2024/25 semi-finalists target return to Hamburg

For Flensburg, Montpellier Handball, RK Nexe and MT Melsungen, the quarter-finals mark their second step in the knockout phase, as the four clubs reached this point through the play-offs. Hannover, THW Kiel, FC Porto and HC Vardar 1961 return to the EHF European League court after skipping the play-offs, a right earnt by finishing first in their main round groups. 

Nexe take on Kiel, Porto meet Melsungen and Vardar play Montpellier. The pairings mean that all four semi-finalists from last season — Flensburg, Kiel, Melsungen and Montpellier — could return to the business end of the competition. But they must take aggregate wins over two legs in order to do so.

QUARTER-FINALS, FIRST LEG

RK Nexe (CRO) vs THW Kiel (GER)

Tuesday 28 April, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• RK Nexe qualified for the quarter-finals by beating IFK Kristianstad 68:61 on aggregate, winning both legs of the play-off tie; prior to that, they ranked second in main round group IV and won preliminary group H
• Kiel finished top of main round group I — arguably the most competitive group, as three of its sides have reached the quarter-finals; they are the only team yet to drop a single point in the EHF European League this season
• Nexe’s overall record in the EHF European League Men 2025/26 stands at seven victories, one draw and four losses; they have won their last four matches in a row
• for Nexe, it is the first international quarter-final appearance since 2022/23; their best result was reaching the EHF Finals in 2021/22, ranking fourth
• 2022/23, when playing the EHF Champions League, was the last time Kiel did not progress past the quarter-final stage of a European cup competition — before the EHF European League semi-finals last season, they played the EHF FINAL4 2024

MT Melsungen (GER) vs FC Porto (POR)

Tuesday 28 April, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Melsungen proved each leg is very much its own game on the path to the quarter-finals: after losing the first-leg play-off to Fredericia by six goals and trailing the whole match, they dominated the second clash for a nine-goal win and a 64:61 aggregate victory
• Porto finished top of group II in the main round and first in preliminary group D; their EHF European League season record is eight wins and two defeats
• Melsungen also won their preliminary round group and had a perfect record of wins in that stage, but in the main round, the German side lost three of four games and only narrowly secured second place behind Vardar
• Melsungen have a much shorter international record than Porto and this is their fourth quarter-final appearance; last season, reaching the EHF European League semi-finals, was their best result
• in 2024/25, Porto were knocked out by Montpellier in the quarter-final stage; their best European cup result was third in the last season of the EHF Cup, in 2018/19

Montpellier Handball (FRA) vs HC Vardar 1961 (MKD)

Tuesday 28 April, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• a battle between two past EHF Champions League winners, with Vardar having clinched the trophy in 2017 and 2019 and Montpellier the victors in 2018 and back in 2003; both line-ups have changed dramatically since those recent successes
• a strong main round, in which they won three games on the trot to conclude the four-match phase, propelled Vardar to the top of main round group III and directly to the quarter-finals
• the Macedonian side have had only two losses in 10 EHF European League 2025/26 games — one in each stage, with the preliminary round defeat by just one goal at the hands of IFK Kristianstad
• having ranked third in group I, Montpellier arrived at the quarter-finals by way of the clearest aggregate win of the play-offs, beating Elverum 67:59 on aggregate (36:24 and 35:31)
• facing two other semi-finalists from 2024/25 in their groups, Montpellier could not beat Kiel but did take one win over Flensburg — their only losses in the season came against those German powerhouses
• while MHB made the EHF Finals Men last season and in 2022/23, Vardar have not played an international quarter-final since their second title-winning EHF Champions League season in 2018/19

SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs Recken - TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (GER)

Wednesday 29 April, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Flensburg are the back-to-back title winners in the EHF European League Men 2025/26 and have played a European cup competition every season since 1995/96; Hannover are playing only their third international season and their second international quarter-final after the EHF Cup 2018/19
• Flensburg survived their first play-off appearance since 2022/23, beating SAH - Aarhus 71:65 on aggregate to reach their sixth consecutive European cup quarter-final, across both the EHF European League and EHF Champions League
• after winning preliminary group A with six victories in six games, Flensburg had a rough main round, with only one win in four matches; they narrowly placed second in group I ahead of Montpellier and behind Kiel
• Hannover won preliminary round group G and main round group IV, thereby progressing straight to the quarter-finals; they lost just two games in this EHF European League season — one in each phase
• Flensburg back Marko Grgić is the leading scorer remaining in the competition, with 68 goals; his teammate Johannes Golla is close behind on 65

Photos © Sascha Klahn (main), Alina Kaesler & Ingrid Anderson-Jensen (in-text)