MOTW goes to Romania and Hungary for pivotal quarter-finals

It is make or break for all teams in the quarter-finals, with a coveted spot at the final tournament in Budapest or in Cologne at stake.

In the second leg of the EHF Champions League Women quarter-finals, CSM Bucuresti are trying to make up a one-goal deficit against Team Esbjerg on Sunday (26 April) at 16:00 CEST, a week after the Danish side won the reverse fixture 26:25 at home.

CSM won the title in 2016 but the Romanian club have not been beyond the quarter-finals again since 2018, so a place at the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 2026 on 6/7 June would mark their first appearance at the season-ending summit in eight years.

Esbjerg, though, have become regulars in Budapest, now eying their fifth straight appearance at the EHF FINAL4. And if they qualify once again, Esbjerg will finally want to make it to the final at MVM Dome, after losing all their four semi-finals so far.

The quarter-finals in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League open next week, with one of the two Hungarian-German clashes selected as the MOTW: OTP Bank-PICK Szeged vs SC Magdeburg on Wednesday (19 April) at 18:45 CEST.

Appearing in the seventh quarter-final of the club's history, Szeged are eager to finally take the next step and qualify for what would be their debut TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2026 on 13/14 June.

It is a different story for three-time and reigning champions Magdeburg, who have been to Cologne in each of the past three seasons — and leaving LANXESS arena with the trophy on two of those occasions.

Match of the Week schedule

EHF Champions League Women:
> QF2 | CSM Bucuresti vs Team Esbjerg – Sunday, 26 April 2026, 16:00 CEST

Machineseeker EHF Champions League:
> QF1 | OTP Bank-PICK Szeged vs SC Magdeburg – Wednesday, 29 April 2026, 18:45 CEST

photos © Niels Husted (main); Eliza Sólya (in-text)