Metz seal EHF FINAL4 berth in style against CSM

QUARTER-FINALS

Metz Handball (FRA) vs CSM Bucuresti (ROU) 29:23 (15:14)
Metz Handball win 56:47 on aggregate

• a 4:1 start in the match ensured Metz held control throughout the whole 60 minutes, as CSM never took the lead
• the French champions had a steady pair of hands in Danish backs Louise Vinter Burgaard and Kristina Jörgensen, who combined for 11 goals, while their top scorer was Alina Grijseels, who will move to CSM next season, with seven goals
• Metz have qualified for the EHF FINAL4 for the third time in history, after finishing fourth in the 2018/19 season and third in the 2021/22 season
• after featuring in the EHF FINAL4 for the first three seasons of participating in the EHF Champions League Women, CSM are now on a five-season streak of ending up being eliminated in the quarter-finals, and missing out on the ticket to Budapest
• CSM left back Cristina Neagu scored six goals, improving her overall tally this season to 103 goals becoming the fourth player to score in triple digits, with this being her fourth season in a row in which she scored at least 100 goals in the European premium competition

Metz keep everything under control on the way to the EHF FINAL4

Metz Handball have clearly learned something from the previous season when they won by a six-goal margin in the away match of the quarter-finals against FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria, only to concede a seven-goal loss on their home court and miss out on the EHF FINAL4.

This time around, the French side, which had lost only five of their previous 45 home matches in the EHF Champions League Women, simply proved to be too strong, too polished and too efficient for CSM.

The Romanian side is leaving the competition empty-handed once again, a familiar theme, with something missing in all the previous seasons, a consistency which hampered CSM, who looked more and more like a one-trick-pony, relying every season on Neagu to deliver.