Rematch of 2023/24 final; Vipers among nine sides targeting first win
Team Esbjerg and Odense Håndbold will clash in the Match of the Week of the second round of the EHF Champions League Women, while last season’s final between HB Ludwigsburg and Györi Audi ETO KC sees the two sides lock horns again.
Metz Handball will try to redeem themselves at home against confident CS Gloria 2018 BN, who opened their account with an important win against CSM Bucuresti. Krim Mercator and FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria can extend their winning streak, while CSM Bucuresti need to bounce back after a tough defeat and try to overcome Storhamar Handball Elite.
It's our first Champions League home game of the season, and we'll be keen to do well after the disappointment of Storhamar and the draw we grabbed in the dying seconds. Once again, we have to deal with a top-quality team, runners-up in the last EHF Cup, who are performing well in the league and who are on an extraordinary run of form. A very fine team, in very good form, coming to the Arènes.
It will be a tough game. They have experience in this competition but we want to prove that we deserve to be here and I hope that we will have one more victory in the EHF Champions League.
It's always good to start the season with a win. It brings energy and confidence to the team. But it's a long season and we know that every game will be extremely important. I am very much looking forward to the first home game. I think that good things will happen in Stožice. It's always nice to play at home, especially on an anniversary like the one the club is celebrating this year. I'm very happy to be part of history.
I think it will be a very exciting match. Two teams that have performed well over time and the team that hits its peak level and minimises the bad periods walks away with the victory. We will take with us the fighting spirit we showed against Metz. We don't give up, even if we are behind for a long time and struggle from time to time.
I think and hope it will be an exciting game. We know how strong they are, and we have to be on it for the whole 60 minutes. I think we have a good chance to get all the points in front of our home crowd though.
The next game against Vipers is very important for us. We want to keep winning points in this EHF Champions League group. We know that they have a very good team with top and experienced players. We have to keep improving our performance and we have to fight the whole match to win two points in Norway.
We know what our group is like, we will not be favourites in any game and we have to accept that. However, there are also six players on the other side, we have to deal with ourselves a lot more and correct some mistakes from our games.
We prepare really well for this game against Ludwigsburg. We played them in the EHF Champions League final in June and we know that they have some great qualities. It's also a tough court to play on, so it will be hard for us. I expect a strong and physical Ludwigsburg, for that we have to be prepared, and we will be prepared.
It's always special meeting another Danish team in the Champions League, and there is a bit of prestige in winning these matches. It is, of course, going to be a tough one, but we have the home advantage, which will help us because we know that Odense will try to kick the door in.
