Narrow wins for Szeged and Sporting; Polish sides defeated

EHF / Björn Pazen

02 April 2026, 22:45

After One Veszprém HC and HBC Nantes started the first-leg Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 play-offs victorious on Wednesday, both home sides took the wins on Thursday: OTP Bank - PICK Szeged and Sporting Clube de Portugal won their matches against Polish clubs Industria Kielce and Orlen Wisla Plock, respectively.

While Szeged managed to extend the gap to three goals in the last minute, Sporting lost the chance for a much clearer win than the 33:29 result in the Match of the Week.

16 saves from goalkeeper Roland Mikler were the key for Szeged’s 26:23 against Kielce
after six straight wins in the Champions League, Kielce were defeated, but still have the chance to turn it around on home ground next week
the Costa brothers Francisco and Martim combined for 19 of 33 Sporting goals in the victory against Plock
the Polish side pulled off a great comeback after being down 24:14 in minute 37

OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs Industria Kielce (POL) 26:23 (11:11)

H2H: 6-1-10
Top scorers: Lazar Kukić 6/8 (OTP Bank - PICK Szeged), Piotr Jarosiewicz 6/8 (Industria Kielce)

Two series ended on Thursday night, one continued: After six straight wins in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26, Industria Kielce were defeated. On the other hand, OTP Bank - PICK Szeged not only took their fourth straight win against the Polish runners-up, but ended their series of five matches without victory.

Kielce scored the first goal, but the 1:0 was their last advantage until midway through the second period, 18:17. In the first half, the sides neutralised each other with strong defence. The biggest intermediate gap was two goals in favour of the hosts and ultimately 11:11 was a well-deserved score at the break. In the second half in particular, both goalkeepers had a huge impact on the match, with Szeged veteran Roland Mikler winning the duel against Kielce’s Klemen Ferlin with 16 saves versus 11.

Nothing changed on the score board until minute 59, with mostly Szeged leading and Kielce equalising. Despite the huge support from the stands, the Hungarian side could not pull ahead — one reason was that Kielce left wing Piotr Jarosiewicz was cold as ice from the penalty line. But in the last minute of the match, Szeged managed to gain their first three-goal difference, at 26:23, and keep it to the end.

We had many problems at the start of the season, but now that the decisive phase is beginning, everyone approached the game with motivation and focus. We knew it would be a tough match and that we had to match the opponent’s pace. Both teams gave everything, but the tie will only be decided next week.

Mario Šoštarić

Right wing, OTP Bank - PICK Szeged

This is only half of the tie. Nothing has been decided yet. We are not satisfied with our performance — we didn’t manage to implement what we had planned beforehand. We missed our shots, our attacks lacked fluency and Roland Mikler was outstanding in goal. Defensively, I think we performed well, but we need to correct our mistakes.

Aleks Vlah

Centre back, Industria Kielce

The first half was the worst of our season. It’s good that we learnt from it, and the second half was totally different. We solved the situations that were problematic and it was much better. There is still a second match at our home, and we believe that everything is possible.

Michał Daszek

Right wing, Orlen Wisla Plock

It was a great handball match. Even if we had won by eight or nine goals, I wouldn’t leave here feeling that the tie was decided. We dropped off in the second half, not only because of the physical aspect, but also because they improved. Their goalkeeper made more saves, and we also missed some clear chances — but if you had told me this would be the result after 60 minutes, I would have taken it.

Ricardo Costa

Head coach, Sporting Clube de Portugal