FTC and Brest back to winning form; Odense shock Györ
EHF Champions League Women 2024/25 round 6 opened on Saturday afternoon with Brest Bretagne and FTC back on the winning track following their first defeats of the season in round 5, while Nykøbing Falster Håndbold staged a great comeback to clinch a 27:27 draw versus Podravka.
A second-half salvo from Brest helped the French side secure their win against Rapid, 34:31, led by 11 goals from Anna Vyakhireva. Ana Gros also scored 11 goals, but could not prevent Krim from losing for the second time in a row, 26:28, against FTC.
In the evening matches, reigning champions Györ conceded their first loss of the season, 28:35, as they were thoroughly outplayed by Odense. Vipers added an easy-going victory, which was only their second of 2024/25, over Buducnost, 32:23.
As we expected, it was a tough game. We had some difficulties, but the fans gave us a lot of power to push through these situations. It is always special to play against my previous team.
We were very close to winning the game, but we missed some important moments at the end. It is always hard to play here. I’m a little disappointed with the score, but proud, because we fought until the very end.
We played a very good half. I don't know what to say — it's not nice to lose a point like this. We should have won. We couldn't keep the ball in the last attack. We played a good part in defence. In the first 15 minutes we fell apart a bit, but I think that's part of handball and we have to work on it.
I think this team was searching a long time for a game like this. We had trouble to keep up the high level through the game and I'm happy to see we could make a turn around during the difficult times. As the coach said, one point isn't a victory, but it was difficult for us in the Champions league and I'm quite happy the game turned out like it did.
It was a good fight and we are very disappointed, because you could see that today we played better than the last games. We helped each other more. We pushed a lot. So we are very disappointed because we lost today.
I'm very proud of the girls because it was a hard game. Even if we were in good positions almost all the game, we found better solutions in the second half, with better defence. We were a little down in aggressiveness in the first half — that was what we needed to come back in the game and win it.
We knew that a difficult match was ahead of us, because Györ are strong at home. I am proud of the fact that we were able to implement the previously developed tactics. We believed in ourselves and in what we came up with. Today's match also showed that we are on the right track.
We lost this game primarily in defence. We knew very well that if we leave them space, they will use it and break through. Our defence wasn't tough enough and we didn't help each other enough. Over time, we had to take risks by playing fast, but these solutions did not work. We must all learn from this defeat.
I’m extremely proud of everyone who came to this hall today. Our players, our fans, the volunteers — everyone. The first half was very tight, but in the second half our defence was excellent, and Katrine made a lot of saves. We managed to run our counter attacks. The effort and everything that has happened throughout the week has been amazing, and to come here today in front of a packed hall was incredible. We’re so pleased and happy tonight.
In the first half we played well and I’m happy with our performance. In the second half we started nervously, and then we got three two-minute suspensions. Then it was hard to play, especially when Katrine Lunde had 55 per cent save percentage. She decided the game tonight.
