Malaga take advantage over Zagreb in final
Rincon Fertilidad Malaga kept their promise and defended their home court in front of 400 fans in the first leg of the EHF European Cup Women final, beating RK Lokomotiva Zagreb 32:28 on Saturday.
Having won all previous matches this season by margins of at least four goals, Lokomotiva fought hard but could not keep up the pace with their opponents this time.
Malaga had a seven-goal lead at one point, but the ‘Lokosice’ managed to close the gap to only four ahead of next week's decisive second leg.
FINAL, FIRST LEG
Rincon Fertilidad Malaga (ESP) vs RK Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO) 32:28 (14:11)
- the hosts took an early 6:3 lead, making Lokomotiva trail by two or three goals throughout the first half
- Larissa Kalaus kept Lokomotiva in the match with a perfect score of 11 goals from 11 shots
- Silvia Arderíus Martin and Sara Bravo Baldomero were key to Malaga’s win, both scoring seven out of seven
- Zagreb were missing their head coach Nenad Sostaric, who is still recovering from Covid-19
- the second leg will take place in Zagreb on Saturday 8 May
Three sets of twins
Handball includes a lot of family stories and the EHF European Cup final is no different: one trophy, two teams and three sets of twins. Malaga have the López Jiménez sisters: Esperanza and Soledad. The 29-year-old Spanish players began their handball careers in Malaga and netted eight goals in total on Saturday.
Zagreb’s two sets of twins scored a combined total of 14 goals: Larissa Kalaus had a perfect night with 11 goals from 11 attempts and her sister Dora scored once, while Stela Posavec scored twice and together with her sister Paula showed good efficiency in defence, too.
