ZEBRA Hallenheft THW Kiel vs. Paris Saint-Germain, 10.05.23 in Kiel
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Foreword EHF President<br />
Dear handball friends,<br />
It is a great honour for me to welcome supporters, players, officials and partners to the quarter-f<strong>in</strong>als<br />
of the Mach<strong>in</strong>eseeker EHF Champions League for the 2022/23 season. The EHF and EHF Market<strong>in</strong>g<br />
are delighted to have seen action on court worthy of Mach<strong>in</strong>eseeker’s first season as the title sponsor<br />
of the competition, and thanks to the support of our partners we are sure that the EHF Champions<br />
League will rema<strong>in</strong> the lead<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>door sports competition <strong>in</strong> Europe.<br />
The group phase was exhilarat<strong>in</strong>g, then the play-off round did not let us down! We witnessed two<br />
national derbies, beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g with the all-Hungarian clash between two great rivals; Telekom Veszprém<br />
and OTP Bank - PICK Szeged, <strong>in</strong> which Veszprém were victorious. GOG have advanced to the quarterf<strong>in</strong>als<br />
for the first time hav<strong>in</strong>g edged out fellow Danes Aalborg Håndbold over two pulsat<strong>in</strong>g legs, while<br />
Orlen Wisla Plock will also be mak<strong>in</strong>g their maiden appearance <strong>in</strong> the last eight hav<strong>in</strong>g beaten HBC<br />
Nantes <strong>in</strong> a shoot-out! <strong>THW</strong> <strong>Kiel</strong> will be a more familiar face at this stage after their command<strong>in</strong>g first<br />
leg over C.S. D<strong>in</strong>amo Bucuresti. Congratulations to the four teams who progressed from the play-offs.<br />
This means, naturally, that we are now only one round away from the flagship event of the club<br />
handball season, the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2023 <strong>in</strong> Cologne. Anticipation may be grow<strong>in</strong>g for the<br />
LANXESS arena on 17/18 June, but first we have four quarter-f<strong>in</strong>als, <strong>in</strong> which this season’s top four<br />
teams will book their tickets to Cologne. The first legs will be played on 10 and 11 May, with the second<br />
legs on 17 and 18 May. The Mach<strong>in</strong>eseeker EHF Champions League cont<strong>in</strong>ues with the format that we<br />
<strong>in</strong>troduced before the start of the 2019/20 season; the top two clubs <strong>in</strong> each of the two groups of eight<br />
qualified directly for the two-legged quarter-f<strong>in</strong>als. The four teams jo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g them were victorious <strong>in</strong> the<br />
two-legged play-off round which featured the teams who ranked third to sixth <strong>in</strong> their respective<br />
groups.<br />
GOG’s reward for beat<strong>in</strong>g Aalborg Håndbold is a meet<strong>in</strong>g with Barça, who became the first team to<br />
defend the title <strong>in</strong> 2022, and are therefore seek<strong>in</strong>g their third title <strong>in</strong> a row this season. Orlen Wisla<br />
Plock will face SC Magdeburg, mean<strong>in</strong>g we are guaranteed a new name and a new set of fans enter<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the LANXESS arena. <strong>THW</strong> <strong>Kiel</strong> and <strong>Paris</strong> <strong>Sa<strong>in</strong>t</strong>-<strong>Germa<strong>in</strong></strong> Handball are regulars <strong>in</strong> Cologne, but only one<br />
will be mak<strong>in</strong>g it there this time, while the other quarter-f<strong>in</strong>al sees a repeat of the 2016 f<strong>in</strong>al between<br />
Industria <strong>Kiel</strong>ce and Telekom Veszprém.<br />
We have seven different nations represented <strong>in</strong> the quarter-f<strong>in</strong>als, as the Mach<strong>in</strong>eseeker EHF<br />
Champions League once aga<strong>in</strong> shows the importance and strength of handball across the cont<strong>in</strong>ent. I<br />
would like to personally wish the very best of luck to all eight teams and congratulate them for reach<strong>in</strong>g<br />
this stage. Rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the same for the quarter-f<strong>in</strong>als is the ‘appo<strong>in</strong>tment to view’ system, mean<strong>in</strong>g<br />
fans can enjoy see<strong>in</strong>g their favourite team’s away legs played at 18:45 or 20:45 CEST on Wednesday<br />
and Thursday even<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> this round.<br />
For the EHF and our broadcast partners, it is a pleasure to br<strong>in</strong>g you the thrill<strong>in</strong>g action from the<br />
Mach<strong>in</strong>eseeker EHF Champions League from the group phase until the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4<br />
2023 on 17/18 June 2023. We know that the clubs and players will provide everyone with an<br />
exceptional quarter-f<strong>in</strong>al contest. On behalf of the EHF and EHF Market<strong>in</strong>g, I hope that you enjoy<br />
another fantastic round of handball action!<br />
Yours <strong>in</strong> sport,<br />
Michael Wiederer<br />
EHF President