Almost time to get back to work!

Almost time to get back to work!

After more than a month of holidays, some VELUX EHF Champions League players have returned to training, with the competition still almost two months away.

Belarusian side Meshkov Brest have undergone multiple change over the past few weeks, including the signing of a new coach, Spaniard Manolo Cadenas. They have also welcomed some new players, including former Nantes and Wisla Plock left hander Sime Ivic and Kielce wing Darko Djukic. In order to help these newcomers get to know their new home, the club set up a city tour.

City tour for our newcomers became a good tradition of the club!
Sime #Ivic, Darko #Djukic, Sandro #Obranovic, Alex #Bochko and Manolo #Cadenas walked around the city and viewed its places of interest️
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch more: https://t.co/WxCXl5dvM3 pic.twitter.com/lwSKYN8CzD

— Meshkov Brest (@bgk_meshkova) July 21, 2018

But it was not all about sightseeing, as the players gathered by the lake to play beach soccer, and some even took a dip in the refreshing water. A nice way to settle back into things before heading to the track for some running!

Today we have an unusual training day on the beach of the lake ☀️#meshkovbrest @SEHALeague @ehfcl pic.twitter.com/3gymIOGRFp

— Meshkov Brest (@bgk_meshkova) July 19, 2018

In Brest, the players had the luxury of some fun before facing the not-so-enjoyable physical work, but in Mannheim, it was all running and weightlifting this week. Though the squad might have put in some hard work during the sessions, the German side finished on a funny note on Sunday: The players had to disguise themselves and build their own carts before racing through a parking lot.

Am Ende gibts einen knappen Sieg für Team Bogdan!#1team1ziel pic.twitter.com/AS7elrKsCr

— Rhein-Neckar Löwen (@RNLoewen) July 22, 2018

German club SG Flensburg-Handewitt headed to Sweden to take part in what is now a traditional pre-season beach handball tournament. Work in the gym was mixed with handball in the sand.

 

Mit jeweils einem Sieg starteten unsere beiden Teams in die Vorrunde von @ahusbeach! Weiter geht’s! #MoinMoinSveriGe #SGPower ❤️

A post shared by SG Flensburg-Handewitt (@sgflensburghandewitt) on

Jul 21, 2018 at 6:07am PDT

For the first time, Flensburg were not the only professional squad to take part in the Kristianstad beach handball tournament, as the local team also played. Maybe Ola Lindgren thinks that this could be the secret ingredient to qualifying for the Champions League Quarter-finals every year!

 

Missa inte när våra nyförvärv ska debutera i den brandgula tröjan. På måndag möter vi Flensburg i den årliga handbollsfiestan. Tagga en kompis som du tar med dig på matchen.

A post shared by @ ifk1899 on

Jul 21, 2018 at 6:23am PDT

While some clubs and players have been sweating hard all week, others have been enjoying their last holidays before diving back into the handball world. Celje’s French line player, Igor Anic, used the occasion to take his wife and children to his native town of Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The former Champions League winner (with THW Kiel) looked like he was having a great time enjoying the sun and the architectural wonders.

 

My hometown and it’s famous old bridge! . . . . #mostar #oldbridge #oldbridgemostar #nowherewithoutmygopro #goprofr #gopro #goproselfie #goprooftheday #goprophotography #goprolife #gopromoff #capturewithgopro #igoranic #ai39 #selfie #selfiegopro #niceview #architecture

A post shared by I G O R A N I C (@igoranic) on

Jul 19, 2018 at 12:31pm PDT

FC Barcelona’s right wing Victor Tomas did not have to travel far to relax and enjoy the sunshine. At home, surfing the pool on the back of a pink flamingo while taking a nap, the Blaugrana has done everything required to go back to training on Monday with the batteries fully charged.

 

Home...☀️‍♂️

A post shared by Víctor Tomàs (@victortomas8) on

Jul 17, 2018 at 4:13am PDT

Champions League players might be opponents on the court all season long, but a lot of them have built real friendships over the years and it is no surprise to see some taking holidays together over the summer.

While THW Kiel’s Rune Dahmke and Paris Saint-Germain’s Sander Sagosen crossed paths in Norway over the past weeks, others from European powerhouses have been travelling the world. For instance, PSG’s Luka Stepancic and Filip Ivic met on a beach near Zadar, Croatia, while Barcelona’s Gonzalo Perez de Vargas and PSG’s Rodrigo Corrales travelled to Japan with their girlfriends for a couple of days.

 

... #zadar #croatia #friends #petrcane

A post shared by Filip Ivić 16 (@filipivic16) on

Jul 19, 2018 at 12:01pm PDT

 

Como niños✌️

A post shared by Gonzalo Pérez De Vargas (@perezdvargas) on

Jul 19, 2018 at 7:48am PDT

We do not know if this counts as a holiday or not, but the Slovenian Champions League crew met in their home country to take part in Jure Dolenec’s handball camp. Montpellier’s Vid Kavticnik, Szeged’s Matej Gaber and Veszprém’s Gasper Marguc joined forces to teach young Slovenian handball players a few of their tricks. In a couple of years, we might see some of these young players in the Champions League – who knows?

 

Uspešno zaključena prva izvedba škofjeloške rokometne šole Jure Dolenec. Hvala vsem otrokom, staršem, trenerjem, animatorjem, organizatorjem,... Pa seveda našim gostom @matejg22, @vidko, @dgajicgajo in @gaspermarguc ! Mi smo uživali, upam da otroci tudi in se vidimo naslednje leto!! ‍♂️‍♀️☀️‍♂️ #rdurbanscapeloka #mizuno #samsung #adriaticslovenica

A post shared by Jure Dolenec (@dolenec11) on

Jul 21, 2018 at 12:08pm PDT

We could not resist giving you this last one. We do not know what Rhein-Neckar Löwen’s recruit Jesper Nielsen is doing driving this tractor, but after Mattias Andersson’s selfie with cows two weeks ago, here’s to another interesting week of Champions League preparation!

Jesper in Action?#1team1ziel pic.twitter.com/0jGaIpiXlC

— Rhein-Neckar Löwen (@RNLoewen) July 18, 2018