Rostov ease past Podravka again
While CSKA had beaten RK Krim Mercator in a very tight fight on Saturday, fellow Russian team Rostov-Don faced a much easier task following their 29:20 win in the first-leg match against HC Podravka Vegeta.
And Rostov were again too strong for their Balkan rivals as they won 42:24 and sealed a DELO EHF Champions League quarter-final spot.
PLAY-OFF, SECOND LEG
Rostov-Don (RUS) vs HC Podravka Vegeta (CRO) 42:24 (24:11)
First leg: 29:20, Rostov win 71:44 on aggregate
- Rostov reached the quarter-final for the fourth straight season
- a 82 per cent shot efficiency in the first half propelled the home side to a commanding 24:11 lead
- Rostov’s Katarina Krpez Slezák became a top scorer of the match with nine goals
- Dejana Milosavljevic, who is the third-best scorer of the competition, netted seven times to increase her tally to 88 goals; however, Podravka are now eliminated
- in the quarter-final, Rostov will face the winners of the tie Vipers Kristiansand vs Odense Håndbold, who will play their second-leg match later today
Rostov set new club records
Rostov’s biggest win in the Europe’s premier club competition had been 38:21 against France’s Fleury Loiret Handball in the 2015/16 season, and 38 goals in that encounter had been their best scoring result.
But now the Russian side set new club records, hitting the 40-goal mark for the first time and ultimately winning by 18 goals.
It was almost a full arena, and we wanted to show our fans how we play handball. We were running all 60 minutes, made a lot of fast breaks. I could rotate our squad, it’s a good point. Now some of our players will join their national teams, and then I will have the task to put everybody together for the quarter-finals.
