Szeged dismantle Paris to complete quarter-final bracket

EHF / Kevin Domas

03 April 2025, 22:35

The Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 Play-offs are over and the first round of the knockout phase finished with a bang. After losing by one at home in the first leg, Szeged turned everything around in the French capital city on Thursday night to secure their presence in the competition’s quarter-finals for the first time since the 2018/19 season.

While PSG had managed to win in Hungary in the reverse leg, on Thursday they only could keep up their opponents’ rhythm for the first 20 minutes. After that, powered by Mario Sostaric and their goalkeeper Roland Mikler, the visitors broke away to take a maximum advantage of 12 goals with five minutes left to play.

Szeged booked their ticket for the quarter-finals by winning in Paris by 10 goals, 35:25, after losing by one at home last week, 30:31
for the first time since 2013, Paris will not play the EHF Champions League quarter-finals
the current top scorer of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25, Szeged’s Sostaric, added seven to his tally, while Paris’ Kamil Syprzak netted eight times
Szeged will face Barça in the quarter-finals, with the first game being played in Hungary

PLAY-OFFS, SECOND LEG

Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) vs OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) 25:35 (11:17)
OTP Bank - PICK Szeged win 65:56 on aggregate

The teams were only separated by one goal at the end of the first leg, and you could see exactly why in the first 20 minutes of the game. Szeged’s defence was well in place, with two defenders on the back of line player Syprzak, not leaving much space for Paris to find solutions. While the hosts managed to keep up with their opponents for 19 minutes, the last 11 minutes of the first half were a nightmare for PSG. Szeged conceded only two goals in that time frame, scoring eight in the meantime. With Sostaric on scoring duties and Mikler making some important saves, the Hungarian side broke clear away. When the Croatian right wing netted his fifth goal 10 seconds before the buzzer, Szeged were up by six and virtually in the quarter-finals.

Things did not get better for PSG after the break. Despite trying every tactical option possible, the hosts never managed to close the gap to less than six goals, just over 10 minutes into the second half. Even worse for them, Mikler pulled out a blinder. Making 15 saves at a rate of 38 per cent, the experienced goalkeeper led his teammates in the right direction. In his wake, Szeged took a maximum advantage of 12 goals at the 54th minute. By then, it was clear that the Hungarian side were returning to the quarter-finals. Szeged booked their first ticket for this stage of the competition since 2019.

We've worked all season and played many games in Champions League to play these kinds of games. It's the worst moment to have an off day like this. Great play by Szeged today. A great goalkeeper — we missed almost all open shots, and [Roland] Mikler did a really amazing game. I think this is the difference today.

In all parts of the game, I think we were not good enough today to fight for the win. And it's really hard if you start to miss so many open chances — mentally, it's hard to to continue to fight. We didn't do it good enough today to fight for the win.

Luc Steins

Centre back, Paris Saint-Germain Handball

We are very happy. I have to say this. I think it was our day. It was the day of my team. I think our performance was really, really good. But we knew before the match that if we played tonight perfectly, then we can win, and we did it, so I'm so proud.

Roland Mikler

Goalkeeper, OTP Bank - PICK Szeged