Metz dominate MOTW, FTC mount comeback; Odense, Vipers also win
Match of the Week in round 7 of the EHF Champions League Women brought an intense fight between Krim Mercator Ljubljana and Metz Handball, but the French side solidified their status as the only unbeaten team after a great second-half performance. Vipers Kristiansand defended their home court by claiming their third win of the season in a showdown against HB Ludwigsburg.
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria overcame CSM Bucuresti in a high-stakes match, ending a three-year drought against the Romanian side with a late-game comeback, while Odense Håndbold maintained control to defeat Brest Bretagne Handball.
Of course we are happy with the result. We tried to prepare well for this game. We played well, but not as we expected. Maybe because of our rivals, maybe because we knew we had to win. We gave everything.
It's not easy for us after three defeats in a row. We started the season well, but now we've had a slump. We have to find something that we are missing. In the second half we really lacked it, so the gap grew quickly. We didn't manage to stage a turnaround. I am very disappointed.
Thank you very much for a great game! I think it was a very high level and both teams showed great attitude and spirit. I am very happy with the win and we know that Bucuresti has a problem with Neagu missing. The defence must be good but also when you have a goalkeeper like Laura today I need to congratulate her.
Congrats to FTC! I believe it was a great game indeed but I think they were smarter than us in the end. I think the double two minutes eliminations counted a lot and it is difficult to come back, especially with the goalkeeper in a good shape. We showed team spirit today, we showed fighting spirit. I think we deserved one point but they were smarter in the end.
Ludwigsburg can be proud of their effort today, because they made it really difficult for us and it was a proper Champions League atmosphere. I also want to thank my team. I’m very happy, and especially the way we defend fills me with pride. We are getting better and better, and only conceding 23 goals shows how good we were. We know that all games are difficult, so we have to prepare ourselves in the same way ahead of next week if we want to get two points in a difficult away game.
I’m not satisfied. Congratulations to Vipers who played a good match, but we made too many easy mistakes and made it too easy for them to counter attack. We also struggled scoring. We knew from the beginning that we needed a very good performance to get points from this game, and we didn’t get to that level. That is disappointing, even if we know that we faced a really good team. We have to learn from this and do better next week.
I am very happy with my team's performance. They were the reason why I could get so many shots. There was also a lot of penalties so it is nice to see them go in.
It was exactly the game we expected. A very intense game with a lot of duels and a very high performing match where I think Odense were more clever in the end.
