In the first leg of the confrontation between the two teams, Veszprém made a huge impression, winning by 14 goals in Skopje, 41:27. That was the biggest advantage any team took from the first leg of the play-offs last week.

Despite having their qualification ticket firmly in hand before throw-off, the Hungarian side still had to validate it at home, and they cruised to a straightforward win.

PLAY-OFFS, LEG 2
Telekom Veszprém HC (HUN) vs HC Vardar 1961 (MKD) 39:30 (20:15)
First leg: 41:27. Aggregate: 80:57

• Vardar kept pace with Veszprém for 20 minutes until Petar Nenadic decided to put his foot on the pedal, scoring three goals in 10 minutes to put the hosts five ahead at the break
• the hosts increased their advantage in the second half, as Vardar seemed unable to stop their offence
• Veszprém’s advantage increased to 10 goals in the 53rd minute, before reaching nine at the final siren
• Daniil Shishkarev and Andreas Nilsson scored six for Veszprém, finishing as the joint best scorers
• in the quarter-finals, Veszprém will face HBC Nantes, after the French side eliminated Kielce on Wednesday

Veszprém, definitely too strong for Vardar

Veszprém reached the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in 2020, and judging by the potential the Hungarian club displayed over the two games against Vardar, they are among the strong favourites to do so again.

Self-confidence, skills and 16 players to each bring something to the table, nothing was missing tonight. But the quarter-finals against Nantes will be another kind of test for David Davis’ side.