Györ and Brest want to bounce back after surprise defeats
Only four rounds are left to play in the EHF Champions League Women 2025/26 group phase as the 16 teams head into round 11 this weekend. Titleholders and group A leaders Györi Audi ETO KC, who lost to fellow Hungarian side DVSC Schaeffler and dropped their first points in the competition last week, will try to get back to winning ways at Gloria Bistrita.
We played a particularly good away match against Dortmund in the first match, when the defence and goalkeeping were of a very high class. Dortmund are a bit sharper in some things now than in the period we played against them. They had a very solid away win against Buducnost. So we are facing a team that have got things going. The most important thing for us is, as always, focus on our own concept in all phases of the game.
Playing against Györ is playing against probably the best team in the world. They are coming off a bad result in the Champions League against Debrecen, and that has surely put them on alert, so there won't be any complacency against us. We are going to compete to the best of our ability and try to give our fans a great victory, even though we know Györ are the toughest opponents.
We know they have a lot of quality in their team, with very strong individual players. It is always difficult to go and play in Romania, and we know the atmosphere will be great with many people in the arena. Bistrita are always strong at home, so we are preparing for a tough match. We want to take a step forward compared to our last Champions League game, and we want to win.
In the last few weeks, we have seen surprises in the Champions League, so we need to stay focused and not lose points. We have won important matches, and now we also want to get two points.
The away match in Budapest will be slightly more challenging than the one in Bucharest last weekend. Nonetheless, we are heading there with maximum confidence and full belief in our abilities. We know we are capable of strong performances and are aiming for an upset, but we cannot make any promises.
We will have to bounce back after last week’s game. We go straight into another very high-level match. These are the kinds of games you enjoy playing. We want to compete on all fronts, so we will need to be serious once again this weekend. Obviously, the goal is to win the big matches coming up to qualify directly for the quarter-finals.
We are hungry for revenge, and there are several things we need to do differently compared to the first match if we are to win in Brest. At the same time, it is also a game where we definitely see our chances of taking the two points if we stick to our game plan.
We strive for a favourable result. I don't know how much we will manage to be at the same level throughout all 60 minutes. The match against Brest showed that we were very close, while the match against FTC showed that we were good in the first half and up to the 45th minute. In such moments certain failures begin due to the lack of energy and rotation.
Sola have not gotten what they deserved and has been very close to good results many times. They could easily have gotten more points and been closer to a 1/8 final than they are. That is why we also have respect for them and know that they come with a strong Norwegian mentality. They have a strong team and several players that we need to keep an eye on, including lineplayer Henriksen, a couple of good full-backs in Knutsen and Brandbu and, as always, Herrem.
