Hamburg will host the third consecutive edition of the EHF Finals Men, after German side SG Flensburg-Handewitt won the previous two editions of the EHF European League Men which took place in the Barclays Arena.

This time around, Flensburg will be looking for a hat-trick, aiming to secure their third title in a row and their fourth in total, which would tie the record number of trophies sealed by a single team, currently jointly held by three German teams – SC Magdeburg, Frisch Auf Göppingen and THW Kiel.

After a long season, four teams have made it into the EHF Finals Men and still have a chance to secure silverware, with Flensburg being joined by fellow German sides MT Melsungen and THW Kiel, as well as French side Montpellier Handball, which made the business end of the competition for the third time in the past four seasons.

Coincidentally, the four teams are the same which made the EHF Finals Men last season, when Flensburg beat Melsungen in the semi-finals, 35:34, and Montpellier in the final, 32:25.

The semi-finals will be exactly the same as in the previous season, with a German side being 100% in the final, as Melsungen and Flensburg meet again, while Kiel take on Montpellier.

Throughout the season, Kiel have been the team with the best record, winning 11 matches out of the 12 played, including two wins against Flensburg (32:30 and 36:29) and two wins against Montpellier (27:18 and 30:28).

The German powerhouse, which won the second-tier European competition four times in their history (1998, 2002, 2004 and 2019), lost their only match this season in the quarter-finals, 30:33 against RK Nexe, but won the second leg, 30:27, and secured the EHF Finals Men spot at penalties, where they scored four times and conceded only twice.

Their rivalry with Montpellier Handball will be renewed, with Kiel winning 11 out of 15 mutual matches, as Montpellier will be looking for their maiden title in the competition, despite losing five matches throughout the competition.

In the quarter-finals, Montpellier eliminated HC Vardar, after a dominating 33:23 win in the home leg and a 24:27 away loss.

Reigning champions Flensburg have started the season with six wins in six matches in the group phase, but won only three of their next eight matches. In the play-offs, they eliminated Skanderborg, 71:65 on aggregate, while in the quarter-finals they went through after a high-octane clash against fellow German side TSV Hannover Burgdorf, after a 39:39 draw in the first leg and a 43:35 win in the second leg.

Their opponents, MT Melsungen, won nine matches and lost five on their way to the EHF Finals Men, progressing to this phase after a dramatic 47:46 aggregate win in the quarter-finals against FC Porto.

In this season’s Bundesliga, Flensburg took two wins against Melsungen, 40:30 at home and 35:32 in the away match, while last season Flensburg eliminated Melsungen after a dramatic extra-time, where they clinched a 35:34 win, after a 28:28 draw in regular time.

Melsungen’s last win against Flensburg came in the German Cup, in December 2024, 30:28.

The two semi-finals will take place on Saturday, 30 May, at 12:30 and 15:30 CEST, while the finals are scheduled for Sunday, 31 May, with the bronze medal match at 15:00 CEST and the big final at 18:00 CEST. All matches are played in Hamburg, Germany.

Photo credit: EHF / kolektiff / Anze Malovrh