EHFCL Round 14 preview: Zagreb looking for the knock-out ticket in Paris, Vardar hosting Montpellier

Matej Ašanin

Last EHF Champions League group stage round of the season is ahead of us. Meshkov Brest and Motor Zaporozhye already know they have failed to secure a place for themselves in the knock-out stage while Telekom Veszprem have, on the other hand, booked group B's second position for themselves. Final round will however bring excitement to Skopje and Zagreb – Vardar have secured knock-out round appearance but it is still a question whether they'll go there from fifth or sixth position and PPD Zagreb, on the other hand, have to defeat PSG in France in order to reach the next stage. Here is our preview of round 14.

(Group A) PSG – PPD Zagreb

Celje PL have already played their final group stage match failing to come out on top against Flensburg at home which means PPD Zagreb can with a win against Paris Saint-Germain book a place for themselves in the Last 16. 'Lions' will surely be motivated against highly-favored PSG squad and it will be interesting to see whether they can stun one of the strongest teams in Europe away from home and advance through to the next round.

(Group B) Meshkov Brest – Porto Sofarma

Meshkov Brest have unfortunately already lost all hopes of reaching the next round but they will without doubt be motivated to end their CL story of the season on a high note in front of their fans. Belarusians are in good form as they have in the last round managed to come out on top against Kiel and they’ll surely look to get revenge for the 27:25 loss from their premium encounter of the season against Portuguese side.

(Group B) Motor Zaporozhye – Telekom Veszprem

Situation is pretty clear for the two teams – Motor will finish the group stage as bottom-placed team in group B and Telekom Veszprem have already secured the next phase. Hungarians will however surely look to deliver another strong outing in front of their fans against struggling Motor who haven’t managed to win a CL match all the way back from the end of November when they were at home better than Porto.

(Group B) Vardar – Montpellier

If Vardar manage to come out on top against French Montpellier and Meshkov defeat Porto at home, ‘Red&Black’ will finish the group stage as fifth-positioned team in group B. Macedonians were in the last round dominantly defeated in Portugal after reaching a big home win against Motor which is why it is hard to predict the outcome of their clash against Montpellier who are also struggling both in national championship and EHF Championship League after the winter break.

EHFCL Round 14 schedule for SEHA – Gazprom League teams:

Saturday (17.30 CET) Meshkov Brest – Porto Sofarma

Saturday (17.30 CET) Motor Zaporozhye – Telekom Veszprem

Saturday (17.30 CET) Vardar – Montpellier

Sunday, (17.00 CET) PSG – PPD Zagreb