Kiel and PSG poised to march on towards Last 16

The fourth-round preliminary group stage matches in the VELUX EHF Champions League Group A feature three intriguing ties with the clash in Spain between Naturhouse La Rioja and HC PPD Zagreb probably the pick of the lot before the competition takes a back seat to EHF EURO 2016 qualifiers.

Having won two of their opening three games, Zagreb will travel to their rivals in confident mood while the Spanish side will be under pressure to deliver on home court after winning one and losing two in the opening three rounds.

Group leaders PSG have been unstoppable so far, meaning that they will view anything less than a win at Meshkov as a setback in their bid to finish top of the section. Kiel, likewise, visit FYR Macedonia’s HC Metalurg with the solitary ambition of chalking up another three points after bouncing back from their opening defeat at Zagreb.

GROUP A
Naturhouse La Rioja (ESP) vs HC PPD Zagreb (CRO)   
Saturday 18 October, at 18.00 hrs local time, live on ehftv.com

Buoyed by a hard-fought 19:17 win at home to Metalurg in the last round, Zagreb will view this game as a good chance to continue their impressive start and edge closer to the knockout rounds.

The Croatian champions can bank on the superb form of their goalkeeper Filip Ivic, who earned a slot in the previous round’s ideal team after racking up 11 saves against the Macedonian outfit.

A clash of contrasting styles features Zagreb’s ironclad defence against La Rioja’s free-scoring attack, where a myriad of talented players led by prolific left wing Juan Antonio Garcia Lorenzana (16 goals), have so far shared the scoring workload.

With PSG, Zagreb and Kiel ahead of them in the group, La Rioja will in all likelihood see this one as a must-win game in order to stay ahead of Meshkov as they are only ahead of the Belarus champions on goal difference.

Metalurg too will be breathing down their necks if they follow in Zagreb’s footsteps and pull off an upset home win over Kiel, hence there is little or no room for error regarding La Rioja’s hopes of advancing into the knockout stage of the competition.  

HC Metalurg (MKD) vs THW Kiel (GER)
Saturday 18 October, at 21:00 hrs local time, live on ehftv.com

The Macedonian champions have lost all of their three opening games and getting their campaign on track against mighty Kiel will almost certainly be a tall order for a team going through a transition.

Still, the fervent atmosphere on their home court in Skopje is always a telling factor and having slipped up in the opening round against a youthful Zagreb team, Kiel will take nothing for granted this time.

“We know Kiel are the favourites but we will do everything in our power to beat them,” Metalurg’s trophy-laden Croatian coach Lino Cervar told a press conference on Thursday.

“They went through a short-term crisis at the start of the Bundesliga season but their most recent results show that they have weathered the storm. They have many top players but they are not invulnerable.”

With Filip Jicha and Rasmus Lauge already sidelined with long-term injuries, Kiel have suffered another setback after center back Aron Palmarsson, who has deputised for Jicha in the left-back position, has also been ruled out by the team doctors for at least three to four weeks.

A decimated back-court will hence rely heavily against Metalurg and in the upcoming games on Domagoj Duvnjak’s versatility, as the towering and swift Croatian playmaker also has the capacity to torment goalkeepers with long-range efforts.

HC Meshkov Brest (BLR) vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA)
Sunday 12 October, at 16:00 hrs local time, live on ehftv.com

The visit of Europe’s most expensive outfit will be a stern test of Meshkov’s credentials to slug it out with Europe’s elite, although their home court in Brest is not exactly an easy happy hunting ground even for the most acclaimed teams in Europe’s premier club competition.

Having blown away La Rioja in the last round thanks to a balanced team effort in which even the fringe players showed remarkable class and quality, PSG give the impression of a side whose overall value finally matches the sum of its parts. No less than 11 players got on the scoresheet against the Spanish outfit.

Given the versatility of the PSG attack, Meshkov will have to show a new level of defensive consistency if they are to thwart lightning breaks by wingers Luc Abalo and Fahrudin Melic, while Croatian pivot Igor Vori is still a handful for even the most tried and tested markers.

Brest can take heart from a valiant effort in last round’s 25:24 home defeat by Kiel, when only a string of superb saves by the German side’s goalkeeper Andreas Palicka denied the Belarus champions a better result.

Meshkov will also be boosted by the return of suspended Serbian pivot Rastko Stojkovic, while the perennially noisy home fans will undoubtedly throng their arena to provide vociferous support against the most formidable opposition in Europe’s elite club competition.