Nykøbing celebrate first win, Gloria prevail in MOTW

EHF / Danijela Vekić

20 September 2026, 18:15

The third round of the EHF Champions League Women 2026/27 concluded with wins for Nykøbing Falster Håndbold, Györi Audi ETO KC, Brest Bretagne Handball and Gloria Bistrita, giving all four sides a winning feeling heading into the short break for the national team week before the competition returns in two weeks' time.

The Match of the Week lived up to its billing as Gloria Bistrita and Odense Håndbold battled for the win throughout, but the Romanian side, backed by their home crowd, had the last say. Nykøbing also joined the winners' circle on home court by overcoming Blomberg-Lippe, while Györ and Brest both lived up to their favourites status despite facing setbacks during their respective matches.

left wing Clara Lerby once again led Nykøbing, scoring nine goals in a 31:26 win against HSG Blomberg-Lippe and being one of only five Nykøbing players on the scoresheet
Györ extended their winning streak against Storhamar, powered by strong displays from goalkeepers Sandra Toft and Zsófi Szemerey and a nine-goal outing from Helena Elver, while handing the Norwegian side their first defeat of the season
French side Brest kept their positive streak alive with a 27:22 away win against Buducnost in Maja Savić's debut as the Montenegrin side's head coach
Odense suffered their first defeat of the season after a tight clash with Gloria Bistrita in Romania as two-time EHF European League Women top scorer Johanna Reichert led the hosts with seven goals
Swedish goalkeeper Evelina Eriksson finished the day with 14 saves at a 35 per cent efficiency, earning the Player of the Match award for her performance against Odense

GROUP A

OTP GROUP BUDUCNOST (MNE) VS BREST BRETAGNE HANDBALL (FRA) 22:27 (10:13)

H2H: 2-5-6

Top scorers: Djurdjina Jaukovic 9/14 (OTP Group Buducnost); Tamara Horacek 6/9 (Brest Bretagne Handball)

A new beginning for Buducnost under their new head coach Maja Savic saw them challenge Brest throughout the opening 30 minutes, giving the French side little room to breathe. Brest never led by more than three goals, only reaching that margin towards the end of the first half after the teams had spent almost 25 minutes level or separated by the narrowest of gaps. Floriane André proved crucial for Brest, reaching half-time with a 50 per cent save efficiency and preventing Buducnost from causing an even bigger surprise.

In the second half Brest looked far from confident as their attacking struggles continued, allowing Buducnost to close the gap to 16:15 in just eight minutes. However, the Montenegrin side could not maintain that rhythm and Brest responded with two 3:0 runs to regain control. By the 50th minute, the French side had opened a 23:16 lead and put themselves firmly back on a winning path, before wrapping up a 27:22 victory.

We had too many technical errors and missed clear-cut chances, and that is something we have to work on ahead of our next games. Our defence was generally good, but our attacking play was hurt by the technical errors.

Ivana Godec

Line player, OTP Group Buducnost

The players showed character in a game in which we had a clear objective: to build our way towards victory minute by minute. Buducnost gave everything to try to win, but we defended well and managed to stop their key players.

Tomas Hlavatý

Head coach, Brest Bretagne Handball

ZRKB BREST 03 (3 Of 13) — OTP Group Buducnost / Dejan Starcevic

ZRKB BREST 03 (2 Of 13) — OTP Group Buducnost / Dejan Starcevic

ZRKB BREST 03 (1 Of 13) — OTP Group Buducnost / Dejan Starcevic

ZRKB BREST 03 (9 Of 13) — OTP Group Buducnost / Dejan Starcevic

ZRKB BREST 03 (7 Of 13) — OTP Group Buducnost / Dejan Starcevic

We played a really good game, but there were some periods that cost us a bit. But we’re playing against one of the best teams in the world. We get punished immediately for the mistakes we make. The result is a bit misleading, but I don't think we should be dissatisfied with this.

Isabell Nordstrand

Right wing, Storhamar Håndball Elite

We played an amazing first half here. We had a little bit of trouble in the defence in the beginning, but the last 20 minutes was fantastic attack handball. I think actually in the second half we also created a huge amount of goal chances, but the only difference was that we missed a lot.

Per Johansson

Head coach, Györi Audi ETO KC

We stayed focused and fighting for the whole game and we are very happy we got the two points. We really played like a team today and won an intense game.

Moa Högdahl

Right back, Nykøbing Falster Håndbold

We simply made too many mistakes in this match. It was a tough tight game though, but we simply struggled too much with our basic play against Nykøbing that played more or less on the same level the whole game through.

Steffen Birkner

Head coach, HSG Blomberg-Lippe

I am very happy for the result and for the fight we had during this 60 minutes. It was a very tough game and I think both of the teams could win. The small difference was made in the defence since it went really well this game.

Carlos Viver

Head coach, Gloria Bistrita

They played a really good match and the first minutes of our team weren’t that good. We had some up and downs and in the end we missed to many shots and it is also very difficult to play here because of the spectators, the noise, we didn’t expect that.

Jakob Vestergaard

Head coach, Odense Håndbold