Györ overpower Ludwigsburg to clinch 10th EHF FINAL4 place

EHF / Adrian Costeiu

26 April 2025, 20:06

It was always going to be an uphill battle for HB Ludwigsburg to make back-to-back appearances in the EHF FINAL4, as Györi Audi ETO KC secured their second win in the quarter-finals against the German side, 29:22.

QUARTER-FINALS, SECOND LEG

Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN) vs HB Ludwigsburg (GER) 29:22 (13:10)

Györi Audi ETO KC win 54:46 on aggregate

Györ clinched their ninth consecutive spot in the EHF FINAL4 and their 10th in 11 editions of the business end of the European premium competition
on the back of a 14-saves performance from goalkeeper Hatadou Sako, who had a 41 per cent saving efficiency, Györ joined Odense in the EHF FINAL4, having now a chance to retain their title
the Hungarian side have now 8973 goals in their history in the EHF Champions League Women, the largest number in the competition, needing only 27 to reach the 9000-goal milestone
nine Györ players entered the scoresheet, with Kristina Jörgensen leading the way with nine goals, her best outing since January 2024, when she played for Metz
this was Györ’s ninth consecutive win against Ludwigsburg, with the Hungarian side totally outplaying their opponents since 2021

Györ prove another show of consistency

Györ did not impress in the two legs of the quarter-finals from an attacking standpoint, but their defence – the top so far in the EHF Champions League Women this season - was once again on the top of the game, conceding only 46 goals in 120 minutes against HB Ludwigsburg.

The reigning champions are back in the EHF FINAL4, with their 10th appearance in 11 editions, in a fantastic display of consistency in the last decade, as the team with the largest number of trophies in the European premium competition – six – will have to add their seventh title in the last 12 seasons.

Nine players scored at least one goal for Györ, which used the same recipe as they did throughout the whole season, sealing their 14th win, one shy of the record of 15 wins in a season, set in 2012/13, 2020/21 and 2021/22, a record which will they surpass provided they win the title this season.

This was also the last match as a coach for HB Ludwigsburg for Jakob Vestergaard, the mastermind of last season’s fantastic run, which saw the German champions finish as runners-up, as Vestergaard heads over to Odense Håndbold, the first qualified team this season to the EHF FINAL4.

I have the utmost respect for Jakob and his team for the high-level work they have done over the past two years in Ludwigsburg, because practically only we were able to stop them in the Champions League. It was nearly impossible to shake them off. For 50 minutes, we couldn’t break away from them despite our extremely high-level defence. Losing Kari Dale at the beginning of the match didn’t cause us problems. Anna Lagerquist stepped in, and in the second half, Linn Blohm solved the issue. Kelly Dulfer also performed exceptionally well, and Kristina Jörgensen surpassed her performance from last week and was a huge help for the team.

Per Johansson

Head coach, Györi Audi ETO KC

The atmosphere created by the fans was incredible; we could barely communicate properly on the court. I was more or less satisfied with the first half, although we missed many chances. In the second half, Jörgensen and Housheer made life very difficult for us. We lost control over the tempo, and that’s why we couldn’t keep up with the opponent. Györ deserved the victory and to get into the FINAL4. In my opinion, we should have won the first match when we were leading by three goals, but both then and now we made too many mistakes — something you simply cannot afford against the best team in the world.

Jakob Vestergaard

Head coach, HB Ludwigsburg