Paris (AFP)
Montpellier took advantage of the Vardar Skopje crisis to win the reigning European champion, 31 to 27, Saturday on the last day of the group stage of the Handball Champions League.
The Montpellier residents, already qualified for the round of 16, must wait for the result of the match between Kielce and Kiel to find out whether they finish third or fourth in their group.
The MHB had never won in the Vardar room, but the circumstances were favorable this time.
The financial crisis that the Macedonian club has been going through for several seasons has worsened in recent months, as players are no longer paid regularly. His best player, Latvian Dainis Kristopans, packed up for Berlin two weeks ago.
Sportingly, the Vardar is no longer at the level that allowed it to compete in the last three Final Four and win in 2017 and, to everyone's surprise, in 2019 despite the threats of disappearance. Skopje has now lost six of its last seven European games, but will still participate in the round of 16 thanks to its good start to the course.
This season, Montpellier is much more comfortable on the European scene than in France. He ended Wednesday against Saint-Raphaël (36-34) in a series of four defeats which probably moved him definitively from the second qualifying place for the Champions League.
On Saturday, the MHB overcame a bad start (1-5) before racing in front for the entire second period, thanks to their wingers Hugo Descat (8 goals) and Yanis Lenne (6 goals) and to their right-back Melvyn Richardson (5 goals).
A moment at the top of five goals, the Montpellier deferred the return of the defending champions to a goal four minutes from time to win their eighth European success of the season.
© 2020 AFP