Esbjerg or Odense? Inside the all-Danish Match of the Week

However, the last six seasons of the Danish league, which had five different champions between 2011 and 2017, have been a two-pronged affair, with Team Esbjerg winning the title four times, while Odense Håndbold became champions twice, breaking Esbjerg’s dominance in 2021 and 2022.

With excellent performances both in the EHF Champions League Women and the EHF European League Women, Denmark had three teams in the premium European competition in the last two seasons, which meant that two Danish side were always going to meet in the group phase.

That is the case in the second round for group B, when the two powerhouses that have dominated the domestic league — Esbjerg and Odense — will collide in a fiery Match of the Week. The hosts, Esbjerg, are touted as favourites, after winning eight of the last 10 mutual clashes.

Can Odense stop Reistad?

Odense have a two-point gap ahead of Esbjerg following their 28:22 win over HB Ludwigsburg in round 1, while the Danish champions conceded a 26:28 loss against reigning title holders Györ. Therefore, Esbjerg are aiming to avoid the first two-loss start in their history in the EHF Champions League Women, against a team which has won all the four matches they played across all competitions so far this season.

But where do Esbjerg hold an advantage over their opponents, whom they have beaten three times in the previous season?

Both teams look to be built in the same mould, without extensive depth, but with strong players in their starting line-up. Undoubtedly, Esbjerg’s main advantage is their experience, but also having a top player like left back Henny Reistad in the squad.

Reistad has scored over 100 goals in each of the past three seasons for Esbjerg, and was top scorer of the EHF Champions League Women when she netted 142 in 2022/23. She has already shown that amazing goal scoring prowess this season, exploding with a 15-goal outing against Györ in the opening match.

On the other hand, Odense limited Ludwigsburg to only 22 goals scored, which means they have the most effective defence in the competition after the first round. Yet stopping a star-studded team like Esbjerg is a totally different proposition, with the Danish champions having a much stronger attack.

Another big advantage for Esbjerg is their home court, the Blue Water Dokken, where they have lost only two of the last 25 matches in the EHF Champions League Women — one against Györ and the other against Vipers Kristiansand, the winners of the last seven titles in the premium European competition.

Odense’s goalkeepers: The x-factor?

Derbies between teams from the same country never bring straightforward conclusions. Every now and then, a surprise might spring, just like in the opening round of 2024/25, as Gloria Bistrita delivered a fantastic 30:26 win against CSM Bucuresti — a team that dominated Florentin Pera’s side in the previous seasons.

One department where Odense might hit the jackpot is goalkeeping, as Ole Gustav Gjekstad’s side has more experience and depth than Esbjerg thanks to the fantastic pair of shot stoppers in Yara ten Holte and Althea Reinhardt. The two combined for a 32 per cent efficiency in the match against Ludwigsburg, stopping 10 shots, while Esbjerg’s Anna Kristensen and Amalie Milling had eight saves.

With both Reinhardt and ten Holte representing their national teams at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games this summer, they are clearly more experienced than their Esbjerg counterparts. Esbjerg have one of the youngest pairs of goalkeepers in this season of the EHF Champions League Women, with Kristensen being 23 years old and Milling 24.

All in all, the match between Esbjerg and Odense will certainly live up to its standards and its promise: A fantastic duel between two teams representing the same country, which thrive on defence and fast breaks.

But will Esbjerg seal their maiden win of this season or are Odense in for back-to-back victories and a big surprise?

Photos: Lau Nielsen/Torben Adresen/Rudi Buhl (main and Althea Reinhardt in-text) / Kovács Anikó/Győri Audi ETO KC (Henny Reistad in-text)