17:35
Kristine Breistol scores six, Nora Mork, Marit Jacobsen and Sanna Solberg-Isaksen five each as Esbjerg takes revenge for last season's semi-final loss against FTC. Anna Opstrup Kristensen played a key role for her team with 18 saves. Andrea Lekic, on the other side, netted eight for FTC.
Kristina Jörgensen finished the match with 11 goals, while Sarah Bouktit added eight as Metz defeated Rapid 33:22. Hatadou Sako grabbed 12 saves, while Andjela Janjusevic scored 4 for the Romanian team.
17:30
17:21
Huge 11 goals for Kristina Jörgensen as Metz maintains the ten-goal lead. It's 28:18 at the moment.
17:17
Big night for Anne Opstrup Kristensen who is shining with 15 saves as Esbjerg enters the final ten minutes of the encounter with a three-goal lead.
17:05
Marit Jacobsen scores her fifth of the day as Esbjerg extends the gap to three goals. Anna Opstrup Kristensen has 13 saves. Just over 15 minutes left to play in the game.
16:54
FTC is going to need more of this to overcome the first-half deficit! They've opened the second half well cutting the gap to only one (15:14) four minutes into the second.
16:47
Three goals for Breistol, Jacobsen, and Solberg-Isaksen as Esbjerg leads FTC 14:11 at the half. Anna Opstrup Kristensen also played a big part for her team in the first half with nine saves. Andrea Lekic, on the other side, finished the first half with nine goals, while Blanka Bode-Biro added six saves. It will be interesting to see whether FTC have what it takes to stay close, and get themselves in the position to stun favored hosts.
Incredible eight first-half goals for Kristina Jörgensen as Metz leads 16:10. Hatadou Sako added six saves.
16:40 HALF TIME
16:31
With just under five minutes left to play, Esbjerg has a 11:10 lead! Metz is, on the other hand, 15:10 in front with Kristina Jörgensen playing an incredible match already scoring eight goals!
16:22
Now, that's one way to get past the defense.
16:13
Just over ten minutes in, the result is levelled at 4:4 in Denmark. In France, Metz has a 9:6 lead as Kristina Jörgensen leads them with four goals so far.
16:01
Esbjerg with the first possession, and Kristine Breistol opens the scoring in this one!
15:50
''The stakes are pretty high because a win against Rapid would help us cut the gap between group leaders. Our goal is to finish on top of the group, and if we want to achieve that we've got to be at our best level every time we're out there. It's going to be a big battle that's for sure, and I hope we'll keep on building on this positive momentum that we have at the moment!'', said Metz' Hatadou Sako going into the game against Rapid.
''It is going to be fun to play in the EHF CLW again after a small break, and to get the opportunity for a re-match of last season's semi-final against FTC. We did not perform to our best in that match, and it gives us a bit of extra motivation to get the win this Sunday!'', concluded Esbjerg' Anne Tolstrup Petersen ahead of the game against Hungarian FTC!
15:42
Final two games of the weekend are ahead of us! Starting from 16.00 CET, Rapid will play Metz in France, and Esbjerg will host FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria in the first duel between the two teams since last season's semi-final where FTC celebrated 30:29.
15:38
A superb outing helped Bietigheim secure their fifth win from just as many matches so far this season. Six goals for Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc, five for Dorottya Faluvegi and Veronika Mala. 11 saves for Gabriela Moreschi. On the other side five goals for Olivia Mellegard, and 16 saves for Johanna Bundsen.
15:25 FULL TIME
15:17
Only one of many goals Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc scored so far this season. One of 37 after five rounds, to be exact.
15:09
Seven-goal lead for Bietigheim (22:15) going into the final 15 minutes of the game. Six goals for Kudlacz-Gloc, but also amazing 13 saves for Johanna Bundsen.
15:04
Beautiful move that's surely worth seeing again.
14:53
Five goals from five attempts for Kudlacz-Gloc as Bietigheim takes the 17:9 lead five minutes into the second.
14:40
Dominant, strong first half from the hosts who have managed to make a big step towards keeping the winning streak alive. Four first-half goals for Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc, and five saves for Gabriela Moreschi. On the other side - nine saves for Johanna Bundsen, but that was not enough for Sävehof to slow Bietigheim down.
14:35 HALF TIME
14:29
Kudlacz-Gloc scores her second of the night, and overtakes the top spot in the scorers list! With five minutes left to play until the half-time whistle, Bietigheim has a 12:4 lead in Ludwigsburg.
14:20
Hosts have a 9:3 lead in Ludwigsburg delivering a strong performance on both sides of the court! Veronika Mala is leading their attack with three goals so far, while Johanna Bundsen on the other side has six saves for guests.
14:06
After the first five minutes of the game, Germans have a 4:1 lead with their defense looking absolutely marvelous so far. Also, Kudlacz-Gloc opened the scoring in this one which means she is now tied on top of the scorers list with Vipers' Anna Vyakhireva.
14:00
The game is on in Ludwigsburg! Guests from Sweden will have the first possession.
13:55
Two goals. That's all Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc needs in this game to overtake the first position in the top scorers list from Anna Vyakhireva. In four games so far, Kudlacz-Gloc found the net 31 times with a shot efficiency of just over 80%. Impressive!
13:50
Only ten minutes left until the first whistle of the game in which Bietigheim will aim to join the exclusive company of Györ and Ikast - the only two teams with five wins from five games so far. On the other hand, a stunner would help Sävehof secure their first point(s), which would leave Zaglebie as the only team without a single point so far this season.
13:38
Matches between Rapid and Metz always have that special something, and we're expecting nothing less this time! The game is coming up from 16.00 CET!
13:30
Coming up later on today, we've got the game between FTC and Esbjerg. It is going to be their first encounter after Hungarians defeated Esbjerg 30:29 in last season's EHF CLW semi-final. The situation appears to be quite different this season with FTC heavily struggling having only one point after four rounds, and it will be interesting to see whether they can turn the corner and come up with a strong performance against the Danish side.
13:20
Last time she faced Sävehof, now Bietigheim's Isabelle Andersson lost the game and she'll surely aim to rinse the bitter taste today!
''I look forward to playing the Swedish team again. I know a lot about them, and they surely know a lot about me as well. Last time I played Sävehof, I lost the game with my former team, which is just an additional reason for me to hope that the result ends up looking different on Sunday!'', concluded Andersson going into the game.
13:10
Welcome back to the live coverage of the EHF Champions League Women Round 5! We've got a three-game matchday ahead of us today, with the first game of the day scheduled for 14:00 CET which means we've got no time to waste!
SATURDAY, 21 OCTOBER
20:27
The first day of round 5 is done! We have three more matches on Sunday: Sävehof are still looking for their first points, starting 14:00 CEST, while Esbjerg and Metz will host FTC and Rapid, respectively, at 16:00 CEST. Our live blog will be up and running as usual, so make sure to come back and see all the updates!
Have a great night!
20:25
A lot of lessons to learn from Saturday's round 5 matches. Adrian Costeiu made a recap of all the important moments, which can be read in our day review.
We expected a tough game, and we got it. Odense play fast-paced handball, both in defence and attack. We’ve managed to control the game, it was important. Odense's goalkeepers put us in difficult situations several times, but I'm happy that we got this three-goal win.
