Five players who shone before round 5

Simon Möller (IK Sävehof)

They say everything over 33% in terms of the saving percentage for a goalkeeper starts to be decisive. This is exactly what Simon Möller did for Sävehof this season in the EHF European League Men, as the 23-year-old Swedish shot-stopper had superb and consistent performances over the first four matches in the group, helping his side create an unprecedented four-match winning streak and top Group B.

But Möller did not stop in the middle of the pack, rather boasting the most significant saving efficiency among all goalkeepers who stopped at least ten shots in the group matches. In fact, the Swedish goalkeeper boasts an incredible 41.7% saving efficiency, stopping 53 shots.

While being the first in the efficiency standings, he is ranking second among the goalkeepers in the standings for the number of saves, nine shots less than Bjerringbro-Silkeborg’s Michael Løvkvist, who stopped 62 shots for the Danish side.

Andy Schmid (HC Kriens-Luzern)

Schmid won the second-tier European competition ten years ago with Rhein-Neckar Löwen, but he is still going strong with HC Kriens-Luzern, where he has been playing since 2022. 

While the Swiss side has no chances to progress to the next phase, after conceding three losses and drawing the other match, seeing a four-point gap between themselves and the second-placed Zabrze, Schmid has been nothing short of remarkable in these four matches, averaging over ten goals per match.

With two matches finished in double digits in terms of goals scored, Schmid is the clear leader in the top goal scorer standings, with 41 goals, 11 more than the second-placed Juri Knorr, his former teammate at Rhein-Neckar Löwen.

In one of Schmid’s last appearances in European competitions, where he scored over 750 goals, the centre back will aim to lead Kriens-Luzern to at least one win, celebrating a star-studded career.

Juri Knorr (Rhein-Neckar Löwen)

Knorr is the next player on the list, taking his superb form from the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship into the new season, which could also bode well for Germany’s chances at the EHF EURO 2024, where Löwen’s star will be aiming to lead the squad on home soil to a medal.

Until then, Knorr is shining for his club side, one of the six sides to go on a four-match winning streak in the EHF European League Men’s group matches. The left back scored 30 goals for the German side, already earning their tickets for the next phase in a challenging and well-balanced group.

Knorr also has a 73.2% overall efficiency in the competition so far, an excellent one for a player carrying this load of shots, and therefore making himself one of the players to watch for in the subsequent phases of the second-tier European competition.

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Lasse Møller (SG Flensburg-Handewitt)

Last season, SG Flensburg-Handewitt were dealt a heavy blow when Granollers eliminated them in the quarter-finals, missing out on featuring on their home court in the EHF Finals Men. The German side learned something from that experience, as they are currently the top attack in the group matches, with 152 goals scored in the first four rounds.

No player has scored more goals than left back Lasse Møller, who entered his fourth season with the German side, with his form picking up in the last matches. The 27-year-old Danish back has 27 goals this season, improving his tally from the previous season by two goals, with an 11-goal performance in the first match against Kadetten Schaffhausen.

Møller will be crucial for his side in the next phases of the competition, as Flensburg are surely aiming for a top result in the EHF European League Men this season, trying to avoid another early elimination.

Mathias Gidsel (Füchse Berlin)

Gidsel is the biggest star in the EHF European League Men this season after being named the MVP of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and snatching the best scorer title at the 2023 World Championship.

Reigning champions Füchse have created a four-match winning streak in a well-balanced group with Dinamo, Chambery, and Izvidac, and Gidsel has been the fulcrum of the German side’s attack, with 26 goals so far in the competition, but also some of them being crucial, including a pair in last week’s match against Dinamo.

Suppose Füchse are to challenge again for the trophy, which they will try. In that case, Gidsel will be crucial in that plan, as he also ranks 10th in the number of assists, contributing directly to 42 goals this season for the title holders.