Magdeburg still spotless, Plock and Aalborg remain top hunters
Round 5 of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 opened with five matches on Wednesday, with the favourites looking strong. SC Magdeburg remained perfect with their fifth win, while it was one victory apiece in the two Polish-French duels: Orlen Wisla Plock beat Paris Saint-Germain 35:32, and HBC Nantes claimed a 35:27 win in Kielce.
Our defence was in a big part of the game really good with a high level of intensity. We wanted to run with them, score a lot of goals in contra attack and that was really the key to win today. We managed to make it hard and to have the most energy in the end phase which I really think worked out.
A game where we were challenged on the tempo and the game between the two goals with a lot of running, but we did not managed to keep up with Aalborg and that resulted in a clear defeat. We had some good periods in the game where we made some controlled goals but made mistakes and [Niklas] Landin took a lot, and then you do not win against Aalborg.
Finally, we played well in the first half — in previous games that wasn’t the case. In the second half, the game slipped away from us around the 40th minute when the gap grew to six goals. That clipped our wings, and we couldn’t catch up.
It's always tough to play here, especially when we have challenging matches ahead in the French league. We’re very happy with today’s game — the player rotation we planned before the match worked out. We maintained tactical discipline, focus, and stuck to our game plan until the end.
We didn’t play badly, but we had some bad moments, and you just can’t afford that against the defending champions. It’s still only the beginning of the season — we have plenty of games ahead of us to improve and get better. Once our injured players return, we’ll be stronger.
We knew that Szeged were missing some key players, but even so, they made things really difficult for us. We controlled the game from start to finish, and in the last 20 minutes it already felt like we were on our way to securing both points.
In the first half, our opponents played better and we had difficulties, but in the second half we showed our character. We responded strongly, supported by our amazing fans, who carried us with their energy. It is a unique victory and we are very happy about it. Now we need to recover and focus on the next important and demanding matches.
We played well in the first half, controlled the game and could have taken a bigger lead. In the second half, fatigue caught up with us — we missed a few shots and made a few mistakes. Wisla has high-quality players in its ranks, picked up the pace and played very well in 1-on-1 situations. Despite the defeat, we leave the court with our heads held high.
To beat Barcelona you have to be perfect, we had a good match, but not perfect. Made some easy mistakes, we didn't find a solution to stop them in certain situations. The second half was much better, I saw a fight. We had a small chance at the end of the match, but we couldn't win. I think we are improving every day and getting better, we have to focus even on the smallest detail in the game.
It was nice to play in this fantastic atmosphere from the first to the last minute. I am pleased that we won, it was not as easy as it seemed. In the end, the match ended with a four-goal difference, we are satisfied with what we achieved and we came with two points. Eurofarm Pelister plays well, especially at home when the audience cheers them on.
