The Truckscout24 EHF FINAL4 – the business end of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League – is scheduled for 14 and 15 June, in the LANXESS Arena in Cologne, with four sides aiming to secure the coveted title and qualify for the 2025 IHF Men's Club World Championship.

Two German sides - Füchse Berlin and SC Magdeburg – plus HBC Nantes and Barça have qualified this season for the business end of the competition, with the possibility of a team making the final for the first time, as Füchse Berlin will face Nantes in the first semi-final.

Füchse Berlin have had a fantastic season, winning their first champion crown in Germany, and will be looking to add a historic double, with a fantastic performance from the reigning IHF Male Player of the Year, Mathias Gidsel, this season.

Gidsel has scored 126 goals so far and needs only five more to leapfrog OTP Bank – Pick Szeged’s right wing, Mario Sostaric, in the top goal scorer standings, as he is averaging 7.4 goals per match so far this season, and has been Füchse’s main weapon on the attacking side of the ball.

The German side finished third in their group and then proceeded to eliminate Industria Kielce, with a 70:64 aggregate win in the play-offs and Aalborg Handbold, with a 77:65 aggregate win in the quarter-finals.

On the other side, HBC Nantes have been one of the surprise packages of the season, making it to the Truckscout24 EHF FINAL4 for the third time, after finishing second in the 2017/18 season, losing the final against Montpellier, 26:32, and fourth in the 2020/21 season, when Barça won the title.

The French side also finished third in their group and proceeded to eliminate Orlen Wisla Plock, 54:52 on aggregate, in the play-offs, and Sporting CP, 60:57 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

The two sides have scored the largest number of goals this season – Füchse had 616 goals and Nantes scored 540 – but, on average, the German side has 4.2 goals per match more than Nantes.

In the second semi-final, a true classic of the last years will be featured, as the most decorated team in the history of the competition – Barça – take on SC Magdeburg, for the seventh time in the last two seasons.

The two sides have already met in the semi-final of the 2022/23 season in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, when Magdeburg took a 40:39 win after penalties against Barça, while this season they have shared wins, 32:26 for Barça at home and 28:23 for Magdeburg on their home court.

Magdeburg have also won the IHF Men’s Club World Championship finals in 2022 (33:28) and in 2023 (41:39) against Barça, and have won five of the last seven mutual matches.

Magdeburg and Barça have also won the last four titles in the EHF Champions League Men, with Barça taking the title in the 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2023/24 seasons, while Magdeburg celebrated the win in the 2022/23 season.

Barça have won 11 titles, Magdeburg have two EHF Champions League Men titles, while both Füchse Berlin and HBC Nantes could win the title for the first time.

The two semi-finals will be played at 15:00 and 18:00 CEST on Saturday, 14 June, with the bronze medal match scheduled at 15:00 CEST on Sunday, 15 June and the title match at 18:00 CEST.

The winners will also secure a berth for the 2025 IHF Men's Club World Championship, alongside reigning champions Veszprem HC.