Lunde and Gjekstad give Odense’s success a Norwegian flavour

Katrine Lunde was instrumental to Odense’s fabulous comeback in Saturday’s semi-final against Metz Handball, the team that had arrived in Budapest on a 15-match winning streak.

Sharing playing time between the posts with Althea Reinhardt, Lunde wasn’t exceptional early on, saving only two of the first 10 shots she faced.

But when her team trailed by seven goals in the second half (22:15), Lunde stood up to the task and guided Odense into overtime (27:27), where some of her brilliant saves helped them to reach their first ever final (31:29).

“It was a tough match,” Lunde reflects, while, humble as she is, trying to downplay her own role.

“Every save is important. And it gives us more energy. I'm happy that I got some in the overtime. But I didn't have a perfect match. And Althea Reinhardt did a really great job in the first half and had an important penalty save.”

For Lunde, who arrived mid-season from Vipers Kristianstad, it is all about teamwork.

“The girls showed their mentality, that they wanted to try and do what we can,” she says. “I am really proud of the way how we did it in the end, and how we came back.”

Proud is certainly a fitting word to describe Odense in 2024/25. Only in their sixth EHF Champions League campaign, they made it to the quarter-finals for the fourth time this season — and then even to their first EHF FINAL4.

Odense are on a six-match unbeaten streak — five wins, and a draw against FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria in the quarter-finals — following their triumph over Metz, and now are just one more win away from what would be a stunning run to the title.

Only once before could a first-time participant lift their maiden trophy at the EHF FINAL4, when CSM Bucuresti took the title nine years ago.

Odense’s opponents in the final on Sunday are the same who CSM faced back then: the ‘home’ team and the defending champions, Györ.

“It will be tough. Now we know how it feels to come to this arena,” says Lunde, who at 45 can become the oldest winner ever across genders of a European club trophy.

“I know it will be cool game, and even more atmosphere on the stands. So, it will be a crazy match. But I hope we also try to enjoy it and don't be scared of all the noise and everything.”

Lunde alone has won more titles than all teams together that are competing in Budapest this weekend, as Györ have six trophies as the only previous winners.

Already a seven-time champion, including one with Györ at the inaugural EHF FINAL4 in 2014, Lunde can become the first player in handball with eight EHF Champions League titles. And the first to win titles with four different clubs.

On the men’s side, Carlos Ortega also has eight titles to his name, but two of them came not as a player but as a head coach of Barça.

Her last three titles won Lunde under the guidance of her current head coach, Ole Gustav Gjekstad. The Norwegian coach knows how to win the title in Budapest after their threepeat with Vipers between 2021 and 2023.

While Odense faltered in the quarter-finals three times before, they have made it to Budapest this season, in which the team has made giant steps forward.

Gjekstad has managed to further strengthen the collective — a strong team in the true sense of the word. When Odense were on 13 goals at some point in the first half of their semi-final against Metz, already eight different players had made it onto the goal scorers sheet, including fellow Norwegians Thale Daila, Malin Aune, and Maren Aardahl.

Gjekstad, who leaves Odense after the season and goes on as Norwegian national team coach, acknowledges that Lunde was one of the crucial factors that turned the match against Metz around.

“Katrine in the goal was decisive,” he says. “Getting into the extra time, I was sure that she was getting some saves.”

Still, for many followers, Györ will start the final (live on EHFTV at 18:00 CEST) as the favourites. From their 12 matches so far, Odense have won only one.

However, that win came as recent as last October, when Odense triumphed 35:28 in Hungary to hand Györ their only defeat of the season… so far?

all images © kolektiff