Metz's Lylou Borg and Bistrita's Nina Engel, two youngsters to watch in MOTW

Metz, celebrating the first top-flight trophy for a women's club from France last season, and Gloria, coming off their first quarter-final appearance, started their new campaigns in group B with a victory last week.

The French side defeated Storhamar Håndball Elite 32:23 in Norway, where Lylou Borg joined her teammates Anna Albek and Lucie Granier as Metz's leading scorers, with six goals each.

Gloria also started with an away match, though that brought Nina Engel back to her native Germany. The Romanian side took both points with a 28:23 win over EHF Champions League debutants HSG Blomberg-Lippe, and Engel contributed five goals.
 

Metz lead Gloria in head-to-head comparison 

Gloria have entered their third EHF Champions League season, and they are sharing a group with Metz for the third time. Over the past two seasons, Metz won all four of their duels. Remarkably, their biggest wins came in the two matches in Romania (34:28 and 31:24, respectively), while the two games in France were much closer: 28:26 two years ago and 29:26 last season.

All is set for a sparkling finish of round 2 when Metz and Gloria contest the MOTW on Sunday at 16:00 CEST (live on EHFTV).

Lylou Borg

Club: Metz Handball (since 2025)

Position: Centre back

Age: 21

CL debut: 13 September 2025, against BV Borussia Dortmund (38:29, two goals)

Awards:

• EHF Champions League Women 2025/26

• Best Young Player, EHF Excellence Awards 2026

• top scorer of French league 2024/25 (184 goals, for Mérignac Handball)

• 2024 IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship

• MVP of 2024 Junior World Championship

Lylou Borg had her breakout season in 2025/26, contributing 28 goals to help Metz to the biggest title in women's club handball in her first season with the club. But the centre back's success didn't quite come out of the blue, as she had already been the domestic league's top scorer and starred in the France junior national team.

Borg is expected to play an even bigger role in Metz's title defence this season, and she started the new season in style by scoring six times in their season opener. Only once she has scored more goals in one game — eight against Team Esbjerg last season.

Borg stems from a handball-mad family: Her mother, Myriam Borg-Korfanty, was part of the France national team that won the 2003 world title; her father, Jean-Claude Borg, played and coached at a high level as well; and her twin sister, Enola Borg, plays as a left back at Brest Bretagne Handball, as the duo competed with their respective clubs at the EHF FINAL4 in Budapest last June.

Nina Engel

Club: Gloria Bistrita (since 2026)

Position: Right back

Age: 23

CL debut: 6 September 2026, against HSG Blomberg-Lippe (28:23, five goals)

Awards:

• silver at 2025 IHF Women's World Championship

• top scorer of German League 2025/26 (163 goals, for HSG Bensheim/Auerbach Flames)

• Flames' top scorer in EHF European League 2024/25 (53 goals)

• Germany's top scorer at 2022 IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship (44 goals)

Nina Engel is one of a handful of German internationals who has made the move over the summer from the Bundesliga to the Romanian league. Long regarded one of the biggest talents of her generation, Engel took the next step in a rapidly evolving career and joined Gloria Bistrita.

Engel made her first-division debut at Sport-Union Neckarsulm in 2023, joined the Flames the following year, and immediately demonstrated her scoring prowess: No. 2 on the domestic top scorers list in 2024/25, and No. 1 in 2025/26.

She made her name internationally by scoring heavily in the EHF European League, where the Flames made it to the quarter-finals, while also debuting in the Germany national team that season. Now a World Championship silver medallist and playing for her first club abroad, Engel is determined to continue her rise in the sport.

photos © Timon Peters (main); Kevin Clement (in-text)