Group matches finale sets the main round mood
Group matches finale sets the main round mood
Two days before the beginning of the Main Round of the Women’s EHF Champions League, the last game of the group matches takes place in Orleans, where Fleury Loiret and Thüringer HC lock horns to battle for points to be taken forward to the next stage.
GROUP B
Fleury Loiret Handball (FRA) vs Thüringer HC (GER)
Wednesday 6 January, 18:45 hrs local time, live on ehfTV
In the wake of the tragic events in Paris last November, the EHF made the decision to postpone the match between the reigning French and German champions scheduled to take place that weekend. In the meantime, both teams sealed their places in the main round, Fleury Loiret currently sit fourth with two points while fifth-placed Thüringer are one point behind in Group 1.
Fleury Loiret snatched an important point in Nordhausen in their first Women’s EHF Champions League match and kept their unbeaten record until the final match of 2015, when FTC steamrolled the lacklustre French outfit in Budapest.
The German club beat Podravka and finished level with the French champions in Group B, however, it is not about rankings anymore, but points to be taken to the next stage of the competition.
The much changed Thüringer HC side might not be as dangerous as they were last year, when they reached the quarter-final, but Fleury will have to play a lot better than they did against Ferencváros in the previous round in order to take the two points.
The game in Orleans will be a clash of two goalscoring machines with Alexandrina Cabral Barbosa seventh in the top scorer’s chart on 33 goals, while the visitors right wing rocket Svenja Huber is 19th having found the back of the net 26 times so far this season.
