Vardar knocked out of the Champions League after a 33-32 defeat in Płock: Wisła beat them both in Skopje and in Poland

Wisła Płock - Vardar 33:32: End of the road in the Champions League

Vardar 1961 are out of the race for the Champions League main round. In Płock, Wisła won 33-32 (16-13 at half-time) and completed the double, having also won in Skopje in round three. The Poles went on a 5-0 run between the 10th and 15th minutes and protected that lead to the end, even though Vardar closed to within two goals early in the second half. Jaka Malus scored 9 goals and Vukašin Vorkapić was key in attack, but Miljan Vujović's saves in the last ten minutes kept Płock in front, and Frederik Bjerre's seventh goal, just over a minute from time, sealed the win. It is Vardar's second one-goal defeat in the group, after 32-33 against Nantes in Skopje. Nantes, Płock and Melsungen now share the qualifying places in Group B. When it happens twice, one goal stops being bad luck.

Partizan, Zagreb and Celje - a Balkan night with no points

Vardar weren't the only club from the region to wave goodbye to the Champions League. Veszprém beat Partizan 38-28, after 37-26 in Belgrade last week, and the Serbian champions remain pointless after four rounds despite 9 goals from Tobias Wagner. Zagreb lost 33-34 in Aalborg, with a big finish that fell just short of a point, and Celje lost to PSG 30-41. Neither club has any chance of reaching the main round. Vardar have won this title twice, and Zagreb and Celje also have European crowns in their trophy cabinets. This autumn all three will watch the main round from the sidelines.

Gummersbach - Pelister 38:28: Fans turn on Červar

Eurofarm Pelister lost 38-28 in Gummersbach (20-15 at half-time) and remain bottom of Group G in the EHF European League, after a home defeat to La Rioja and a draw in Gdańsk. The Bitola side led 3-2 in the fifth minute, after which the German team, led by Alex Dujshebaev with nine goals, punished their turnovers - Pelister had twice as many as their opponents. Bitola's top scorer was captain Filip Kuzmanovski. On social media fans laid into coach Lino Červar and his "seven against six", after which Pelister conceded several goals into an empty net. Červar says Gummersbach showed their full quality and that he expects a better return leg in Bitola in a month's time. The question is whether by then the tactics will change, or just the expectations.

Nexe topple Elverum, Lučin with the winning penalty

The region had a better night in the European League. Croatia's Nexe won 39-37 in Norway against previously unbeaten Elverum, even though the home side's winger Kevin Gulliksen scored an incredible 15 goals. The turning point was a steal and counter-attack by Aleksandar Bakić for 21-20 early in the second half, and Tin Lučin, with 9 goals, settled the match from seven metres in the last two minutes. Izviđač from Bosnia and Herzegovina beat CSM in Bucharest 25-24, and Zagreb club Sesvete earned their first European win of the season, against Germany's Bergischer. For now, Europe's second-tier competition is bringing the region more points than the first.

Tomovski - the Bundesliga's number two goalkeeper

The best Macedonian news from Germany this week has a first name and a surname. Martin Tomovski, Bietigheim's goalkeeper, is second in the Bundesliga for saves after eight rounds - 96, at a rate of 26.95 percent. Only David Späth of Rhein-Neckar Löwen, with 103 saves, is ahead of him, and behind him is Andreas Wolff, one of the best goalkeepers in the world. The form comes at the right time: Macedonia play at the World Championship in January, and qualifying for the 2028 European Championship starts soon. At least in goal, the national coach has one more name he can count on.