The main attraction of Group D this evening will be the clash between eight players of the EHF Champions League´s winners, Ciudad de Real.

Three Frenchmen, Jérôme Fernandez, Didier Dinart and Luc Abalo will face their club team-mates José Javier Hombrados, Alberto Entrerríos, Julen Aguinagalde, Morros de Argila and Chema Rodríguez who will wear the Spanish shirt.

Spanish goalkeeper Arpad Ř terbik, the ninth player of Ciudad de Real who could have played today, is out because of an injury.

The winner takes it all

This game is more than a clash between two rivals. The winner proceeds as group winner, taking with them maximum points to the Main Round.

Spain is currently leading with four points; runners-up France have one point less than their opponents.

Past results point to France

Despite their not so convincing start at EHF EURO 2010, France have a reason to be self confident. Since the 2004 Olympic Games, when they were eliminated in the quarterfinals, Le Grande Nation have at least reached the semi-finals of every major tournament.

The last two ”˜Players of the Year´ - Omeyer and Karabatić - will be on the court playing for Claude Onesta´s team tonight.

Remarkable performance by Spain

Looking to the other side, Spain has so far impressed everybody in the first two matches. And they are looking forward to proving their excellent form against the Olympic and world champions, too.

"But in order to beat France we must play perfectly," the Spaniard Alberto Entrerríos warns.

Goal record coming up?

FC Barcelona Borges player Juanín García will certainly be hoping to be picked to play by Coach Valero Rivera tonight. And then he will be looking to score as many goals as possible.

That would not only help his team to win, but also help him to come closer to winning his personal bet - one that only the best players can win.

The Spanish all-time goal scoring record is held by Juan Francisco Muñoz Melo, who scored 701 goals for the Spanish national team. Left wing García is only 35 goals away from that.

Not all French players fit

France´s captain Jérôme Fernandez, injured during the match against Czech Republic, trained normally and is expected to be in the starting seven.

But another player concerns French coach Onesta: due to a back problem, left wing Michaël Guigou who was not able to train with his team-mates yesterday.