MOTW brings joy to the Germans, FTC and Metz win on the road

• for the third time in their history and for the first time since the 2012/13 season, FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria started a season in the EHF Champions League Women with three wins in three matches
• FTC’s right wing Angela Malestein had her best outing of the season with seven goals, followed closely by left back Orlane Kanor, who added six goals
• in the Match of the Week, Rapid Bucuresti conceded their maiden loss of the season, 37:29, against HB Ludwigsburg, which sealed their maiden win of the season
• Ludwigsburg’s 20-year-old right back, Viola Leuchter, was the second best scorer of the match for her side with seven goals, her best-ever outing in the European premium competition, as wing Dorottya Faluvegi scored eight goals
• the match in Bucharest saw two players receiving red cards: Rapid's Estavana Polman in the first half and Ludwigsburg's Jenny Behrend in the second
• Rapid hit the 1000-goal milestone in the EHF Champions League Women, thus becoming the third Romanian team to score in quadruple digits, after SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea and CSM Bucuresti
• French champions Metz Handball remained unbeaten, sealing their third win of the season (28:27), although they struggled against NFH

GROUP B

MOTW: Rapid Bucuresti (ROU) vs HB Ludwigsburg (GER) 29:37 (11:19)

The two sides went neck-to-neck until the 13th minute, when Ludwigsburg started a 12:4 run to end the first half, which defined the match, as right back Viola Leuchter, in her maiden season in the European premium competition, scored five goals in the first half. The unbeaten Rapid, which used to hold the advantage of their home court, also lost their top scorer in the match after 20 minutes, after centre back Estavana Polman, who had scored four goals, saw the red card, and from that moment on, it was all Ludwigsburg. The German side, which avoided starting the season with three losses in a row only for the second time in history, controlled the match and eventually clinched a 37:29 win. Rapid’s topsy-turvy season took yet another turn for the worst, despite the Romanian side avoiding their worst-ever home loss in the competition, which is still a nine-goal loss against Esbjerg.

GROUP A

Storhamar Handball Elite (NOR) vs FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) 21:27 (11:14)

A 5:0 run to start the match was enough for FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria to assert dominance, prompting Storhamar to take a team timeout, but it was already too late for the Norwegian side, still looking for their maiden win this season. A team which added a ton of experience this summer, FTC saw their lead dwindle in the final part of the first half, but as left back Orlane Kanor scored six goals, while right wing Angela Malestein added seven, Storhamar could not complete a comeback, as their attacking efficiency fell to a meagre 30 per cent. Eventually, FTC secured their third win of the season, delivering their best start of the competition in four years, which sets the Hungarian team up nicely for the next part of the season, as they aim to return to the EHF FINAL4 in Budapest.

GROUP A

Nykøbing Falster Håndbold (DEN) vs Metz Handball (FRA) 27:28 (15:19)

An attacking powerhouse in the previous seasons, Metz had not hit the 30-goal mark this season in the first two matches, but went on an displayed an impressive attacking form against NFH in the first half, putting 19 goals past the Danish side, which are now the side with the second largest number of goals conceded, 94. But it was not plain sailing for the French champions, which saw their four-goal lead at the break dwindle, with NFH tying the score, 26:26. Eventually, Metz delivered a better finish, thanks to their experience, yet their nine-goal outing in the second half will surely make coach Emmanuel Mayonnade go back to the drawing board and see what went wrong in the last 30 minutes.