As six teams chase three EHF FINAL4 Women spots in Budapest, the EHF Champions League Women quarter-finals will throw off on Saturday and Sunday with three first leg matches.
In the Match of the Week on Sunday, CSM Bucuresti and Team Esbjerg will meet for the third time this season, after the Danish team claimed three points from their Romanian rivals in the group phase.
Defending champions Vipers Kristiansand and Krim Mercator Ljubljana also faced each other in the group phase, with the Norwegian team winning both games, but Krim hope to do better with Ana Gros in their squad.
Brest Bretagne Handball and Györi Audi ETO KC will play a rematch of last season's first semi-final, and the Hungarian powerhouse will look to avenge their frustrating penalty shootout defeat.
In the EHF FINAL4 Women 2022, the three quarter-final winners will join Metz Handball, whose matches with Rostov-Don were cancelled due to the war in Ukraine.
QUARTER-FINALS, FIRST LEG
Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA) vs Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN)
Saturday 30 April, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- in last season's semi-final, after a 23:23 draw in regular time, Brest won the penalty shootout 4:2
- this season, Brest finished fourth in group A before beating Odense Håndbold 53:51 on aggregate in the play-offs
- Györ earned a direct quarter-final spot after finishing top of group B with 26 points, six ahead of runners-up Vipers
- the Hungarian heavyweights boasted a 13-game winning run in the current competition before losing their last group match at Vipers, 30:29
- Györ cannot rely on two Norwegian players in Brest: goalkeeper Silje Solberg is injured and line player Kati Brattset Dale is pregnant
- Brest coach Pablo Morel: "There is a real excitement to play this kind of match, a Champions League quarter-final, against Györ, who are probably the competition favourites. We are aware that the opposition will be tough and that we will play the second match in Hungary, but there will be a lot of motivation."
I'm really excited about this game against Györ. With Brest against this team, the matches have always been very tight and tough. I'm pretty sure it will be the same again this time. We know Györ's level and we know that it is always on top, but we also believe in ourselves.
After the last match with FTC, we had the Slovenian Cup and we played two matches in the national championship. I believe that the girls will do their best and will play the best match so far. We lost all six mutual matches in the Champions League, but one was almost close. The surprise on Sunday will be our good game in defence and attack.
