EHF Champions League Women returns with fiery clashes in round 7
The EHF Champions League Women is making its return after a two-week hiatus with thrilling matchups. The Match of the Week sees group leaders Metz Handball travel to Ljubljana for their 19th clash against Krim Mercator Ljubljana. Storhamar Handball Elite aim to keep their winning streak alive against Podravka Vegeta, CS Gloria 2018 BN face Nykøbing Falster Håndbold in a battle of the last two teams of group A and CSM Bucuresti are hosting FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria.
In group B, leaders Brest head to Odense, while Györ are aiming to bounce back on their home court against Rapid, after a heavy loss before the break against Odense.
We face a very good collective team that we know from last season. Podravka play with their heart and sacrifice a lot in every game they play. We can compare them a bit with us. We have five points, they have three points, and both teams have been in good positions for more points in several of the Champions League matches so far this season.
Nykobing are a very good team. We need to be aggressive in defence, then we can do to the fast attack from the defence. We have to focus in attack and we have to play together all game.
It is a super important game for us. Gloria are a good team, even though they are at the bottom of the group, too. So, it is important for us to put on a good performance and play a good match. Not only the team, but also the arena and the fans in Romania will be an experience and a challenge, so it is important that we stick to our game concept.
I think we are ready to play them, we have a lot of battles behind us. Even before the season. This week we have been working on these small details that can decide the game in our favour. The EHF Champions League season is long and it takes a lot of strength to be at the highest level until the end. We are very confident this season.
It will be really tough match, because CSM have a lot of high quality and experienced players. We would like to keep our position in the group, so we need points from Bucharest as well. I know, FTC have never won against CSM in Romania, so I would be happy if it happens for the first time now.
We have to respect all of our opponents, as we also lost a point at Buducnost, who are in the group. Rapid have a lot of experienced players, the team is fighting to stay in this extremely tough group, so it will be a very, very tough battle. If we only talk about ourselves, then of course the main focus will be on the defence, because it was on a very low level against Odense. Rapid also have good one-on-one players and a great pivot, so we need to analyse them carefully and do much, much better in all aspects of the game.
Everybody knows that Györ are one of the best teams in Europe. However, we go to Györ full of energy to fight against them. We know that we have to do a complete and serious game without mistakes.
We want to give them as strong a challenge as possible, but we’re aware that Esbjerg is in top form. Henny Reistad is their best player, scoring 10 or more goals in each game, and with her, the other players are performing even better. We can’t get into a fast-paced game with them, but I believe we can manage to avoid that for most of the match.
Buducnost are fast, they have many small agreements between two players, and if they are in the game both mentally and on the scoreboard, it could become a difficult match, which Györ felt when they played there. That is why it is important to have a good start to the game.
We know what we have to do and we have been working very hard on it recently. We have to be strong in defence and do our utmost to neutralise the strengths we know Ludwigsburg have, both individually and as a team. I think we are going to be well prepared after a week of training and hopefully the home fans will bring their voices and help us as we know they can.
Brest are a team with a high level and we must be focused from the start of the game to the end to win. We have two wins in a row in the Champions League against Gÿor and Rapid and we must take that with us on the pitch and show that we are ready to fight for two points.
A big game, even two big games, a bit of a back-and-forth affair. We're going to try and pick up some points over there. Odense are serious contenders to finish top of the group. It's going to be a tough, hard-fought game. They've just won against Györ.
