For the third time in the last five years, three German teams have qualified for the EHF Finals, the business end of the EHF European League Men, the second-tier European competition, which will take place in Hamburg, on 24 and 25 May.

Three German sides, two teams from France and one from Portugal, Spain and Denmark each competed for the coveted EHF Finals spots, with some close matches in the first leg.

However, three of the four teams playing the second leg at home managed to sneak through into the EHF Finals, as THW Kiel, MT Melsungen, SG Flensburg-Handewitt and Montpellier HB made it to the last act of the competition.

Reigning champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt are aiming to become the first side to retain their trophy in the second-tier European competition, after another German side, Frisch Auf Göppingen, managed this feature in 2016 and 2017.

After Flensburg delivered a 29:26 win in the first leg against Danish side GOG, they were flawless in the second leg, dominating from start to finish, with former GOG left back Lasse Møller scoring eight goals, while Johannes Golla added six goals.

World champions Niclas Kirkeløkke, Mads Mensah, Lukas Jørgensen, Emil Jakobsen and Johan Plogv a Hansen combined for 18 goals, in Flensburg’s 35:29 win, which saw the German side make it in back-to-back EHF Finals.

Another favourite, THW Kiel, the team with the joint-largest number of trophies won in the competition, four, alongside Goppingen and SC Magdeburg, are looking for number five, after taking a 35:30 win against Limoges Handball in the second leg, after the first leg ended in a 26:26 draw.

Legendary Croatian back Domagoj Duvnjak had five goals for Kiel, with the German side’s top scorer being Swedish back Eric Johansson, while Limoges relied on Nigerian right back Faruk Yusuf and Egyptian left back Seif Elderaa, who had 11 goals between them.

The third German side to make it to the EHF Finals is MT Melsungen, which made it past the quarter-finals in an European competition for the first time in history. After a 28:27 win in the first leg against Bidasoa Irun, Roberto Garcia Parrondo’s side provided a flawless second leg, taking a 32:22 win.

Spanish left wing Ian Barrufet, a 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship winner, led the way with nine goals, with fellow Spanish back Eric Balenciaga adding five goals under his name, to help Melsungen take a 60:49 win on aggregate, the largest in the quarter-finals.

The last spot was clinched by a French side, Montpellier HB, which are back to the EHF Finals after a one-year hiatus. The French team have played the final once, in 2014, lost against OTP Bank-Pick Szeged, but will hope for more here, after their 65:61 aggregate win against FC Porto.

After a one-goal win in the first leg, Montpellier fired from all cylinders in the second leg, where they put 35 goals past Porto, with Argentinian centre back Diego Simonet scoring seven times, followed by Egyptian back Ahmed Hesham, with five goals.

The EHF Finals will take place in the Barclays Arena on 24 and 25 May, with the semi-finals pairings to be decided on Wednesday, 30 April, in Vienna.

EHF European League Men – Quarter finals

Limoges Handball (FRA) vs THW Kiel (GER) 56:61 on aggregate
Bidasoa Irun (ESP) vs MT Melsungen (GER) 49:60 on aggregate
GOG (DEN) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 55:64 on aggregate
FC Porto (POR) vs Montpellier HB (FRA) 61:65 on aggregate

Credit photo: SG Flensburg-Handewitt