phase but Veszprém are a very good team.
“I think that, at this moment, Veszprém are the better team as we have some problems with injuries. Veszprém have the power at the moment for me.”
MKB Veszprém Club Representative Yvette Kozma said:
“Our last Group Phase match to get to this draw was very tough and Leon are a very, very hard team so we will have two nice and exciting events and of course we will work very hard and I think we have a 50% chance to progress.
“I think maybe it is a bad omen that we have got another Spanish club in the knockout stages but we believe we have this 50% chance.”
KS Vive Targi Kielce vs. RK Cimos Koper
KS Vive Targi Kielce Club Manager Radosław Wasiak said:
“The game is between two equal teams and before the game both teams have the same chance to progress.
“Before the Group Phase we started out at the Wildcard Tournament which was a very strong tournament and so we try and fight in these next games to win.
“There is no favourite in this tie, both teams are equal, 50/50.”
RK Cimos Koper General Manager Aleš Koršič said:
“To be honest we have already reached our main goal of finishing second in our group in the Group Phase, although it is quite a surprise being here amongst the best sixteen teams in Europe and this is why we are very satisfied with what we have done this season in the Champions League.
“We probably drew the strongest team that we could draw in this round, Kielce will be very tough opponents and I’m sure the matches will be very hard, but I am also sure that a team wearing blue and yellow will progress through to the next round!”
HC Metalurg vs. Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb
HC Metalurg General Secretary Zoran Cvetanovski said:
“This is a great moment for Macedonian handball with Metalurg making new club handball history this season. We are very much enjoying this season and I very much hope that we will get another good result.
“For sure we need a victory at home in the first leg and this season we are playing a very strong defence and are very good at home which holds 10,000 fans and we have big support from them and I think it will be the same against Zagreb.
“We know each other very well – we are playing in the regional league together this season, so it will be a very good game. We will play our best handball and it will be a ‘Handball Holiday’ in Macedonia.”
HC Croatia Osiguranje Technical Manager Zagreb Ante Ančić said:
“Our wish of who we wanted to play in the Last 16 was irrelevant because all the teams here are strong enough to be here. For example, we have Sävehof who came from the qualification round and who finished third in our group, so that proves that all the Last 16 teams are really good.
“I want to congratulate Metalurg on their results so far and they have a strong team at the back due to the strong performance of the Macedonian team at the last European Championship so we are expecting a very, very hard match and a ‘Handball Holiday’ too.
“There are no favourites in this match and the chances are 50/50 for both teams."
IK Sävehof vs. AG Kobenhavn
IK Sävehof Club Director Stefan Albrechtson said:
“Of course we wanted the draw to give us the best chance of reaching the quarter-finals but it may have been a little, little easier to face a Hungarian or Slovenian team instead of AG København to go for the title.
“We will have a lot of spectators - 5-6,000 - watching the match.”
AG København Administrative Director Søren Colding said:
“We are happy – it is a perfect draw for us here in Denmark. This draw is a small step for us on the way to Cologne. I have big respect for Sävehof, I have seen them a couple of times this season and they are a mix of very young and very experienced players so it won’t be a walkover for us.
“We know how strong they are. They played a very, very fine game against Zagreb at home.”
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