SG Flensburg-Handewitt are leading the EHF European League Season A with 6:0 points. If they are also successful against AHC Potaissa Turda, they can secure their ticket to the main round on the fourth matchday. Kick-off in the GP JOULE Arena is at 20:45.
In Transylvania on the "Autostrada Transilvania", one of, if not the biggest up-and-coming stories in Romanian handball has taken place over the last 25 years. The AHC Potaissa club was founded in Turda in 2000. The ball-throwers initially played in the lower levels of the league system and played their home games on an asphalt field at a high school. In the last series, the ball throwers from the town of 40,000 inhabitants were number two in Romania. There were even times when AHC Potaissa Turda was without a home and had to move to the regional neighborhood - because the Romanian Handball Federation no longer tolerated the asphalt pitch. The big turning point came in 2009: a school sports hall made the home comeback possible. And even more importantly, both the current president Flaviu Sâsâeac and coach Horațiu Gal began their work. The club has been in the first division since 2011, appeared on the European stage for the first time in 2014, achieved a coup in the EHF Challenge Cup in 2018 and finished runners-up in the championship and the Romanian Cup last season. Another quantum leap: since May 2024, there have been 3300 instead of 600 seats for home matches. The NOVA PG Arena meets international standards.
The AHC Potaissa Turda squad
The best-known player is goalkeeper Mihai Popescu. The now 40-year-old has played over 200 international matches for Romania. He was once a guest in Flensburg with HCM Constanta. The veteran spent nine years in the St. Raphael box in the French league before moving to Turda in 2024. With his vast experience, he is well placed to assess the conditions in the EHF European League. "It's a very tough group in which we face very good teams from the strongest leagues," says Mihai Popescu. "Flensburg have the best chance of finishing first given their squad and their extensive European Cup experience." Radu Lazăr has been the captain for years. The former international has been scoring goals from the backcourt since 2013 and is still one of the club's key players at the age of 37. "It is an extraordinary success for our city, our club and our team that we are competing in the group phase of the EHF European League for the first time," he says. "It's an honor to compete with some of the giants of world handball."
The AHC Potaissa Turda team, which plays either in all blue or with a yellow top, features four legionnaires: Georgian playmaker Irakli Kbilashvili, Polish center Mateusz Piechowski and half-backs Mehran Falavarjani (Iran) and Ivan Mosic (Serbia). Current Romanian internationals are right winger Roland Thalmaier and left winger Denis Veres. The experienced left-handed player Cristian Ghiță took part in the 2024 European Championship. "We want to keep up with the other teams in the group," said the 34-year-old ahead of the first matchday. The first three matches in the EHF European League were lost.
