Play-off tickets about to be booked in round three
It is a crucial time in the EHF European League, as we are already entering the return phase. While the first part of the main round has been an exciting one, the action could become even hotter as half of the teams could secure their play-offs ticket already.
In group I, Nantes are in the position to secure a quarter-finals spot already, but are sure to be in the play-offs if they take one point in Zabrze. The winner of the all-German confrontation between Hannover-Burgdorf and Rhein-Neckar Löwen will also book its ticket for the next round.
In group II, Skjern Handbold aim to remain undefeated at home with the second straight win against IK Sävehof. Gorenje Velenje hope for another good performance against Nexe after a draw in the first fixture.
In group III, SG Flensburg-Handewitt can become the first team to secure a spot in the knock-out stage. In addition, if they beat Vojvodina again and Bjerringbro and Kadetten tie, the German side is already confirmed as group winner.
Round 3 is a pivotal round for the teams in group IV, with the quarter-finals berth very likely being decided in the match between Sporting and Füchse Berlin, while a play-offs spot is on the cards in the Romanian derby between CSM Constanta and Dinamo.
We showed a good performance in the first leg, but gave the game away too easily in crunch time. But we learned from the last duel and now want to do better in our hall. We are very motivated and want to achieve the second place in our group.
With such a team, as Nantes, achieving such a result was a very good experience. They won in Hannover by a similar margin. And we are only Górnik Zabrze, at the beginning of this European road. Our goal was to get out of the group phase. Now we play every match as if it was our last match.
I expect it to be another close match, just like it was in Sweden. I hope that we can get even more momentum in the counter phase and pick up the sixth win in a row. We are looking very sharp at the moment, and I hope our winning streak will continue tomorrow.
Skjern are in a really good place now in the season, with no defeats. It'll be extremely difficult for our young team, but we travel to Denmark to fight for the points. We need to eliminate as many technical faults as possible, in order to be able to have a small chance.
On Tuesday, we welcome Gorenje, against whom we played a week ago. We lacked a bit of luck to win in Velenje, we missed some clear shots and missed the opportunity to win both points. We want to stay in the fight for the first place with teams of Skjern and Sävehof, so it is imperative for us to win on Tuesday.
I believe that the match will be tense, interesting and combative. Našice handball players will definitely prepare differently and better for us. I expect them to play rougher, especially in defence. We have to play smart and mature, and with that we can hope for a good result.
It's up to us what type of game it will be. Either we play slowly and not well or all the players on the field invest a lot of energy and play with fun. We learned from the first half in the first match. With the home advantage, things will certainly be different and better.
We are aware of what a quality team we are playing against, but we also know our principles, which is to always do our best. Of course, younger players will also get a chance, several of them will travel with the team because it is a unique chance for them to feel the big stage and give them satisfaction for the hard work that lies ahead of them in order to become great players.
We expect a very compact defence from Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, so we have to do that as well. I think that it will be a very combat-oriented game. For us it is important to strengthen our defence. We are ready for this fight at home together with our fantastic crowd.
For us being here in the main round is already an achievement, meeting the best teams at this level within the main round. It's our challenge to see how far can we go and how high we can take our game-play against much better ranked teams. When we go on court we feel no pressure and this might be the advantage for us.
A very difficult game awaits us in Constanta. At home they have shown in all the games played so far that they are a strong, ambitious team with a very uncomfortable game. We have high morale after the match played in the Dinamo hall and their pride is wounded, which can be very dangerous for us if we fail to concentrate 100 per cent. In our home game, the atmosphere was extraordinary, which pushed us to play better and for sure our opponents felt the pressure.
We need to be really focused because we are facing one of the best teams in the world. I'm sure they want to show that they can beat us after losing at home. They are a very complete team, that's why they are at the top of the German league, perhaps the strongest handball league in the world. We know we are going to have our supporters backing us and I am sure it's going to be a great European night.
It is the same as in our league game against Flensburg: we know what we did good in the first half and what we have to change. We need this two-goal win, because we want to go directly into the quarterfinals.
