Eight teams, eight stars: Meet the European League quarter-finalists

The following quarter-final schedule emerged from the group phase played in January and February:

• Viborg HK vs CS Rapid Bucuresti
• Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC vs MOL Esztergom
• HC Lokomotiva Zagreb vs JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball
• Nykøbing Falster Håndbold vs Thüringer HC

Here are some of the key players that helped their team advance from the group phase. Who will shine the brightest in the quarter-finals?

Louise Bak Jensen / goalkeeper, Viborg HK

Arrived at the club as a 22-year-old in the summer of 2024, Jensen has developed into a crucial keeper for Viborg. Teaming up with Stine Kristensen for a strong duo between the posts, Jensen is a solid backbone for the Danish side, which finished second in group D.

Her finest hour in the group phase came in the round 3 home match against CSM Corona Brasov, when her 15 saves and 42.9 per cent save rate helped Viborg securing at least a point (33:33) — a vital point in the end, as not Viborg but Brasov would have advanced if the Romanian side had won that match.

Albertina Kassoma Almeida / line player, CS Rapid Bucuresti

After netting 16 times for Rapid in the EHF European League qualification and 25 times for Angola at the 2025 IHF Women's World Championship, Kassoma has stretched her scoring prowess into the year 2026. The team's second-best scorer after Dutch star Estavana Polman, Kassoma had a major impact on Rapid advancing as winners from the tightly contested group B.

Named the most valuable foreign player in Romania’s national league for the 2024/25 season, Kassoma is now a crucial factor in Rapid's international ambitions as they aim to go all the way in the EHF European League this season.

Barbara Arenhart / goalkeeper, Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC

If someone thought that Arenhart might be taking it easy at Mosonmagyarovar after joining the club this season from EHF Champions League side Krim OTP Group Mercator, they have been proven all wrong. 'Babi' finished the group phase on a 30 per cent save rate as the Hungarian side finished level on points with defending champions Thüringer HC in group A.

Arenhart especially starred in the two crucial wins over Larvik, when the former Brazilian international used all her class and experience for 14 and 12 saves (41 and 38 per cent), respectively.

Emília Varga / left back, MOL Esztergom

Many eyes will be on Varga when Esztergom take on the left back's former club Mosonmagyarovar in a tense all-Hungarian quarter-final clash. Raised at the famous handball academy of Györ, Varga played for Mosonmagyarovar until last summer.

Varga netted 12 times last autumn to lead Esztergom past Zvezda and qualify for the group phase in their first-ever European season. And the Hungarian international didn't stop there, as she was one of the three leading scorers, alongside Lea Faragó and Anett Kovács, when the debutants locked up top spot in group B.

Iva Zrilic / centre back, HC Lokomotiva Zagreb

As the playmaker, Zrilic navigated Zagreb through the challenging group C and helped the Croatian side secure a second-place finish. Zrilic stood up when the team needed her the most, scoring six times in the crucial 29:24 away win at Rapid in the final round.

Still only 21, Zrilic represents a fresh, young generation of Croatian players. A long-term player for Zagreb, she might be a crucial element in the club's ambitions to make it to the EHF Finals this season.

Nina Dury / left wing, JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball

The top scorer for Dijon last season, with 43 goals, Dury is at it again in the current campaign. The French international, bronze medallist from the 2025 IHF World Championship, is the team's third best scorer so far in 2025/26.

Dury's goals were an important contribution to Dijon's road to winning group D following a vital 33:32 away win at Viborg in the last round. The Dijon-born wing, who has never played elsewhere, is now eager to help her club stamp the EHF Finals ticket again, after they finished third at the 2025 edition.

Clara Lerby / left wing, Nykøbing Falster Håndbold

Group B runners-up Nykøbing are the quarter-finalists with the fewest wins in the group phase (two from six matches), but Lerby can hardly be blamed for that. The left wing hit the opponents' net 39 times, more than any of her teammates.

The Swedish international, who arrived at Nykøbing last summer for her second club in Denmark, will be a key factor to Nykøbing's ambitions for a return to the EHF Finals after three years, having lost the 2023 final to Ikast Håndbold.

Johanna Reichert / left back, Thüringer HC

The star from last season is shining again. Reichert had her breakout season in 2024/25 when she the competition's top scorer with 110 goals, including 29 (!) in the two matches at the EHF Finals, where she was named the MVP.

Can Reichert lead THC to the title again? An injury forced her out of the IHF World Championship last December, but the Austrian international has been sharp-shooting again for THC ever since, netting 71 times in six matches.

photos © Gergely Lörinczi (main); Johnny Pedersen, Sabin Malisevschi, Ferenc Zengö, Gergely Lörinczi, Jozo Cabraja/kolektiff, foxaep.com, BetaMy Photo, Christian Heilwagen (in-text)