EHF European League Women group phase finally begins

GROUP A

BV Borussia 09 Dortmund (GER) vs Molde Elite (NOR)
Sunday 08 January, 14:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• the last time the German side played in Europe's second-tier was in the 2018/19 EHF Cup season. This is their first EHF European League season after playing the Champions League for the last two seasons
• Dortmund qualified for the group phase by beating ZRK Zeleznicar-Indjija 74:37 in aggregate in qualification round 3
• Molde Elite were seeded for the group phase after finishing fourth in Norway in the 2021/22 season; this is their first time playing in the group phase after being eliminated for two straight seasons in qualification round 3
• the Norwegian side has been part of the home top division since 2015; one of their most experienced players is team captain Sherin Obaidli and her younger sister Mona also plays for the team
• Dortmund enter the European League with 11 new players and new coach Henk Groener
• Centre back Frida Rønning said: "I'm looking forward to playing against Molde, it’s been a while since I played against a Norwegian team. Molde is a team with a lot of good players, and they play extremely well together. It will be a fun and hard game, so we have to be 100 per cent focused."

ES Besancon Feminin (FRA) vs Siófok KC (HUN)
Sunday 08 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• in their second European League season Besancon qualified for the group stage by beating Super Amara Bera Bera 59:53 in aggregate
• the French club will try to repeat last season's success by reaching the quarter-finals. Sébastien Mizoule's team did not change much and bring a good balance of youth and experience
• Siófok are back in the competition after finishing runners-up in the first EHF Finals Women edition in 2021, and winning the EHF Cup in 2019
• the Hungarian side started their European journey in qualification round 2 eliminating MKS FunFloor Lublin, going on to beat beating CS Magura Cisnadie in round 3; they are one of four teams that made it from the first qualification round
• six new players joined Siófok, and now the team of 19 players have a base of 13 Hungarian players

GROUP B

Ikast Handbold (DEN) vs Neptunes de Nantes (FRA)
Sunday 08 January, 14:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Ikast are back in the competition after two straight EHF Finals appearances; they are one of only three clubs that have been part of all three group phases since the beginning of the European League
• ahead of the start of the 2022/23 season, the club changed its name from Herning-Ikast Håndbold to Ikast Handbold
• 2020/21 champions Nantes enter their third European League season after eliminating VfL Oldenburg by 69:51 in aggregate
• the French side failed to repeat their maiden success last year and were eliminated from the competition after finishing third in group B
• both teams are coming from victories in their respective domestic leagues – Nantes defeated Dijon 28:24, and Ikas beat Ringkøbing 30:20

Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC (HUN) vs Fana (NOR)
Sunday 08 January, 16:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Mosonmagyarovari are ready for their second straight season in the group phase; they narrowly qualified after beating SCM Gloria Buzau by 52:51 in aggregate thanks to their home three-goal win
• the Hungarian club’s captain Eszter Tóth is one of the most experienced players in the squad and was also the team's top scorer in the 2021/22 season with 35 goals
• Norwegian side Fana are the only debutantes in the competition, having their maiden international breakthrough
• Fana secured their spot in the qualification stage after finishing fifth in Norway; for a group phase spot they beat SPONO Eagles and Buxtehuder SV without a sweat
• the Hungarian side had a week of preparation for the match, while Fana were defeated by Vipers 20:36 in the domestic championship

GROUP C

DVSC Schaeffler (HUN) vs Nykøbing Falster Håndbold (DEN)
Saturday 07 January, 20:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• DVSC Schaeffler returned to the international stage as they finished third in the domestic league; they failed to qualify for the group stage for two seasons straight
• Schaeffler's squad is a good mixture of youth and experience, led by team captain Dóra Hornyák
• Nykøbing are set to play their first European League group phase after eliminating Viborg HK and Yalikavaksport Club in qualification
• the Danish side previously reached the EHF Cup semi-finals in 2016/17, and played the EHF Champions League a year later
• while they are waiting for their new arena to be built, Nykøbing will play in Arena Næstved around 60km north of their home town
• Nykøbing lost 28:32 at home to København Håndbold, and Schaeffler still wait for their first game of 2023

Sola HK (NOR) vs Podravka Vegeta (CRO)
Sunday 08 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• in their European League breakthrough in the 2021/22 season, Sola reached the quarter-finals after finishing first in group A
• the Norwegian club secured their second straight group phase spot by beating Rocasa Gran Canaria in qualification round 3 by 66:57 in aggregate
• Podravka had an exciting two games in a battle for the group phase – they eliminated MKS Zaglebie Lubin after a penalty shoot-out in qualification round 3
• the Koprivnica-based team enter the European League with new head coach Željko Babic, who has his first stint in women's handball
• Sola played last season's group phase against another Croatian club, HC Lokomotiva Zagreb, who now compete in the EHF Champions League Women

GROUP D

Thüringer HC (GER) vs Paris 92 (FRA)
Saturday 07 January, 16:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• in the 2020/21 season, Thüringer were part of the inaugural European League group phase and failed to qualify a season later after being stopped by Molde
• the German side have a much-changed squad compared to last season, with 10 players joining and 13 leaving the club; in comparison, Paris 92 had five players coming and eight leaving the club
• Herbert Müller's team started their road in the first qualification round and successfully eliminated Chambray Touraine Handball and IK Sävehof
• just like their opponents, Paris 92 are also back to the group phase after a year of hiatus. They were seeded directly after finishing third in the French league in 2021/22
• Paris’s best European results were reaching the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup and the Challenge Cup
• while Thüringer had an easy win at home against Union Halle-Neustadt (38:25), Paris 92 were defeated 29:30 by Metz ahead of the start of the European League

SCM Ramnicu Valcea (ROU) vs Praktiker-Vác (HUN)
Sunday 08 January, 14:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• both sides had somewhat easy qualification matches; Ramnicu Valcea defeated H65 Höörs HK by a 15-goal difference in aggregate, while Vác had a 13-goal difference against LC Brühl Handball
• the Romanian side is in the group phase of the competition for the second consecutive season. Last season they made it to the quarter-finals where they were stopped by Ikast
• Vác head into their third straight group phase appearance; both previous times they finished bottom of their group
• head coach Gábor Herbert recently joined the Hungarian side and he is ready to lead a team consisting of mostly young domestic talents
• this will be the third encounter between the teams, they played against each other in the 2021/22 European League group D with the Romanian side being victorious both times