18:10
Niakate gets the honours but there were many fine performances from Brest today, including six goals from playmaker Helene Fauske and five second-half saves by Cleopatre Darleux!
17:45
There is your overview of the weekend's results!
We can now look forward to the quarter-finals in late April and early May. Krim have booked a date with reigning champs Vipers Kristiansand, Brest will face the mighty Györ, CSM Bucuresti and Team Esbjerg will rejoin the action against each other and Metz progress directly to the EHF FINAL4.
17:25 - RESULT | Brest Bretagne 29:26 Odense
Odense push to bring themselves back within two with a minute remaining but another big save by Darleux puts paid to their chances and ensures that Brest Bretagne survive this thrilling match and progress to the quarter-finals!
17:17
Bo van Wetering misses two chances in a row from the left wing and Brest capitalise, taking a 27:24 lead. We're into the final five minutes now and Odense need a quick reply.
17:10
Much like the first half, although Brest seem to have the ascendancy on court, they cannot shake Odense loose on the scoreboard. 48 minutes played and the Danish side miss a chance to draw level as Maren Aardahl smacks a penalty off the bottom of the right hand post.
16:57
Saves have been few and far between in this contest so far but Cleopatre Darleux makes a big stop before Niakate goes down the other end and gives Brest a 19:17 lead at the 38-minute mark.
16:51
Monika Kobylinska appears to have gotten the memo and is looking a lot more active for Brest in attack, which has helped them take a 17:16 lead early in the second half.
16:36 - HALF-TIME | Brest Bretagne 14:14 Odense
This one is really hanging in the balance. After a strong start, Brest have been pegged back and will now need to find a way to regain control if they are to progress tonight. Helene Fauske has led the way for the hosts with 5 goals but will need some more support in front of goal in the second half.
16:22
Odense have really worked their way into this contest nicely and, with four goals from Mie Højlund, have taken the lead as we edge towards half-time.
16:14
Sandra Toft scores into an empty net after Odense turn the ball over while a woman down and Brest have their largest lead of the contest so far, 7:4. This momentary blip is soon put straight, however, as the Danish side find their way in attack to cut the deficit to a single goal once again with 13 minutes played.
16:05
Odense's one-goal lead from the first leg makes for an interesting psychological approach for both teams because its a lead which doesn't really count for anything at the beginning, only if and when things get tight at the end of today's contest.
Brest come out of the traps strong to take a 2:0 lead, thus eliminating the previously mentioned advantage but Odense have come back well and trail 3:2 after five minutes.
15:46
Not long to wait before the final match of the weekend and this is just one of many crucial matchups.
15:33
To get yourselves ready for the big clash throwing off at 16:00 CEST, check out the highlights from a thrilling first leg encounter.
Sunday 3 April
Good afternoon and welcome back to our live reporting of the play-off second leg this weekend and today our focus is on one match and what a match!
Brest Bretagne and Odense face off in Match of the Week with the Danish side hoping to defend the narrowest of leads following a 25:24 win last week.
The French champions are eyeing progression to the quarter-finals for the third season in a row, after being the runners-up in 2020/21.
Brest Bretagne Handball lost only three of their last 22 home games in the EHF Champions League Women, spanning the past two seasons, which will give them plenty of confidence heading into this one.
Odense Håndbold have made the quarter-finals of the premium European competition only once, in 2018/19. Last season they were eliminated in the play-offs by eventual winners Vipers Kristiansand.
20:27
That brings us to the end of our first day of live blog coverage in the second leg EHF Champions League Women 2021/22 play-offs!
Just one game remains in this stage — the Match of the Week Brest vs Odense at 16:00 CEST on Sunday.
Join us tomorrow to find out who will join the quarter-final lineup.
20:10
Two teams will continue the race for the EHF Champions League Women 2021/22 title, while two others have said goodbye to the competition for this season.
Recap everything that happened on this first day of second-leg play-offs in the match reviews below.
We didn't play well in the first leg, we wanted to do better today. We were able to settle the 7 against 6 even if it was not perfect, we conceded fewer goals this way. What also changed from last week is that we were able to play faster and have more rhythm. Today was even more physical than last week because we added some running this time.
We know that it is always hard to play here, because FTC have an amazing atmosphere here. We are happy to be in the best eight teams in Europe. The key to the win was the defence and to hold up FTC, because they fought well.
I expected a game like this. We wanted to forget the first game and also make the fans forget it. The first match was decided because there we had a lot of mistakes, but I am happy that we could win here. I want to say thanks to the fans, because they gave us a lot of love and support, which helped us a lot.
