Montenegro take on Germany for main round ticket

GROUP D:

Germany vs Montenegro
Monday 7 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• both sides won their openers: Montenegro were boosted by their 3,000 fans to beat Spain 30:23; Germany won a tight contest with Poland 25:23 thanks to 14 goals of their two team captains, Alina Grijseels (eight) and Emily Bölk (six)
• both goalkeepers were in the spotlight in their first matches: Montenegro’s Marina Rajcic was awarded Player of the Match after her 10 saves against Spain; Germany’s Katharina Filter saved 12 Polish shots
• Montenegro won three matches of the past four matches against Germany; however, their EHF EURO record is in balance with one win each, from 2012 and 2014, respectively
• Montenegrin right wing Jovanka Radicevic scored five goals against Spain and is on 176 EHF EURO goals in total after 36 matches
• German goalkeeper coach Clara Woltering has played four years for Montenegrin record champions Buducnost, winning the EHF Champions League twice with them (2012 and 2015)
• while Germany have not missed any of the 15 EHF EURO final tournaments, Montenegro have not missed any since 2010 and they are going into their 40th EHF EURO match

Germany coach Markus Gaugisch: “I saw the start of Montenegro’s match against Spain, and I have never experienced such an atmosphere and enthusiasm in women’s handball, this was like the men’s Bundesliga. In terms of experience, Montenegro are ahead of us, but we want to put the pressure on them. And we need to stop Djurdjina Jaukovic – for sure.”

Montenegro left back Djurdjina Jaukovic: “Germany have a strong team, especially with their tall and powerful back court players. We need to play as we did against Spain – with heart and with passion – and again we hope for the support of the fans.”

Spain vs Poland 
Monday 7 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• while Poland were unlucky to narrowly lose their opening game against Germany, Spain were left with no chance against Montenegro
• Poland's Magda Balsam and Spain's Alexandrina Barbosa were top scorers of their sides in the opening round; they each scored five times
• Spain are without goalkeeper Silvia Navarro for the rest of the EHF EURO because of a left knee injury
• while Spain have their 70th match at EHF EURO final tournaments ahead, Poland hope to end their series of 13 EHF EURO matches without a victory, as they had one draw and 12 defeats since 2014
• the head-to-head is pretty balanced with seven Spanish wins and six Polish – but Pland have won only one of their six duels since 2003

Spain left back Alexandrina Barbosa: “Against Poland, we have another final, after our defeat against Montenegro. We have to analyse our mistakes and have to see what we can do better.”

Poland centre back Kinga Achruk: “Spain play a different kind of handball compared to Germany. We have to recover, analyse Spain’s game against Montenegro, and find the right solutions.”