Viborg return to the EHF Finals after a painless defeat in Romania

EHF / Filip Mishov

28 March 2026, 17:56

Viborg HK booked their ticket for the EHF Finals Women 2026 and the runners-up from 2021/22 return to the finals after a four-year hiatus despite CS Rapid Bucuresti securing a win (32:26) in Romania's capital led by their passionate supporters.

The Danish club's big advantage from the first leg proved crucial in deciding the winner of the tie, but the hosts displayed an impressive performance in their bid to mount a comeback, which was recognized by their fans after the final whistle.

QUARTER-FINALS, FIRST LEG

CS RAPID BUCURESTI (ROU) vs VIBORG HK (DEN) 32:26 (13:11)

Viborg progress on aggregate (61:58) in the tie

Top scorers: Albertina Kassoma 10/11 (CS Rapid Bucuresti); Rosa Schmidt 5/10 (Viborg HK)

in a fast-paced first half, Rapid held a narrow lead throughout the opening 30 minutes, but were unable to get close to Viborg's huge advantage (+9) from the first leg
Louise Bak Jensen saved Mariana Ferreira Lopes' last-gasp penalty ahead of half-time and prevented the hosts from taking their biggest lead (+3) at the break
Viborg's coach Anders Friis deployed a seven-on-six during the latter stages of the first half to try and break through Rapid's formidable defence, which extended throughout the second half as well
Diana Ciuca finished the match with incredible 16 saves (40 per cent of save efficiency), or same as Louise Bak Jensen who boasted a bit lower (34) per cent of save efficiency
once again Albertina Kassoma proved her quality as Rapid's line player was the match's top scorer after being her team's top scorer with four goals in the first leg as well

Rapid leave the EHF European League on a high

With CS Rapid Bucuresti chasing a double-digit victory to try and annulate Viborg HK's nine-goal advantage from the first leg, the loud and passionate Romanian supporters were pushing their favourites from throw-off. Laurent Bezeau-led squad was strengthened by the presence of Estavana Polman as well, who did not feature in the first leg, and the hosts imposed a highly energetic style of play and pace, orchestrated by the Dutch playmaker.

However, even though Rapid were in full control of the match's result, the pressure of scoring as many goals as possible to try and close in on Viborg's advantage, also caused many misses and technical errors within the home squad, which eventually prevented them from getting close to mounting a comeback. Last but not least, Rapid's fans greeted their favourites' performance with rounds of applauses after the final whistle in a sign of support for their comeback attempts.

Congratulations to Viborg on their qualification. For us, it was a very tough game. We spent all week preparing a tough defence to try and overcome that nine-goal deficit. In Viborg, we had some good moments, but the last period of the second half there was not good—that is where we lost the qualification. Even so, we believed that we could win at home. I think in defence, we lost some one-on-one situations which allowed them to score easy goals. Also, on our fast breaks, we lost some tempo and turned over some balls. I think those were the deciding factors.

Laurent Bezeau

Head coach, CS Rapid Bucuresti

I must admit, this was one of those matches where we looked at the scoreboard the most. It is good to be ahead by nine goals, but we knew this would be a very tough game. Congratulations to Rapid, they played very well today. We tried to tell the girls to treat the game as if it were 0-0, but once we reached half-time, we started looking at how to manage the match. However, we never felt safe in the second half. If they had scored one or two more goals, it would have felt even closer. We are very happy to qualify and appreciate the good relationship we have with Rapid.

Anders Friis

Head coach, Viborg HK