The final week of EHF club competition challenges ahead of the winter break is now behind us and what a way to end the first half of the season for SEHA – Gazprom League participating clubs! There are a lot of things we have to focus on in this week’s recap so let’s get into it straight away!
 
Maschineseeker EHF Champions League
 
PPD Zagreb managed to end the first half of the season in the best possible way – coming out on top in Poland against Wisla Plock (26:30). ‘Lions’ from the Croatian capital are looking much better with coach Slavko Goluza in command and they proved it once again taking revenge against Wisla which managed to steal a point in their premier encounter of the season in Croatia. Timur Dibirov, Stefan Dodic and Zeljko Musa netted four each for Zagreb while Dino Slavic grabbed 15 saves. 
 
Telekom Veszprem reached another point failing to convert from their last-second attempt which would secure them both points in Bucharest against Dinamo. In the end 31:31 as Petar Nenadic and Mikita Vailupau led the scoring seven each. Hungarians will enter the second part of the season from second place in Group A and, in case they manage to stay there, they will directly qualify for EHF Champions League quarter-finals once again coming just a step away from the FINAL4 tournament in Cologne. 
 
Group A: PSG 16 (+35), Telekom Veszprem 16 (+28), Magdeburg 14 (+21), Dinamo Bucuresti 11 (+1), GOG 9 (-4), PPD Zagreb 8 (-15), Wisla Plock 5 (-27), Porto 1 (-39). 
 
EHF European League
 
Tatran Presov managed to reach their first win of the season coming out on top against Hungarian Veszpremi KKFT 22:20. Incredible Oliver Rabek finished the match with eight goals while Kasatkin and Lopez added four each. Slovak champs were 12:11 ahead after first 30 minutes additionally opening the gap in the second to escape the bottom place in Group A with the winter break in sight. 
 
Group A: Montpellier 12 (+37), Goppingen 8 (+26), Kadetten 8 (+9), Benfica 4 (-5), Tatran Presov 2 (-31), Veszpremi KKFT 2 (-36). 
 
In Group C, Nexe Nasice suffered their first loss of the season falling short against Granollers away from home. In the 25:22 loss, Fahrudin Melic scored five while Tomislav Severec added four. Despite the loss, Nexe remain first in Group C with a two-point advantage over second-positioned Granollers and third-placed Sporting. 
 
Group C: Nexe 10 (+27), Granollers 8 (+15), Sporting 8 (+6), Skjern 6 (+4), Balatonfuredi 3 (-24), Alpla Hard 1 (-28). 
 
After last week’s decisive loss in Spain against Bidasoa, Eurofarm Pelister managed to find a way to slow Spaniards down as they this time out managed to secure a home draw against them. Best right back of last season’s SEHA Final 4 tournament Oussama Hosni finished the match with eight while Tankoski added seven. Eurofarm remain fourth going into the winter break with only two points less than Bidasoa. 
 
Group D: Fuchse Berlin 12 (+46), Skanderborg Aarhus 8 (+22), Bidasoa Irun 7 (+9), Eurofarm Pelister 5 (-19), Motor 3 (-18), Aguas Santas 1 (-40).