EHF Champions League: Matchday 6 review

Fin de série pour le Sporting, Fredericia ouvre son compteur, Veszprém enchaîne

Matchday 6 kicked off on Wednesday evening with an historic victory. Fredericia, the only newcomer in this 2024-2025 edition of the competition, confirmed their rise to prominence with a 28-25 win over Wisla Plock. After five consecutive defeats, the Danish side picked up the first points in their history on the European stage. At the same time, another run came to an end, albeit the opposite of the Scandinavians'.

Still unbeaten in this European campaign and solidly in the lead of the group before the start of the sixth matchday, Sporting fell to Bucharest (33-29). The Romanians, who had pushed Paris to the limit last time out (35-32), showed their determination as they overcame a tricky first half (30': 13-15) and win in front of their home crowd. David Davis' side put on a collective show, with 13 of their 14 outfield players finding the back of the net.

After suffering a scare against Fredericia last time out (34-32), Veszprém produced a perfect performance at Pelister. The Hungarians never wavered, opening up a substantial lead in the first half (30': 12-17) to claim an easy but no less important victory over the Macedonians (23-30). This latest success was thanks in part to Rodrigo Corrales' imperious performance, with the former Parisian pulling off a season-best 15 saves.

The standings

Thanks to their victory in Berlin and Sporting's first defeat of the season, Raul Gonzalez's men have moved up the table. At the end of Matchday 6, Les Rouge et Bleu are second in their group, with a record identical to that of Veszprém, albeit with a better goal difference. Behind them, Dinamo Bucharest moved to within a point of Sporting thanks to their win over the Portuguese champions. Füchse Berlin, now on a two-game losing streak, are fifth, two points behind the Romanians. Further down the table, the gap to the bottom places is widening. Defeated at Fredericia, Plock remain sixth thanks to a better goal difference than their Matchday 6 opponents, but are already four points behind Berlin. Lastly, Pelister, who slipped to bottom place following Fredericia's victory, remain stuck with just one point from their campaign after six rounds.

Matchday 7 fixtures

Next week marks the half-way point of the group stage, with a number of mouth-watering fixtures in store. On Wednesday evening, our Rouge et Bleus play host to Sporting at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin. It's a match not to be missed between two sides battling for the top two places, with only one point separating them. At the same time, Veszprém travel to Plock's Orlen Arena to take on a side that is struggling in the group stage. Another trap to avoid for Xavi Pascual's side, who could make it four wins in a row and stay top if they succeed. Thursday's bottom-of-the-table clash pits Fredericia against Pelister. After securing their first ever European win, the Scandinavians are back at home and will be determined to extend their lead over the bottom side. Finally, Füchse Berlin will be looking to end their run of two defeats with a result at Dinamo Bucharest, who are proving to be a formidable side at home in this European campaign.

(Credits: L. Valroff/PSG)