After securing their second win in the EHF Champions League Women 2021/22 quarter-finals on Saturday against Krim Mercator Ljubljana, 33:24, Vipers Kristiansand became the first Norwegian side to clinch three consecutive spots at the EHF FINAL4 Women.
QUARTER-FINAL, SECOND LEG
Vipers Kristiansand (NOR) vs Krim Mercator Ljubljana (SLO) 33:24 (17:12)
First leg: 32:25. Vipers Kristiansand won 65:49 on aggregate
- despite a heroic effort from right back Ana Gros, who scored half of Krim's goals in the first half, Vipers moved to a 17:12 lead at the break
- excluding qualification rounds, this was Vipers’ clearest win in a two-legged tie in the EHF Champions League Women
- right back Nora Mørk was once again one of Vipers’ top scorers, with five goals, taking her overall tally this season to 96 goals
- after a four-game winning streak, with three wins against Krim and one against Györ, the Norwegian side will enter the EHF FINAL4 Women in superb form
- Vipers completed a clean sweep of Krim this season, winning all four games played against the Slovenian side, with an average margin of 8.5 goals per game
Vipers ride four-game winning streak into the EHF FINAL4
Until Saturday, Vipers had not clinched an aggregate win by such a large margin in the EHF Champions League Women, with everything clicking at the right time, just one month before the EHF FINAL4 Women in Budapest.
With Nora Mørk in stellar form in recent games, Vipers look poised to mount a serious challenge to retain the title they won last season in the final against Brest Bretagne Handball.
Reaching the EHF FINAL4 is a great day for Vipers. It’s the third time in four years that we accomplish this, and I couldn’t be happier with everything at the club. The players, my team, my staff, the organisation as a whole – it’s especially sweet to do it with a lot of young players who haven’t played in the Champions League before.
They were the best team in both games and they deserved to win. I think the reason today was so tough was the first game. We made too many mistakes at home, and today we had to chase the score the whole game. At the beginning, there were too many nerves and we didn’t track back the way we agreed before the game.
