FC Porto face Melsungen in European League quarter-final first leg | OneFootball

With the Placard Championship goal now further away, FC Porto turns its attention, this Tuesday at 7:45pm on Porto Canal, to another major target this season, as it hosts Germany’s Melsungen in the first leg of the European League quarter-finals. After finishing top of Main Round Group II with four wins and two defeats, the Dragons are just 120 minutes away from securing a place in the final four, which would allow them to match their 2018/19 run, when they finished the competition in third place, then under the EHF Cup name, with Sweden’s Magnus Andersson in charge. On the other side, the Germans are chasing a ticket to Hamburg after an impressive comeback in the play-off for a place in the quarter-finals: they lost by six goals away to Fredericia in Denmark (35-29), but responded at home with a nine-goal win (35-26).

Familiar with the Bundesliga, having played for Gummersbach before joining FC Porto on loan in February, João Gomes, in remarks relayed by the club, highlighted that today’s opponent has “tall, powerful players and shooters, along with two quick playmakers, who try to keep the pace of the game high,” but assures that the blue-and-white side feels “very confident.”

With well-known names in the squad — Hungarian goalkeeper Kristof Palasics, a former Benfica player, and international Alexandre Cavalcanti, who has been unavailable since last November — the Germans won both meetings played in 2024/25 (24-29 at the Dragão and 32-27 in Germany), in a season in which they finished fourth. Even so, the history between the two teams is brief, and coach Roberto García stresses that “FC Porto play with great intensity and emotion,” admitting he expects strong resistance in the second leg, scheduled for the 5th at 7:45pm at the Dragão.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.