On Saturday, the Match of the Week will feature reigning champions Vipers Kristiansand hosting Brest Bretagne Handball in a rematch of the final from the 2020/21 season.
Romanian champions CS Rapid Bucuresti and Norwegian side Storhamar Handball Elite will make their debuts, while Györi Audi ETO KC start their campaign against Team Esbjerg in the only game featuring two sides that played at the EHF FINAL4 2022.
GROUP A
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) vs Odense Handbold (DEN)
Saturday 10 September, 16:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- FTC are eyeing an EHF FINAL4 spot once again, having never made the trip to the event which has taken place in Budapest since the 2013/14 season
- with eight wins and three draws, the Hungarian side are on an 11-game unbeaten streak at home in Europe's premier competition
- Odense will miss left wing Freja Cohrt and backs Lois Abbingh and Larissa Nusser, but Hungarian left back Nóemi Háfra will make her debut for the Danish side
- after a 36:25 loss in the Danish Super Cup against Esbjerg, Odense have won four games in the domestic league and the Danish Cup by an average of 13 goals
- this is FTC's eighth consecutive season in Europe's top competition, while Odense will play in the EHF Champions League Women for the third time in a row and the fourth overall
- FTC center back Zita Szucsánszki said: "I am expecting an exciting match against Odense, they have amazing players, but I hope we will be celebrating after the final whistle."
MOTW: Vipers Kristiansand (NOR) vs Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA)
Saturday 10 September, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- the reigning champions will host Brest Bretagne Handball in a rematch of the 2021 final, when Vipers secured their first-ever title in the EHF Champions League Women with a 34:28 win
- right back Anna Vyakhireva, one of the high-profile transfers before the new season, will make her debut for the Norwegian side
- this season, Vipers can become only the second team to win the EHF Champions League Women title three times in a row, after Györi Audi ETO KC
- the French side had their woes in away games in the previous season, losing six games, drawing one and only winning two in Europe's top competition
- if Vipers win, they will become only the 18th team to reach the milestone of 40 wins in the EHF Champions League Women
DHK Banik Most (CZE) vs SG BBM Bietigheim (GER)
Sunday 11 September, 14:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- Bietigheim won all of their games in all competitions in the previous season, including in the EHF European League Women, where they claimed their first piece of European silverware
- the fifth goal scored by Bietigheim in this match will be their 1000th in the competition – after 41 games played
- Most make their comeback to Europe's top competition after three seasons away. When they last played in the group phase, most only won one game from six played and did not qualify for the next phase
- the German champions started the season with two wins in their first two games: 38:26 against Oldenburg in the German Super Cup and 36:15 against Zwickau in the Bundesliga
- Bietigheim won only seven of their 40 games played in the EHF Champions League Women. Their winning percentage of 17.5 per cent is the lowest of any team that has reached this number of games
CSM Bucuresti (ROU) vs Krim Mercator Ljubljana (SLO)
Sunday 11 September, 16:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- the Romanian powerhouse club are undefeated this season, having won the Romanian Super Cup 28:26 against Romanian champions Rapid Bucuresti, while the mutual meeting in the Romanian league between the two sides finished in a stalemate, 31:31
- CSM and Krim played two friendly matches in August, with the Romanian side taking two wins, 34:25 and 25:24, in Ljubljana
- two of the top three all-time scorers in the EHF Champions League Women – Jovanka Radicevic (978 goals) and Cristina Neagu (910 goals) – will face off in Bucharest in the maiden game of the new season
- CSM's new transfers – goalkeeper Laura Glauser, center back Grace Zaadi Deuna, left back Kalidiatou Niakate, right wing Marina Sudakova and line player Crina Pintea – will make their debuts against Krim Mercator Ljublana
- CSM have won six out of their eight games against Krim in the EHF Champions League. Krim's only win came at home in 2019, while the remaining game ended in a draw last season in Bucharest
We expect to meet a really good and tough opponent in a really difficult away arena. We continue to develop our game, as we are still early in the season, and it will be exciting to see where we stand in relation to such a skilled team with many international players, but we go to Hungary with good confidence and we will bring everything to give FTC a hard fight.
