The 10th European matchday of the season kicked off with a bottom-of-the-table clash between Zagreb and Pelister. Still stuck on zero points at the start of the match, the Croatians needed a win to keep their slim chances of qualifying for the play-offs in March alive. And after a hard-fought battle, Nenad Sostaric's team accomplished their mission (27-23). Helped by the performances of Filip Glavas (10 goals) in attack and Sandro Mestric (12 saves) in goal, Zagreb are now two points behind Pelister, who failed to catch up with our Rouge et Bleus.
After beating the capital club a few weeks ago, GOG once again showed that they can outplay the European giants - despite being new kids on the block. As is often the case, it was Frederik Bjerre (third-highest scorer in the Champions League with 78 goals, six behind Elohim Prandi, who tops the scoring charts) who led the way against Plock (34-35), finding the back of the net nine times. After coming from behind despite trailing for most of the match, Plock thought they had secured a draw, but Oskar Rasmussen managed to crush the Poles at the buzzer to give his team the win and move ahead of our Parisians.
While Kolstad ended Füchse Berlin's perfect record (28-24) in the other group, Magdeburg once again held out, this time against Szeged (40-32). For once, it wasn't Sergey Hernandez who shone, but young Matej Mandic, with 11 saves to his credit. That was enough to keep the Hungarians, who were already up against the wall at half-time (30': 19-13), at bay.
Unlike last week, Matchday 10 had plenty of consequences for the standings. With four matchdays remaining in the group stage, Magdeburg and Barcelona have in all likelihood secured direct qualification for the quarter-finals. While the Germans need just one point to make it official, the six-point gap between Barcelona and Plock also seems too big to close. After beating the Poles this week, GOG took a big step towards qualifying for the play-offs, overtaking the capital club and now sitting four points ahead of Pelister, currently seventh.
As for our Rouge et Bleus, the last four matches in Zagreb and Pelister and at home to Szeged and Magdeburg will be crucial to securing qualification. This EHF Champions League season is therefore far from over.
Paris will return to EHF Champions League action on Wednesday 18 February 2026, kicking off the new European year with a trip to Zagreb, who are bottom of Group B. It will be a crucial match against a team that bounced back against Pelister and will need to win to keep their qualification hopes alive. At the same time, Szeged will play host to Barcelona, while Magdeburg will look to continue their perfect European run by beating GOG at home later in the evening. The following day, Pelister and Plock will both be looking to bounce back after ending the year with disappointing defeats that put a damper on their ambitions.
