Macedonia close to Poland ticket
Switzerland - Macedonia 17:26 (8:15)
After the clear defeat of Czech Republic against France earlier on Wednesday, the Macedonians have now caught up with their rivals for the ticket to the EHF EURO as both teams, Macedonia and Czech Republic, have five points now. Hence everything is set for the "group final" on Sunday in Skopje when the two face for the ticket to Poland. The Macedonian team was able to count on the prowess of their top star Kiril Lazarov who took to the court despite a smaller injury.
FC Barcelona beat Fraikin Granollers in Spanish Cup final
FC Barcelona - Fraikin Granollers 27:26 (15:14)
FC Barcelona:
Pérez de Vargas (-), Victor Tomás (7), Viran Morros (1) , Sorhaindo (1), Karabatic (4) , Gurbindo (1), Sigurdsson (1) - starting seven -, Ariño (-) , Saubich (-), Rutenka (-), Lazarov (-), Noddesbo (6), Jallouz (-), Saric (-), Entrerríos (7)
Fraikin Granollers:
Pejanovic (-), Solé (5), Resina (-), Álvaro Ruiz (4), Grundsten (2), Guilherme de Toledo (3), Del Arco (4) - starting seven - , Blanxart (-), Cañellas (-), Capdevila (-), Marc García (-), Arnau Garcia (-), Adrià Pérez (4), Marc Guàrdia (-), Adrià Figueras (4), Salva Puig (-)
Scoring by 5-minute intervals: 2-3 / 6-5 / 9-6 / 10-8 / 13-12 / 15-14 (half) 15-16 / 18-18 / 19-20 / 22-22 / 25-23 / 27-26
The European champions' homecoming
FC Barcelona's handball team returned to Barcelona as champions of Europe. Víctor Tomás, the trophy in his hands, was first out of the plane in the early hours of Monday morning. The team hadn't stopped celebrating the end of the 28-23 victory over Veszprem in the Champions League final, the music, dancing, laughter and joviality went on non-stop all the way from Cologne to Catalonia, and this video is proof of that.
Ticket sales have started for Men’s EHF EURO 2016
The first allocation of tickets, almost 32,000 in total, for the Men's EHF EURO 2016 next January have on sale on Monday, 4 May at 10:00 hrs. They can be bought via a ticket shop on the event's official website, www.ehf-euro.com. Tickets will be available for the preliminary and the main round in Krakow, where the Polish national team will be playing its matches.
FC Barcelona celebrate eighth title in Champions League
FC Barcelona celebrate eighth title in Champions League
FC Barcelona - MKB Vesprem 28:23 (14:10)
FC Barcelona have won Champions League for the eigth time after 1996-2000, 2005 and 2011. The Katalans managed that momentous achievement led by MVP winner Nikola Karabatic and thanks to a number of saves by keeper Danijel Saric in sold out Lanxess Arena in Cologne in front of 19.750 spectators, winning 28:23 (14:10). Beside Karabatic, Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson was the top scorer of the match (six goals each), for the Hungarians, who lost touch midway through the first half and were never able to equalise again, Champions Leagues top scorer Momir Ilic (5) and Laszlo Nagy (8) were the highscorers. The final of VELUX EHF Champions League started nervously for both teams. Two minutes passed before Cedric Sorhaindo had the first big chance to score, but Mirko Alilovic showed his potential with an early save.
Kielce cannot surprise Barcelona
FC Barcelona - Vive Targi Kielce 33:28 (16:14)
Everybody was keen on seeing the surprise, Slawomir Szmal had predicted for the first semifinal between FC Barcelona and KS Kielce. But in the first halftime, Barcelona did not have to cope a lot with the top team from Poland. The defence of the Spaniards with Perez de Vargas in goal was the key for a 16:14 lead of the Spanish favorite after thirty minutes. The duel kept to be tough during most of the second halftime.
Siarhei Rutenka, five-time European champion
Siarhei Rutenka has won more Handball Champions Leagues than any other member of the Barça squad. He got one with Celje (2004), three more with Ciudad Real (2006, 2008 and 2009) and another for Barça (2011). "All of them were different" he says as he heads for Cologne in search of title number six. "I appreciate them all as much as each other".
Kielce coach Dujshebaev ready for battle
During the last few days there has been a lot said and written about the possible tactical variations that Kielce coach Talant Dujshebaev might have prepared to surprise FC Barcelona in the first semi-final of the Final Four. When asked, the former Ciudad Real and Atlético Madrid smiles before adding: "It's difficult to prepare surprises if until Thursday we have fighting in the League play offs. We started to prepare for this game on Saturday. What we will try to do is cover our weak points and highlight our strong ones." He is not giving any more clues than that. Beyond talking about favourites, Dujshebaev is clear that his side is ready to compete and to win:
Lazarov in the team of the season of Champions league
Fans' selection of the top players from the 2014/15 season has been announced in Cologne on the fringes of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 weekend. In total 43,981 people cast their online ballots from 8 April to 24 May in a revamped vote. For the first time also the best coach and the best young player (born in 1992 or younger) have been awarded and voters could choose from among five nominees per position.
Sixtieth win in a row
Granollers - FC Barcelona 29:34 (18:15)
With just one league game to go, Barça will end the season unbeaten if they defeat Ademar León next week. FC Barcelona have now amassed an incredible sixty consecutive wins in the ASOBAL after beating fellow Catalans Granollers in the penultimate game of the season. But this was not an easy win, and as the lead switched hands on several occasions in the first hand, neither side managed to go more than two goals in front until a Juan Del Arco goal after 26 minutes finally put the home side 16:13. The half ended 18:15 and the gap was extended to four in the first minute after the restart.