Metz stun Esbjerg in the MOTW, Ikast win with the buzzer
The long-awaited first round of the EHF Champions League Women 2025/26 closed on Sunday with four clashes that carried everything from commanding wins to buzzer-beaters. The Match of the Week delivered an intense battle between Team Esbjerg and Metz Handball, but the French side took their revenge and won with the help of a great performance by goalkeeper Johanna Bundsen.
Reigning champions Györi Audi ETO KC wasted no time in showing their strength, storming past returnees BV Borussia Dortmund with a 40+ goal outing. Ikast Håndbold marked their comeback to Europe's top flight in the most dramatic fashion — sealing a last-second win over CSM Bucuresti, despite the Romanians' blistering late comeback. DVSC Schaeffler stepped up in the second half and beat OTP Group Buducnost.
In the first half we played outstanding at times, making life difficult for Győri. But already in the final minutes you could feel that our power and creativity started to fade a bit, and Győri punished every mistake, finishing quickly. Now we know where we stand in the Champions League. By the end of the group stage we definitely want to reduce the gap to the top. Nevertheless, we delivered a great fight.
We scored a lot of goals finding a lot of solutions in that attack. We allowed 30 goals which is maybe a little bit too much, but yeah, it was a little bit back and forth in the beginning, we exchanged goals, but in the last 40 minutes we had really good control. I’m really proud of how we started this Champions League season and I think everyone is leaving this game with a good feeling. It’s nice to start the season this way and now we have a foundation we can build on for the upcoming games.
There is regret because we had the opportunity to win until the very end, despite making many mistakes. I believe Debrecen decided the game in the final minutes. In our last attacks, the lack of experience was evident, but this is all a lesson and we will see where we made mistakes. We also lacked rotation, as we do not have enough back players, but that is no excuse for missing clear chances. What makes me happy is that we fought until the end.
I know most of the players of OTP Group Buducnost, and I told my teammates it will be tough in Podgorica. I expected that this would not be a game that is easy to watch, and that in the end, fighting spirit will be the decisive factor.
Really nice to win the first game in the Champions League season, and a special experience to do it against your old team, but I'm very happy with the two points. We were able to stay in front throughout the bigger part of it, however in the end they managed to close the gap and make it a tight one which makes the win in the end even better.
We played a bad first half and started the game a bit too late. That's simply something you can't afford in this tournament. Disappointment right now obviously, but there are still many games ahead of us.
