Esbjerg and Brest extend winning streaks; Storhamar dominate Nordic derby
Round 4 of the EHF Champions League Women 2026/27 finished with four Sunday games, three of which were played in group A. Team Esbjerg and Brest Bretagne Handball maintained their perfect records in the tournament, beating OTP Group Buducnost and RK Krim OTP Group Mercator respectively, while BV Borussia Dortmund claimed an away victory at Sola Håndballklubb.
The only encounter in group B was a Nordic duel between Odense Håndbold and Storhamar Håndball Elite, and the Norwegian side earned an away win.
We needed some percentages in our duels and in our aggression during the first part of the match. But in the last 45 minutes of the game, our defence was just crazy good, and Buducnost only scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
I am proud of the girls. They played well from start to finish and they gave all they had in them. Today, Team Esbjerg were the better team and we made too many technical errors. We also had three suspensions and in a tight match this makes the difference.
We conceded far too many goals in the first half. Twenty goals is just way too much. I feel like it becomes difficult when we have to start from the middle every time. In the second half, we recovered well, but then we had far too many technical errors. They’re the kind of basic mistakes where we just throw the ball out of bounds. And against a team like this, you can’t afford to do that. We just have to eliminate those mistakes before the next game, because otherwise we’re only making it difficult for ourselves.
It was a pretty tough game, it's not easy to play here. We were good in attack today, especially Alina Grijseels on center back, and our pivot. Then when our goalkeeper Sarah Wachter saved some shots, that was important for us. At the beginning of the second half it was a little bit difficult for us, but then we stepped it up again. This was a massive win for us here, and we are happy about this.
I think we’re very happy that we were able to keep the two points at home. It’s the Champions League, so it’s never easy. Of course, there are also things we know we could have done better, and we’re aware of that as a team. I think conceding 25 goals was okay, but we had a few clear chances that we missed where we could have gone four or five goals ahead, which would have made the game easier for us. But I have to say that I really liked our fighting spirit. We kept fighting until the end, and we got the win.
This was probably our best performance of the season. We were up against one of the top four teams in the group, and playing away from home is never easy. It’s an amazing place to play, even when you’re the away team. We are still the youngest team in the Champions League, and to come here and play our best game of the season is something I’m very proud of. Of course, we had the opportunity today to maybe get a point, or even more, with a little bit more luck. But their goalkeeper had a very good game and made the difference towards the end. So overall, I’m obviously disappointed with the result, but I’m very happy with the performance.
We showed the necessary energy, but we weren't good enough in the decisive moments. We are in a period where we as a team aren't on the right track, and we have to work even harder to get back to what Odense is.
We had a clear plan on how we wanted to play, and we knew that if we followed the plan we would have a good chance. We also need to applaud Elin who performed a masterclass in the goal today.
