After a 21:17 win in the first leg of the EHF European Cup Women final, Rocasa Gran Canaria were on the back foot for much of the second leg at Costa del Sol Malaga and while ultimately, they lost 29:25, they claimed the trophy on the away-goal rule.
FINAL, SECOND LEG
Costa del Sol Malaga (ESP) vs Rocasa Gran Canaria (ESP) 29:25 (16:11)
First leg: 17:21. Gran Canaria won 46:46 on aggregate (away-goal rule)
- the teams were tied at 3:3, but then Malaga used a 5:0 run to pull clear at 8:3
- led by Isabelle Dos Santos in attack and Mercedes Castellanos in goal, the home team enjoyed a six-goal advantage several times, including 17:11 shortly after the break
- a 4:0 run meant Gran Canaria closed the gap to 22:21 with 11 minutes to go, but Malaga hit back to lead 29:24 in the last minute. However, Alba Spugnini's goal nine seconds from the buzzer secured Gran Canaria the trophy
- Dos Santos was top scorer of the game with 11 goals. Spugnini, Melania Falcon and Seynabou Mbengue netted four times each for the visitors
- 7,183 spectators at the Jose Maria Martin Carpena Palacio de los Deportes is a new attendance record for a women's handball match in Spain
Three titles in six years
While Malaga missed the chance to become a two-time winner of the EHF European Cup Women, Gran Canaria triumphed in the third-tier European competition for the third time in six years.
After lifting the EHF Challenge Cup (predecessor of the current European Cup) in 2016 and 2019, the Spanish side now claimed another title, so they have been winning continental trophies every three years. Does it mean that their next European success will come in 2025?
