24 VELUX EHF Champions League stars on court at EHF EURO 2020 final

Spain made history in Stockholm on Sunday, thanks to their 22:20 final victory against Croatia, they were the first to defend an EHF EURO title in 18 years.

After two breath-taking semi-finals, Croatia vs Norway and Spain vs Slovenia, and a one-sided bronze medal match, Norway finished in third place.

The final ranking of the EHF EURO 2020 clearly proves that counting on players at VELUX EHF Champions League clubs brings you success and medals.

45 top flight stars were on court for the four semi-finalists, topped by the Slovenians with 13, who finished fourth. 12 of 16 Spanish and Croatian players, who were on court for the final, play for VELUX EHF Champions League clubs.

Eight VELUX EHF Champions League players were among the 18 Norwegians, who won their first EHF EURO medal, beating Slovenia 28:20 on Saturday.

Players from VELUX EHF Champions League clubs in the squads of the four semi-finalists:

13 players from 7 clubs: Slovenia
12/4: Spain
12/7: Croatia
8/5: Norway

While no VELUX EHF Champions League club can lay claim to all three medals, the three top clubs PGE Vive Kielce, Barça, MOL-Pick Szeged were represented by both finalists and have new European gold and silver medallists in their team.

Kielce, Barcelona and Zagreb top the ranking of players in the semi-finals with six players each, with Zagreb only representing Croatia.  The largest group of Norwegian players representing one club is four, who play for Flensburg.

List of VELUX EHF Champions League clubs with EHF EURO 2020 semi-final participants:

6 players from three semi-finalists: Kielce (4 ESP, each 1 from SLO, CRO)
6/3: Barça (4 ESP, each 1 CRO, SLO)
6/1: Zagreb (6 CRO)
5/3: Szeged (2 SLO, 2 ESP, 1 CRO)
4/2: Celje (3 SLO, 1 CRO)
4/1: Flensburg (4 NOR)
3/2: PSG (2 ESP, 1 NOR)
3/3: Kiel (1 from CRO, NOR, SLO)
3/1: Veszprem (3 SLO)
1/1: Plock (1 SLO)
1/1: Aalborg (1 NOR)
1/1: Elverum (1 NOR)

All-star Team

THW Kiel, including MVP Domagoj Duvnjak, PGE Vive Kielce and MOL-Pick Szeged each have two players in the EHF EURO 2020 All-star Team, which only includes players from VELUX EHF Champions League clubs.

Barcelona: Goalkeeper: Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (Spain)
Flensburg: left wing: Magnus Jöndal (Norway)
PSG: Left back: Sander Sagosen (Norway)
Kielce: centre back: Igor Karacic (Croatia), right wing: Blaz Janc (Slovenia)
Szeged: right back: Jorge Maqueda (Spain), line player: Bence Banhidi (Hungary)
Kiel: MVP: Domagoj Duvnjak (Croatia), best defender: Hendrik Pekeler (Germany)

The championship’s best scorers are also playing for VELUX EHF Champions League clubs, topped by Norwegian Sander Sagosen, who scored a record 65 goals. Second ranked is rising star Mikita Vailupau (Belarus/Meshkov Brest) with 47 goals, ahead of Nikola Bilyk (THW Kiel/Austria) on 46.