Summary: Barça back on top of Europe after six years
I am very proud of the teamwork, of all the work we put through all the season. We work hard, during all the trainings, all the matches, and we deserve to be here. The chance to end my career with this trophy is very special, I will never forget it
20:15
Several players are leaving Barça this season, but none have had such an impact as Raul Entrerrios. His success has been linked to that of coach Xavier Pascual (moving to Dinamo Bucuresti) and the team is likely to look very different next year.
Entrerrios is due to retire after the Tokyo Olympic Games, where he will be hoping to collect yet another medal for Spain.
20:07
Head over to Twitch now for post-match analysis from Markus Floth and Dominik Klein!
20:00
The awards for MVP of the tournament and top scorer of the EHF Champions League season were presented a little while ago.
Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, who made 14 saves tonight and scored three goals, was named MVP, while Nantes' Valero Rivera topped the scorer's list with 95 goals across the season. He edged out Barça's Dika Mem and Brest's Mikita Vailupau.
19:30 | FULL-TIME
BARçA 36:23 AALBORG Håndbold
It was not to be the day for Aalborg. Barça complete their perfect season with a dominant win, sending off their coach Xavier Pascual and captain Raul Entrerrios in style. It's the biggest ever win in an EHF FINAL4 final and one they are celebrating vigorously on court.
19:20
Barça have a 32:21 lead now, and there are five minutes left.
19:15
If Aalborg do come back from this Lukas Sandell will be largely to thank. He's scored eight goals from nine attempts, repeatedly breaking past Gonzalo Perez de Vargas.
19:11
Barça have taken a 10-goal lead and Aalborg's hopes are vanishing. Their opponents just have more speed and more depth to play with. This trophy is in Barça's hands unless Aalborg can do something extraordinary.
19:07
Stefan Madsen has taken a timeout. Simon Gade is doing a decent job in goal, but Barça are still out-shooting Aalborg.
However, Lukas Sandell is really performing with eight goals so far to keep Aalborg's hopes a little bit alive.
19:03
Barça are giving Aalborg very few chances, punishing every small mistake by the Danish team and scoring quickly every time they get the ball. It's 23:15 now, eight and a half minutes in.
18:55
Within seconds of the second half starting Luka Cindric has scored.
18:33
Aalborg are fighting but Barça are still stronger and their defence is solid.
18:30
Raul Entrerrios scores his first goal of his last game for Barça into an empty goal, as the seven-on-six tactic backfires for Aalborg. Barça now lead 14:9.
18:27
Barça's skill is being able to read what is going on at all times - as shown in this glorious sequence.
18:23
Stefan Madsen has chosen to go for a seven-on-six attack - this proved costly for Nantes yesterday against Barça. However Aalborg eventually manage to break through the Barça defence and Felix Claar scores.
18:21
Sebastian Barthold breaks Aalborg's period of no goals with a good shot, but Barça waste absolutely no time and Luka Cindric makes it 10:6, just inside 16 minutes.
18:20
It's been a long time since Aalborg managed to score, and they've squandered a powerplay period with a foul by Lukas Sandell on Luka Cindric. Dika Mem is off for Barça, and Sandell goes off for Aalborg.
18:16
Aalborg have called their first timeout after a 6:0 run from Barça. The record champions have stepped up the pace, defending hard then scoring on fastbreaks. It's 8:5.
18:14
Barça have held their nerve against Aalborg's brilliant start and brought it level at 5:5. Aleix Gómez steps up for a penalty and it goes in - unlike this earlier Jure Dolenec effort, saved superbly by Mikael Aggefors. Ten minutes in the score is 6:5.
18:10
The Czech referees pause the game to check a shot from Lukas Sandell that just crept across the line - it was good, and Aalborg briefly have a 5:2 lead before Dika Mem scores his second, and Blaz Janc goes racing off on a fastbreak to make it 4:5.
18:04
A fast start from Aalborg give them an early 2:0 lead before Luka Cindric scores for Barça.
18:01
Here we go! Can Aalborg beat Barça for the first time in nine meetings when it really counts? They've got closer and closer over the years, and in December lost by just three goals. Or will Barça produce the perfect end to their perfect season?
We're about to find out.
17:55
The teams are being introduced - get ready, the show is about to start!
17:45
Here's the squads today. The big news is that Aron Palmarsson is back for Barça, displacing left wing Alex Pascual.
Aalborg have brought in Mark Strandgaard on the right wing, with 19-year-old Mikkel Rasmussen sitting this match out.
17:37
The teams are warming up ...
17:30
Half an hour until the final! Kevin Domas offers his predictions - it's Barça's to lose, but Aalborg could well upset the favourites.
It is always difficult to play this kind of match, but we managed to be aggressive and we fought from the first to the last second. We are still disappointed, but at least we finish the season in a good way.
15:57 | HALF-TIME
HBC NANTES 13:17 PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN HANDBALL
Benoit Kounkoud scores a stunning goal right on the buzzer to give Paris a four-goal cushion going into the dressing room. Although the men in white took control towards the end of that half you sense Nantes have plenty of fight left in them.
15:49
Nantes have not regained the lead since Paris took it, and PSG took a 15:12 lead in the 26th minute as Nedim Remili scored. However, a good Dragan Pechmalbec goal brings it back to 13:15.
Here's the Nikola Karabatic goal from earlier. Both Karabatic brothers have played a big role so far, with lots of involvement in passing play even though they have scored just once each.
15:40
Nikola Karabatic scores his first goal of the Champions League since his injury and comeback, and it puts PSG up 11:10. Alberto Entrerrios calls a timeout.
15:38
All the talk this season has been of Emil Nielsen, but Nantes' other goalkeeper Cyril Dumoulin has been brilliant so far this match. With the score at 10:10 about 20 minutes in, Dumoulin has a 50 per cent save efficiency.
15:28
Goals by Dainis Kristopans and Mathieu Grebille level the match at 7:7.
15:27
Benoit Kounkoud, PSG's top scorer so far, is suspended, but in Nantes' powerplay period Alexandre Cavalcanti fouls Luka Karabatic and is also suspended. Ferran Sole scores the penalty. We still have a close match with Nantes just holding the lead.
15:23
"We're in for a bit of mad handball," says EHFTV commentator Tom Ó Brannigáin as Nantes steal the ball and David Balaguer scores his first of the match.
Cyril Dumoulin, with four saves from seven shots, is making sure Nantes stays ahead - it's 5:3 after seven minutes.
15:18
Nantes are controlling the early play, putting themselves up 3:1 in the first couple of minutes.
15:15
They've thrown off!
15:05
This is Paris Saint-Germain's 150th EHF Champions League match - an impressive milestone. They've met Nantes once before at the EHF FINAL4, in 2018, but that was in the semi-finals and Nantes won. The last time they played was in the French league in May, when Nantes won 25:24; previous to that, PSG beat Nantes 26:24 in December. So a close match seems certain!
14:45
With 30 minutes until throw-off, here are the squads for the 3/4 placement match.
Nantes are unchanged from Saturday's line-up.
Paris have taken left wing Adama Keita out, and replaced him with Mathieu Grebille.
14:38
Today marks the last club match for Nantes captain Rock Feliho, who is retiring. The 38-year-old line player has been a consistent presence for his team and will certainly be missed. But can he go out with a win?
14:24
Check out the match-side view from yesterday's action to whet your appetite for today.
14:13
EHF journalist Kevin Domas knows both Nantes and Paris well and he's assessed their chances ahead of the 3/4 placement match, which to remind you throws off at 15:15 CEST.
14:00
Welcome back! It's not long until Nantes and Paris play for third place and the Remote FAN SHOW is starting right now on Twitch, with Dominik Klein and Markus Floth again providing some analysis of what might happen later.
12:05
We'll pick up live coverage in this blog at 14:00 CEST - in the meantime, enjoy the trailer for today's big final, and keep an eye on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for more build-up!
The Remote FAN SHOW will also be live at 14:00 CEST on Twitch, again featuring Markus Floth and Dominik Klein.
11:35
Before the matches later on there's plenty of time to catch up with yesterday's action. Watch the highlights of both semi-finals on YouTube!
Paris Saint-Germain vs Aalborg:
Barça vs HBC Nantes:
11:15
If you head to Facebook now you can watch a live chat between EHF president Michael Wiederer and Barça president Joan Laporta!
11:10
Happy finals day! There's about four hours until the 3/4 placement match throws off but plenty happening across our channels to keep you occupied until HBC Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain take to the court to play for third place at 15:15 CEST. Barça and Aalborg will contest the final at 18:00 CEST.
First up, find out more about today's games in the match preview.
We felt joy after reaching the final but on the other side, we’ve been there a few times and we know that this is only half-time. Unfortunately, at the end of the EHF FINAL4 there is only one winner and three losers so this time we are going to win.
The difference was not only visible in the last minutes, but for the whole match. We tried, we played with a lot of heart, but we played without head and we lost the match in attack.
18:40 | HALF-TIME
Barça 15:13 HBC NANTES
It's the same score at the break as the first semi-final, with the favourites taking a slender two-goal lead to the dressing room. Baptiste Damatrin-Bertrand gives Nantes their 13th goal just before the buzzer goals. It's a fast-paced game and there's no clear advantage to either team.
18:31
The game has turned again, and Nantes have got back to one goal down with about six minutes to go. Now it's time for Barça to have a timeout.
18:27
Timothey N'guessan takes advantage of an empty Nantes goal and Barça are up 12:9. Alberto Entrerrios calls a timeout, telling his players to calm down a little.
18:20
It's definitely a day for the goalkeepers, with Emil Nielsen and Gonzalo Perez de Vargas exchanging saves early on. Nielsen just has the edge right now with seven saves from 16 shots (44 per cent), over 4 from 10 for the Spaniard.
18:15
A suspension for Ludovic Fabregas proves costly for Barça as David Balaguer puts his team within a goal of their opponents.
18:10
A penalty puts Nantes on the scoreboard - scored easily by Valero Rivera. Barça are looking solid and dangerous, but Nantes are starting to appear a bit more comfortable.
18:05
This is familiar. The favourites make the better starts, taking a 2:0 lead inside three minutes with goals by Timothey N'guessan and Ludovic Fabregas. Meanwhile Gonzalo Perez de Vargas has made two great saves to stop Nantes from scoring.
17:45
Just about 15 minutes to go until the second semi-final throws off, and here are the squads.
Barça are missing Aron Palmarsson and Aitor Arino today, and whether this will have an impact will be interesting to see.
Nantes, as mentioned earlier, got within one goal of Barça in the group phase. They need Emil Nielsen to be on top form again today - but he's been brilliant all season. They've also got Kiril Lazarov, who will expect to add to his EHF FINAL4 goal tally.
17:25
Well, hopefully you've caught your breath and had time for a break before the second semi-final. Can Nantes cause another upset by beating Barça? Björn Pazen doesn't think so - here are his predictions.
We came to win and now we’ve got the chance to do it. We’re going to win because we’re the best team here.
15:58 | HALF-TIME
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN 15:13 AALBORG Håndbold
After that really slow start Aalborg have closed up and are back in the match. For a while it looked as though this game was challenging for one of the lowest half-time scores in EHF FINAL4 history, but the last 10 minutes were much quicker.
Felix Claar is currently leading the scoring with five goals.
15:48
The goals are finally coming a bit more quickly with a flurry of shots for both teams; Nedim Remili gives PSG a three-goal lead once more at 13:10, 26 minutes in, but Felix Claar then scores his fourth of the match and it's back to 13:11.
15:45
It's heating up a bit now! Paris lead 11:9, and Aalborg are starting to look a bit better.
This was a gorgeous goal from Luc Steins earlier on. It's his first EHF FINAL4, after he tested positive for Covid in December. But Raul Gonzalez has just brought Nikola Karabatic on for the first time in the match.
15:35
Aalborg have found a bit more rhythm now, and are defending well, but Paris have also maintained their momentum and it's 6:3. Mind you it might have been a bigger margin had it not been for Mikael Aggefors.
15:27
Just as I write that, PSG steal the ball and Dylan Nahi races down the court to score. Stefan Madsen calls a timeout, as Aalborg are 0:3 down now. He sounds pretty intense. Madsen sends his team back on to play seven-on-six, and Felix Claar finally scores for Aalborg.
15:25
Magnus Saugstrup steals the ball and sets off on a fastbreak, but Elohim Prandi holds him up and it's an easy save for Yann Genty. Aalborg are yet to score, and we've had no goals from open play yet.
15:24
Two penalties, both scored by Mikkel Hansen, have given PSG a 2:0 lead now at six minutes in. Paris are controlling things at the moment, but it's early days.
15:18
In the first major action of the game, Henrik Toft Hansen receives a penalty, but Buster Juul-Lassen misses the shot and it's still 0:0 after two minutes.
15:10
Just before throw-off, click here for a reminder of how to watch the action.
14:55
The teams are warming up. PSG had a bit of fun playing football - appropriately as the Euro 2021 is also ongoing today!
14:20
Here are the squads for the first game.
Paris Saint-Germain are back to full strength, with Nikola Karabatic confirmed in the squad as he continues his recovery from injury as well as All-star Team left back Mikkel Hansen and young player Dylan Nahi.
Aalborg also look strong with a raft of Danes who are used to winning - many of them played alongside PSG's Hansen at the 2021 World Championship back in January. The EHF FINAL4 might be new territory, but Aalborg are on the up.
14:00
With 75 minutes to go until the first semi-final, the Remote FAN SHOW has begun. Meanwhile, here's EHF journalist Björn Pazen with his pre-match thoughts.
If you say we’re underdogs we take that, it’s okay. We’ve shown before that when we play against other teams that on a normal basis will maybe win against us, we had the quality to make a surprise, and of course we’re set to do that tomorrow as well
There are no favourites in Cologne. There are four teams and we all have the same possibilities to win. When you see the competitions from other years, we learn a lot from that. We know what we have to do: 60 minutes of perfect game, do our best job. This is something we have to do to reach the final.
One thing is similar (as in 2018): the spirit of the team hasn’t changed. We have the same warrior spirit, the same heart on the court. The spirit is the same, that is the value of HBC Nantes. We keep strong as a team, that will never change. There is a bit more pressure but we are playing some of the best teams in the world so we have nothing to lose.
14:22
Can this be PSG's weekend - finally?! They are at the EHF FINAL4 for the fifth time, reached the final once - in 2017, against Vardar - but are yet to lift that beautiful trophy.
EHF journalist Kevin Domas caught up with Raul Gonzalez, and in this interview the PSG coach says the team is "better now than six months ago" when they lost to Barça in the semi-final of the rescheduled 2020 edition.
13:50
Traditionally the four teams at the EHF FINAL4 speak to the media a day before the throw-off. This year that media call takes place online, and PSG were the first team to answer the questions from the journalists as coach Raul Gonzalez, Viran Morros and Henrik Toft Hansen shed their light on the event this morning.
This is what Morros said in reply to the usual questions like 'who are the favourites?' this weekend:
We all know the situation. We all know what happens here in Cologne. We don’t see ourselves as favourites, because everyone knows that when you get here to the FINAL4 it’s not just a lucky day. It’s all season working. Anything can happen. We’ve seen the last 10 editions, I don’t know how many times the real favourites won — I think two or three times maximum.
12:56
The eve of the EHF FINAL4 always means the big unveiling of the season's All-star Team! After 210,000 votes were cast by fans to decide the final selection, the best of the best for 2020/21 have been announced.
Barça were the favourites in the All-star Team, presented by Gorenje, while Niklas Landin and Mikkel Hansen were the standouts in terms of votes, with both earning more than 30 per cent in their respective positions. Read more about the team here.
12:40
Hello and welcome to the live blog coverage of the EHF FINAL4 2021! We are set for a huge weekend as Barça, Nantes, PSG and Aalborg fight for the trophy in Cologne. Courtney Gahan here getting you started as the countdown to throw off nears the last 24 hours.
On Friday, we get started with the Remote FAN SHOW hosted by Markus Floth and three-time EHF Champions League winner Dominik Klein before the action truly gets underway on Saturday. Here's your semi-final schedule for Saturday:
- 15:15 CEST PSG vs Aalborg
- 18:00 CEST Barça vs Nantes
But first thing is first: How do you keep up with all the action this weekend? Find out where to watch, where to follow the live stats, where to see all the best social media coverage and more below!
