Halfway through the six group matches, Skanderborg AGF sit in second place, poised to advance to the main round alongside the defending champions, Barcelona.
Skanderborg AGF got off to a difficult start in Thursday's match against Montpellier. The East Jutland side struggled particularly in attack.
There was little margin for error for Skanderborg AGF if they wanted to stay competitive. Every time they committed a technical error, the French team punished them on the counter-attack.
Gradually, Skanderborg AGF settled into their rhythm and limited the number of mistakes while two French suspensions helped shift the momentum. After 20 minutes, the Danish hosts caught up and kept their foot on the gas from there.
The home side went into the interval leading by two goals and the halftime break did not alter the match's momentum.
Jeppe Cieslak raced away on a fast break to put Skanderborg AGF up 18–14 forcing the French visitors to call a timeout less than five minutes into the second half.
Montpellier then tightened up their defense, and costly mistakes by the home side were immediately punished as Montpellier scored four unanswered goals to quickly erase the Danish lead.
However, Skanderborg AGF did not falter. In attack, Kristjan Kristjansson found his rhythm with a couple of crucial goals while great goalkeeping by Magnus Petersen helped Skanderborg AGF regain the lead.
This time, the French side was not allowed back into the match.
Instead, the Danes' first Champions League victory became a reality when Kristjan Kristjansson extended the lead to 35–32 with an elegant, curling shot. And goalkeeper Petersen then ultimately capped off a brilliant evening with his 20th save of the match.