Foreshadow: Veszprém – Kielce

 

Telekom Veszprém will start the 2019 VELUX EHF FINAL4 against PGE Vive Kielce on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. Sport 1 will broadcast live from Cologne, and their transmission will be available in front of Veszprém Arena in a giant display as well.

 

 

Although the history between the teams lean towards Veszprém, we still have things to avenge against the Polish. Who would not remember the 2016 Champions League final, where Kielce turned the game around from a nine-goal deficit and saved the match to overtime, where they took the trophy before “Építők” in a penalty shootout. Luckily, we managed to win this season’s two games in the group. First, on home court we beat them 29:27, then in away we clinched a 35:36 victory. In the game in Veszprém, Dragan Gajic scored six times, while in Poland Kentin Mahé was the most efficient with eight goals.

 

Kielce finished Group A of the Champions League on fourth place with seven victories and seven losses, only taking over Rhein-Neckar Löwen by goaldifference. In the eights final they met Ukrainian side Motor Zaporozhye, where they surprised everyone by only clinching a draw in away, 33:33. A week later, on home court, they did not leave empty questions and beat the Ukrainians 34:29. After the lower seeded opponent, they faced a “bigger fish”, PSG, who everyone thought to be a contender for the final victory. The clash was started in Poland, where Kielce nearly decided the questions by beating Paris with 10 goals, 34:24. In the second-leg PSG fought well, and could work off their disadvantage, eventually Kielce advanced to Cologne. The top scorer of Kielce in the CL is Alex Dujshebaev with 88 goals.

 

 

Our next opponent managed to defend its title in the Polish domestic league. After a draw in away, they beat Wisla Plock on home court 32:25.

 

Telekom Veszprém played in the Hungarian League last time, in the final against MOL-Pick Szeged. After the 11 goals home victory, we achieved a 27:27 draw in Szeged and claimed the title once again, after a year. The last game in the Champions League was against SG Flensburg-Handewitt on 4 May, whom we knocked out to qualify for Cologne after a one year hiatus.

 

A lot of Fans will travel to Cologne in 2019 again, to support the boys in their run for the Champions League trophy. Thank you for your support, we wish safe travels, good times and of course, Veszprém triumph at the end of the tournament!

 

Let’s go Veszprém!

 

 

Photo: Dávid Vörös