Vardar Are Out of the Champions League After a Third One-Goal Defeat, While Ohrid Set Out to Defend Their European Title

Vardar out of the Champions League - by one goal, for the third time

Four rounds, four defeats. Vardar lost in Poland to Wisła Płock 33:32 and no longer have any chance of progressing from Group B of the EHF Champions League. The first twenty minutes decided the match: Wisła led 14:6, and Vardar fought back to 13:16 by half-time. In the second half the hosts mostly led by three, and Vukašin Vorkapić pulled it back to 32:33 from seven metres twenty seconds before the end - and that was it. Jaka Malus scored nine goals and Vorkapić eight - earning a place in the team of the round. Coach Ivan Čupić said the team is young, with a young coach, and that three matches have been lost by a single goal. Comforting, but cheap: one goal is the difference between "young team" and "eliminated team" - and Vardar are the latter.

Veszprém merciless against Partizan, Zagreb and Celje out of the race

The Balkan clubs in the Champions League had a dark night. Hungary's Veszprém beat Partizan 38:28 and, with a fourth win from four matches, are one step from the next phase. The Belgraders held on for one half, mainly thanks to Tobias Wagner with nine goals, but after the break Veszprém went on a 7:3 run in eight minutes and the match was over. Zagreb lost to Aalborg 34:33, and Celje were crushed by PSG 41:30 - both clubs now have no chance of going further. A region with a long handball tradition is collecting mostly defeats among the elite this autumn. Where did that school get stuck?

Jankulovska has surgery - Macedonia without her at the Euros

A blow for the women's national team. Left back Angela Jankulovska, one of head coach Igor Marković's key players, was injured in the return leg of her club, Slovakia's Dunajská Streda, against Salerno in the EHF European Cup. The club confirmed she was successfully operated on and that the ligament stabilising the knee was reconstructed. Rehabilitation begins on Monday, and recovery usually takes seven to nine months. That means no European Championship, where Macedonia are in a group with Norway, Switzerland and Romania, and no play-off for the 2027 World Championship, scheduled for April. Marković now has to find a solution at left back - in a group that would have been tough even with her.

Nexe wake up the group in the EHF European League

Croatia's Nexe went to Norway and handed Elverum their first defeat in the European League. The match was level at half-time, and the key moment came three minutes after the break: a steal and fast break by Aleksandar Bakić for 21:20. The Norwegians came back to within one goal several times and even levelled at 29:29, but the winning goal came from Tin Lučić from seven metres. It was a night when Kevin Gulliksen scored as many as 15 goals for Elverum - and still lost. In the same round, Zagreb club Sesvete beat Germany's Bergischer and claimed their first international win of the season. Croatian clubs in Europe walk in without complexes against Norwegian and German opponents. How many clubs in the region can say that?

Ohrid defend the European trophy, and the EHF sees them as favourites

The second round of the EHF European Cup starts with 64 teams from 32 countries, and among the six former champions are two Macedonian ones: GRK Ohrid, the current holders, and RK Alkaloid, champions in 2024/25. Ohrid enter directly and begin their title defence with a double home tie against Turkey's Spor Toto next weekend. The European federation sees Ohrid as the biggest favourite for the trophy. Two consecutive titles in this cup for Macedonian clubs are no coincidence - this is the competition in which Macedonian handball is currently playing from a position of strength. While Vardar say goodbye to the Champions League, Ohrid have a chance to show that the European formula isn't lost, it has just moved to the lakeside.