The play-offs of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League concluded this Thursday, with a huge shock, as Paris Saint-Germain Handball were eliminated by OTP Bank – Pick Szeged delivered a fantastic comeback in Paris to progress to the quarter-finals. Elsewhere, favourites Füchse Berlin, SC Magdeburg and HBC Nantes also made it to the next phase.

After conceding a 30:31 loss in the first leg, OTP Bank – Pick Szeged were buoyed by Borut Mackovsek’s buzzer-beater in the first match, which saw the Hungarian side cut the gap to one goal, heading full of confidence in the second leg against PSG.

In Paris, they produced a vintage display, totally outplaying the French champions, whose dream of winning their maiden title in the European premium competition went out in flames, after a 25:35 loss. The top scorer of the competition, the All-Star right wing of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, Mario Sostaric, had seven goals, while Sebastian Frimmel and Bence Banhidi added four goals each, to shock PSG, which had a 53% shot efficiency.

45 goals were scored in the first half of the second leg of the tie between Füchse Berlin and Industria Kielce, as the Polish side were leading 24:21, after conceding a six-goal loss in the first match. 

Kielce led by four goals with seven minutes to go in the second leg, but an ill-fated decision to play seven-on-six from coach Talant Dujshebaev backfired, enabling the German side to use a 5:0 run to take the lead, with the match eventually ending in a tie, 37:37, as Füchse progressed to the next phase, with a 70:64 aggregate win.

In the first match, Lasse Andersson scored 13 goals for Füchse, while in the second leg, the 2023 and 2024 IHF Male Player of the Year, Mathias Gidsel, took control and finished the match with 12 goals out of 13 shots, while Andersson added six more goals, to enable Füchse Berlin to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2011/12 season.

Plagued by an injury-marred season, SC Magdeburg did not sweat against Romanian champions Dinamo Bucuresti. The German powerhouse, which will be facing the reigning champions of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, Veszprem HC, in the quarter-finals, secured two clear wins, 30:26 and 35:29, to clinch their spot in the quarter-finals. In both matches, Omar Ingi Magnusson was Magdeburg’s top scorer, having 14 goals combined.

The last play-offs tie between Orlen Wisla Plock and HBC Nantes was a true roller-coaster, after Plock won the first leg, 28:25, putting pressure on Nantes. However, in the second leg, the French side provided a fast comeback, leading 17:8 at the break.

Plock won the second half, 16:12, but it was too little, too late, as the 29:24 win for Nantes, fueled by six goals from Algerian right back Ayoub Abdi and five goals from experienced wing Valero Rivera, lifted the French side to a 54:52 aggregate win.

Nantes will face Sporting CP in the quarter-finals, while reigning champions FC Barcelona meet Magdeburg and Füchse Berlin take on Danish powerhouse Aalborg Handbold.

The quarter-finals will be played in two legs, with the first ones taking place on 23/24 April, while the second legs are scheduled for 30 April/1 May.

Machineseeker EHF Champions League – play-offs

Industria Kielce (POL) vs Füchse Berlin (GER) 64:70 on aggregate
Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs HBC Nantes (FRA) 52:54 on aggregate
OTP Bank – Pick Szeged (HUN) vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) 65:56 on aggregate
Dinamo București (ROU) vs SC Magdeburg (GER) 55:65 on aggregate

Machineseeker EHF Champions League – quarter-finals

Füchse Berlin (GER) vs Aalborg Håndbold (DEN)
HBC Nantes (FRA) vs Sporting CP (POR)
OTP Bank – Pick Szeged (HUN) vs FC Barcelona (ESP)
SC Magdeburg (GER) vs One Veszprém HC (HUN)

Credit photo: Dinamo București