More quarter-final spots up for grabs in penultimate group matches
Thüringer HC and CS Gloria 2018 BN were the first clubs to book a place in the EHF European League Women 2023/2024 quarter-finals in round 4, and now sides including Storhamar Handball Elite, HC Podravka Vegeta, H.C. Dunarea Braila and Neptunes Nantes have a chance to join them.
Meanwhile Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC and Sola HK meet in a blockbuster match as part of the thrilling group D.
This is the game where we will really feel the pressure, because we worked hard to get this near to the next stage. For many of us, on club level, this is the first time we are so close to such an important step. We are looking forward to the game and securing our well-deserved spot in the next round.
Podravka won both home matches, and they are now standing in a quarter final place, so it will be a very hard game for us. They proved in the group phase that this team is physically very strong, but we will try to do everything to make a wonder in Croatia.
It will be a tough match, with a lot of pace. Nykøbing is a team with many good qualities, so we must be well prepared against them. The most important thing to build further on from the Podravka match is the defence and the pace that we managed to set, especially in the first half.
We are looking forward to this battle against one of the favourites to win the EHF European League. In the first game in Thüringer they were better then us and got the 10-3 lead which was difficult to come back from but we hope we learned a lot from this game and want to show our best side in this game.
This will be a mega-tough game. Nantes have their backs to the wall. They're desperate to progress and that's only possible if they win against us. We know that they are the favourites and we know what to expect. This year, we're learning in every game and we'll make sure we do everything well. If we have a chance, we'll take it.
In Romania, we did great for most of the match. This time, we have to maintain concentration for the full 60 minutes. In the first match, we ran out of time because of a moment of distraction, a moment of ineffectiveness in the attack, which the experienced Gloria team took advantage of.
A difficult match awaits us. Even if mathematically we are qualified for the quarter-finals, I think we must show the same ambition and determination that we had in the other matches. I'm glad that we are healthy and I hope that until the end we will go together, as we have until now.
The speed of our game is at an international level, but sometimes we are inaccurate, we need to improve on that. It's not easy to play two games a week, but we're doing everything we can to make sure the girls are mentally and physically ready.
Facing a good Hungarian team on their home court is always a tough challenge. We will face a team that is going to play tough handball with an audience that will make noise from start to finish. It will be important for us to use the sound from the crowd for our motivation and continue the good play we have had in the games in the past.
Playing at home is always special and now in a city that lives for handball like Antequera. It will be a great day and we want to put the icing on the cake with a victory that allows us to keep on fighting to be in the quarter-finals, which would be a huge joy for the club.
They are a team with a lot of heart, a team that plays a lot one-on-one with an advanced defence. The difference at Târgu-Jiu was made on individual, catching and passing mistakes; we will have to be very careful about these things and correct the mistakes we made in the first match.
