Group A results - Round 8

News

Paris Saint-Germain Handball's win away to Flensburg on Wednesday evening (29-30) marked the end of the first half of the Velux EHF Champions League group stage for our team. Before we embark on the return legs, check out what happened in the rest of Group A's Round 7 action.

Aalborg - Barcelona: 30-34
Second in the group, following Les Rouge et Bleus' victory in Germany, Barcelona had to win in Aalborg in order to get back to first place. Favourites on paper, against a team that has made a very good start to the campaign, the Catalans confirmed their status despite strong opposition form the Danes. The latter were still in the game as money-time approached (55': 27-30), but it was a bridge too far and the Blaugranas, led by Victor Tomas' 7 from 7, secured another two-point haul. Their opponents on the night remain fourth but fell three points adrift of the top three.

Szeged - Elverum: 32-35
Szeged, third, played host to Elverum, who share bottom place with Zagreb. Former Parisian, Luka Stepancic (three goals) and his team-mates made sure that there was no upset, building on a balanced start (15' : 9-9), to take the lead and never let it go. Among the good performances of the day was that of Mirko Alilovic. Szeged's Croatian 'keeper made 13 saves (at 35%), but also scored once. The home side are two points shy of the top two, while the Norwegians can't seem to get their season going.

Celje - Zagreb: 24-22
While the race for first place is very tight, the same is true at the other end of the table. On Sunday, Celje took an option on qualifying for the Round of 16. The Slovenians, on two points ahead of their clash with Zagreb (one point), had a chance to go three points clear of the bottom two places and did exactly that. After duking it out for long stretches in a match full of suspense (55': 21-20), Celje clinched the win in the final seconds thanks to one of David Razgor's three goals. Ahead of their trip to Croatia next Thursday, Celje gave themselves some breathing room while, on the other hand, Zagreb will have to win at home in order not to be left in the dust.

A look back at Group A's Round 7 matches

Round 8 fixtures:
- Paris - Flensburg: Sunday 17 November, 5pm (beIN SPORTS 3)
- Zagreb - Celje: Thursday, November 14, 6pm
- Barcelona - Aalborg: Saturday 16 November, 8pm
- Elverum - Szeged: Sunday, November 17, 7pm

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)