Foreshadow: Veszprém – Montpellier

 

Today, at 8:30 p.m. Telekom Veszprém will face the current titleholder in the Champions League, Montpellier in the Eurotournoi preparation tournament. The game will not be broadcasted.

 

 

Veszprém and Montpellier met in the 2016/17 season last time in the quarterfinals. In the first game on 22 April, in the Veszprém Arena, the home team won 26:23 and gained a 3 goals lead for the second leg in France. Our top scorer on that game was László Nagy with 6 goals. The first half of the second leg was a nightmare for Veszprém, as Montpellier had nothing to lose and jumped on its opponent from the very first minute. They managed to work off their difference and even lead the series with a goal. In the second period Veszprém shake themselves and did not leave a question at the end. They managed to win by 5 goals and qualified for the Champions League Final4 for the fourth time in a row. Our top in that game was Aron Palmarsson with 7 goals.

 

In the last French championship, our next opponent finished at second place. They had 22 victories, 1 draw and 3 losses out of 26 games. It is interesting because the champions PSG had the same history last year. Montpellier only missed the championship title with goal difference. Their top scorer in the Lidl StarLigue was Melvyn Richardson with 94 goals in 23 games. Richardson is the most efficient penalty striker as well with 93%, he scored 14 goals out of 15 penalties.

 

 

Montpellier started its victorious run in the Champions League from group C. They won 8 games and lost 2 out of 10 encounters and marched in the last 16 as the first in the group, where they met Barcelona. The first game was a surprise for the Spanish giant as they suffered a 3 goals loss from Montpellier, mainly thanks to Truchanovicius and his 8 goals. The second leg brought a huge fight but eventually Montpellier had the upper hand at the end and went on to the quarterfinals. There they met with German side Flensburg and achieved a 28:28 draw in away. This clash was open for a while, but the French team closed it quickly, by conceding only 17 goals at home. Besides the great defense and outstanding goalkeeper performance, Melvyn Richardson saddened the Germans with 9 goals. Montpellier qualified for the Final4 and faced HC Vardar in the semifinal. The Macedonians lost 28:27 and the French went on to the final to meet another French team, Nantes. This time, it was not so difficult, and Montpellier won the Champions League final by 5 goals and sat back to the throne of European men handball after the season 2002/03.

 

The brand new CL winner signed Fredric Pettersson from Touluse and Kevin Bonnefoi from Cesson-Rennes but he was immediately loaned out. The biggest name leaving this summer is Ludovic Fabregas, who signed with Barcelona.

 

Veszprém played against Nantes yesterday and managed to win 28:24. Our top scorer was Dragan Gajic with 7 goals, while Manuel Strlek and Borut Mackovsek scored 5 goals each.

 

If we can beat Montpellier tonight we will march on to the final of the tournament, and we have every chance to lift the trophy of this prestigious preparation tournament once again.

 

Let’s go Veszprém!

 

 

Photo: Zsolt Melczer, EHF Champions League Facebook page