Vardar lost to Nantes by a single goal and answered the fans with verses by Aco Šopov

Vardar fell 32:33 to Nantes at the Jane Sandanski arena, then answered the fans with Aco Šopov

The first home fixture in the Champions League in five years, and again a one-goal margin. Vardar started furiously, leading 3:0 inside four minutes, but after 16 minutes Nantes were already 12:8 ahead. The second half was open until the final seconds, and it was settled by a penalty from Noam Leopold, who finished with 13 goals. For the hosts, Mohab Abdelhak scored 10. At half-time it was 16:15 for the visitors - that is how tight the whole evening was. The hall was full, and after the final buzzer the club posted a video from the stands and, instead of a plain thank-you, reached for the verses of Aco Šopov from "The Long Coming of the Fire". A club with zero points after two rounds answering its fans with poetry after a defeat - that is a move you do not often see in European handball.

Macedonia wants Euro 2034 - but ten other federations have applied

The EHF officially confirmed that Macedonia is among the federations that have registered interest in the men's European Championship in 2034. The bid is joint with Serbia and Slovenia and was announced a month ago. The competition is serious: Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey have also registered interest - 11 federations in total, among them the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg, which have never hosted an EHF EURO. Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Luxembourg applied for both the men's and the women's tournaments. The men's Euro 2034 is scheduled from 10 to 29 January and will feature a quarter-final stage for the first time. The deadline for official bids is 1 March 2027, and the host is decided by the EHF Congress on 18 September 2027 in Ljubljana. Macedonia has already co-hosted an event of this kind - the women's Euro in 2022 with Slovenia and Montenegro. Half of Europe applies eight years in advance, and by then three parliaments and at least as many sports ministers will have come and gone.

Veszprém beat Füchse Berlin 35:29 in the clash of the favourites

The 2025 and 2026 finalists lost at home. Veszprém won in Berlin 35:29, and the key was goalkeeper Emil Nielsen, who after 17 minutes gave the visitors a six-goal cushion with a 5:0 run. A time-out from Berlin coach Nicolej Krickau did not help. Mathias Gidsel scored 10 goals for the hosts, Hugo Descat the same for Veszprém and was flawless from the seven-metre line. In the same round Sporting comfortably took a second win, Kielce beat Kolstad, and PSG edged Zagreb in a tight contest - Yahia Omar and Elohim Prandi scored 18 between them. Gidsel played superbly and lost again: currently the best handball player in the world is in a team that reached the final twice in a row, and he opens the season with a home defeat.

Barça escaped in Montpellier, Porto beat Partizan for the first time in history

Barcelona and Magdeburg keep perfect records in the Champions League. The Catalans scraped a 28:27 win in Montpellier, with goalkeeper Sergi Hernández decisive. Magdeburg, meanwhile, spoiled Kriens-Lucerne's first home match in this competition 39:29. The most interesting was in Porto, where the Portuguese side beat Partizan for the first time in history 32:28 - Antonio Martínez scored 8 goals, and Yoav Lumbroso 7 for the visitors. Porto led 5:2, stretched it to 13:8 and never let the game slip. This is Partizan's second defeat in as many rounds. Serbian handball has a long European tradition, but this season that tradition is so far producing only zeros in the points column.

Wisła Płock took the drama against Melsungen in the last 20 seconds

A goal from Sergei Kosorotov twenty seconds before the end gave Orlen Wisła Płock their first win of the season - 25:24 against Melsungen. That is the second match in a row decided by a single goal for the Polish side, after a 26:25 defeat at Nantes in the first round. The most efficient was Frederik Bjerre with 9 from 9 attempts, a statistic that says everything about the evening by itself. Melsungen led 15:12 before half-time and that was the largest margin of the whole match. The group Vardar are in is suddenly becoming a calculation of goal difference rather than wins - and that is terrain where experienced teams always have the advantage.