Last round of 2025 to offer exciting clashes
The EHF Champions League Women 2025/26 group phase has reached its midpoint, as the last round of 2025 will be played this weekend. All eight matches in round 8 will be the reverse fixtures of the previous round, so the same rivals will face off for the second straight week.
It's another important game with the same goal: to win and play well. It's always interesting to play the same opponent twice in such a short period of time, as it allows us to see who has best absorbed the lessons from the previous game. It's still a high-stakes game, the last game of 2025 for us. We will be keen to put on a good show in front of our fans, whom we won't see again for a long time.
It's another important game with the same goal: to win and play well. It's always interesting to play the same opponent twice in such a short period of time, as it allows us to see who has best absorbed the lessons from the previous game. It's still a high-stakes game, the last game of 2025 for us. We will be keen to put on a good show in front of our fans, whom we won't see again for a long time.
The most important thing for us in this match against Györ is to have a better performance in all phases of the match than last Saturday. It was a brutal encounter with a very good handball team. There are some simple things we can do better. I really do believe that we can lift ourselves and play a much better match.
It is about our mindset, because if you beat a team with 17 goals, you have to prepare that it cannot be — will probably not be — such an easy victory next time as well. Storhamar are much better at home — they have done some good games.
From the outset, I considered Bistrita to be one of the strongest teams in the group. However, I was somewhat surprised that they defeated Esbjerg 38:35 at home. We must focus on our passing quality and ball control and give our all in defence. Then we could achieve a victory. Otherwise, we have no chance at this level in the Champions League.“
It is a dream to have 10 points right now. Winning Champions League matches is very difficult, and even more so away. I hope our defence will be more solid in Dortmund, although we know the difficulty and the level of our opponents. We are going to Germany with great enthusiasm.
A lot can be said about Esbjerg’s qualities, but their performances so far in the Champions league clearly show what kind of team they are. In the first game in Denmark, we created chances and read their defence well, but we missed too many open shots and clear-cut opportunities. Esbjerg has excellent back players and perhaps the best goalkeeper duo in Europe, but I am pleased that we have good energy in training and that we are progressing from match to match.
If we manage to go into the game with the right attitude where we are defending our goal at all costs and run the counter attacks efficiently, we will have a good advantage against Buducnost. We were able to that in the first meeting, and it helped us get the win.
We are facing our last game this year in the EHF Champions League and I believe it will be a good match. Sola have proved to be a very competitive team and they showed a very good fast break. We need to be focused for the whole game length, make good returns and put pressure on them in defence. I am looking forward to playing at home as our fans have always proved to be our extra player.
A new match against Bucharest awaits. When two teams meet in quick succession, it opens the door for tactical adjustments — and makes the encounters all the more fascinating to watch.
We need to increase our aggression in offence and be patient in defence. We will fight as always. If we fix the segments where we made mistakes, I think we can surprise them and provide a quality game.
We'd like to finish well with a win in the last game, but we also know that it requires a lot of effort from us. We know we're going to play on a tough away field, where there's a lot of pressure from the stands, where Odense, among others, got into trouble. We have to be ready from the start of the game if we want to take the two points home.
Mentally, the match is a bit difficult to approach, because many people may get the idea that since we won by 8 goals in Slovenia, the return leg will be ‘cruise control’, which is a warning sign for me. In a match like this, it’s all about switching on mentally and getting the arena going so we create a great atmosphere for this last game before Christmas.
The atmosphere in the team is good. We’re dealing with a few injuries, but the competitive spirit is definitely there. We know what awaits us in the return match against Odense. They’re a very strong and physically well-prepared team, but we believe in our abilities and in our game. After the first match, we analysed their play carefully and focused on the adjustments we needed to make.
Although we didn't get points in Brest, I think that was one of our best match in this Champions League season so far, and I hope we can continue like this or a little bit better. It looks our main task is stop Anna Vyakhireva, but she is an amazing player, she showed her quality one week ago as well. With our fans we are stronger, I hope, we can win this match, but it will be tough it is sure.
