EHF Champions League
Everything still to be decided between Plock and Nantes
The third match of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League play-offs delivered an amazing thriller, which remained undecided until the final seconds. Although Nantes had the upper hand in the first half, taking an advantage as big as four goals thanks to Viktor Hallgrímsson, the hosts clearly took the momentum after the break.
With Dmitry Zhitnikov and Sergei Kosorotov in charge offensively, Orlen Wisla Plock came back into the game, levelling the score early in the second half. The Polish side even had the opportunity to win, but Hallgrímsson stopped Zhitnikov’s potential game-winner.
It was a tough match and a fantastic spectacle. We played a good game, especially in the second half where we made fewer mistakes - especially in attack. We played well in defence, which I'm happy about and I wanted to congratulate my players, because to achieve such a result and play against a team of such a level as HBC Nantes is a feat. We have to prepare for the next game, we are still in the game - that was our goal today.
I am very happy that I could return to Plock and play today in the Orlen Arena and finally see the atmosphere created by the fans, because frankly speaking I have never had such an opportunity to play with such a great atmosphere. Regarding the match, I think we played a good game, especially in the first half, and in the second half we made some mistakes that we were punished for, but we didn't put our heads down and we didn't lose our focus, which gave us a draw.
