Summary: Vipers, Brest and Rostov take quarter-final spots
Today it was the small details that gave the two points to Vipers. Vipers were ahead of us the whole game and even though we talked about all the small adjustments during half-time, Katrine Lunde was just outstanding in the goal
18:00
With the seven play-off matches from this weekend now done, here are the results of the second legs.
17:35 | FULL-TIME
ODENSE Håndbold 26:30 VIPERS KRISTIANSAND
As Jana Knedlikova scores her fourth goal of the game Vipers' victory is wrapped up. Odense mounted a really strong comeback but Vipers, today, were good enough to take the win and the quarter-final ticket with a 65:62 aggregate victory.
Henny Reistad scored four of her five goals in the second half, including three in the last 10 minutes, and that made a big difference.
17:21
Last week Henny Reistad came into her own in the second half, and she's just given Vipers breathing space and a three-goal lead at 28:25.
The fact Odense are challenging so hard this half is due largely to Althea Reinhardt, who has been excellent.
17:12
Lois Abbingh nets a penalty, and Vipers' lead is cut to one goal at 24:23 - the sides are level on aggregate. There's just over 10 minutes left and every second will count now.
17:07
It's back to a two-goal margin after Vipers suffer two suspensions at once and Odense capitalise on the power play. Althea Reinhardt is now also playing a significant role, stepping up her efforts in goal.
17:00
And just like that the pattern of the match changes. Odense ramped up their defence, preventing Vipers from scoring, and with a lack of response by the Vipers defence went on a 3:0 run including two goals from Jessica Quintino which has got them back to 18:22.
16:55
Odense are struggling to find a way past Katrine Lunde. Freja Cohrt started the half by scoring for the home team, but since then everything has gone wide or been saved. Meanwhile three Vipers goals have gone in and they lead 22:15.
16:39 | HALF-TIME
ODENSE Håndbold 14:19 VIPERS KRISTIANSAND
A 4:2 run in the last five minutes of the first half has given Vipers a five-goal lead going into the break. Better efficiency in attack and defence is paying dividends for the visitors - along with a stellar performance by Linn Sulland, with seven goals from nine attempts.
16:31
Katrine Lunde is having a very good day in goal. While Odense have rotated Althea Reinhardt and Tess Wester, so far it's just Lunde doing the work for Vipers and she's doing it extremely well with eight saves for an efficiency of 38 per cent.
16:25
The margin is now four goals in Vipers' favour. The timeout helped Odense get back to 8:9, but Vipers managed to pull away again and are currently in control.
16:15
As Vipers take a 9:6 lead, Ulrik Hansen calls a timeout for Odense. They cannot let the match get away from them this early, but the visitors are beginning to look more comfortable.
Top scorers so far are Nycke Groot for Odense (two goals) and Vilde Jonassen for Vipers (three).
16:12
Vipers go up 6:4 after a brilliant fast break from Vilde Jonassen, but Odense are quick to strike back with a goal from Jessica Quintino on the wing. It's another quick-paced game, although the goals are not coming quite as quickly as last week.
16:05
After five minutes it's 2:2 and the match is shaping up to be as close as last week. Both Katrine Lunde for Vipers and Althea Reinhardt for Odense have made good starts in goal.
16:00
As Odense vs Vipers throws off, here are the squads for the match. Both have three goalkeepers, but Vipers has a larger bench of field players.
15:40
The play-off action finishes today with perhaps the most exciting tie of them all - Odense vs Vipers.
Last week Odense pulled off a thrilling 36:35 victory and gave themselves a chance at their second quarter-final place in their second season in the DELO EHF Champions League.
Vipers are still missing stars Nora Mørk and Heidi Løke and have lost five of their last six matches, but can never be ruled out. This is a game not to be missed and it throws off at 16:00 CET.
15:27 | FULL-TIME
BREST BRETAGNE HANDBALL 30:27 TEAM ESBJERG
Esbjerg mounted a good fight in the second half, but it was nowhere near enough. Brest are ecstatic as they book their quarter-final ticket for a second year running - this year they should get to play the round. They win with a 63:54 aggregate advantage.
Ana Gros scored seven goals and is back on top of the top scorer rankings, now with 104 goals across the season.
15:23 | FULL-TIME
ROSTOV-DON 42:24 HC PODRAVKA VEGETA
There is no doubt about the winner in Rostov. The hosts take a massive 18-goal victory and book a place in the quarter-finals with a 71:44 aggregate win against Podravka, who really never stood a chance tonight against a rampant Rostov.
Anna Sen's little boy, wearing a t-shirt in support of his mother, has come on court to join the celebrations. Adorable.
15:20
This is from the first half, but there's never a bad time to enjoy a great save by Sandra Toft.
Cleopatre Darleux is now undertaking goalkeeping duties for Brest as they lead Esbjerg 28:25. Agathe Quiniou made one save from 10 shots before coming off.
15:15
Inside the last 10 minutes in both games now, and the quarter-finalists seem set as Brest Bretagne and Rostov.
Rostov now have a 17-goal lead against Podravka in this game (38:21) and look utterly dominant.
Brest have weathered the Esbjerg fight-back well, and pulled back out to a four-goal lead for a while. Mette Tranborg, leading the scoring for Esbjerg with six goals, closed back up to three but it does look like Brest will take this game and certainly the place in the next round.
15:05
There's a game on in Brest! Esbjerg got back within two goals of their hosts - and while this still leaves them trailing on aggregate, it's making things more exciting. The pace has picked up and Brest are making a few mistakes leaving them vulnerable.
Rikke Poulsen's saving has also significantly improved from a poor first half and that's definitely helping matters for the Danish visitors.
14:57
While trailing by a significant margin, Podravka continue to fight and are celebrating every goal. This was a good effort by Magdalena Ecimovic in the first half.
14:54
We're back on for the second halves.
Agathe Quiniou has come on in goal for Brest, replacing Sandra Toft. Toft had a good first half with a 31 per cent save rate, but Laurent Bezeau clearly decided to give his number 1 a break.
Both home sides maintain comfortable leads, although Esbjerg have closed the gap to five goals at 20:15.
14:38 | HALF-TIME
BREST BRETAGNE HANDBALL 19:11 TEAM ESBJERG
With a six-goal advantage ahead of the game, Brest Bretagne are clearly setting out to make no mistakes and seal their spot as early as they can. Esbjerg would need an incredible comeback to make up this margin.
Ana Gros is now level with Cristina Neagu on 100 goals for the season.
ROSTOV-DON 24:11 HC PODRAVKA VEGETA
Rostov are dominating, in a good team performance led by five goals from each of Iuliia Managarova and Vladlena Bobrovnikova.
14:30
Brest have made a much better start today than they did last week playing away, when they went into the break leading by a single goal. They've now established a seven-goal lead against Esbjerg.
14:21
Rostov have the advantage today of playing in front of a sold-out home crowd, and they're making the most of it - after 20 minutes, they lead 14:7.
As Sandra Toft starts to get into her groove in Brest, the French club have a 14:9 advantage.
14:11
After about 10 minutes, Brest and Rostov have both scored double the number of goals as their opponents - it's 8:4 in France, 7:3 in Russia. Podravka coach Antonio Pranjic has already taken one time-out.
14:07
It's a good start for both home teams. Rostov have already established a 4:1 lead against Podravka, while Brest lead Esbjerg 4:3.
14:00
Both matches have thrown off!
Find the squads for all four teams on the match pages, which also have plenty of stats. And watch using the EHFTV dual-screen tool.
Brest Bretagne vs Esbjerg
Rostov-Don vs Podravka
13:44
Rostov revealed their squad for this afternoon's match a little earlier. There's no change to the field players who travelled to Croatia last week, but Daria Tchakeva has been added as a third goalkeeper choice.
13:33
Another 11 goals from Cristina Neagu put her back at the top of the top scorer rankings yesterday as CSM Bucuresti beat SCM Ramnicu Valcea on aggregate (while losing the match). Jovanka Radicevic's nine goals for Buducnost put her in third place.
Today Brest's Ana Gros has the chance to leapfrog past Neagu again. Three goals will put her level and four ahead - her season average is seven goals per game, and she netted 10 times last week against Esbjerg, so the odds are good we'll see her hit that 100-goal landmark.
Meanwhile Dejana Milosavljevic and Lois Abbingh could both overtake Radicevic in their games.
13:25
It's a bright sunny day in Russia and Podravka went for a walk by the river Don. Although it looks a bit chilly, right?
13:10
Welcome to Sunday's coverage of the DELO EHF Champions League play-offs. Three more quarter-final slots will be filled this afternoon, beginning in just under an hour as Esbjerg host Brest Bretagne and Rostov-Don host Podravka.
Both home teams today are in prime position to take the onward tickets. Rostov beat Podravka 29:20 last week in Croatia, while Brest Bretagne took a 33:27 victory against Esbjerg. But yesterday's results showed that the second leg of the play-offs can produce much closer results, and the quarter-final place is not booked until the buzzer goes.
Saturday 13 March
20:40
To close the blog for this evening, here is a quiz question after Saturday's Match of the Week between FTC and Buducnost.
The blog will return at 13:30 CET for coverage of Sunday's DELO EHF Champions League play-off matches.
We expected a tough game like this. In the first half, we did a perfect performance. But in the second half we were more tired and had some problems. In the last 10 minutes we could focus again and then we could reach our goal.
19:40
FTC's never-say-die attitude and fightback in the second half deserves a lot of credit. Emily Bölk's five goals in the match meant that she was the Hungarian side's top scorer, but she also started their revival in the second half.
19:30
RESULT: FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 29:28 Buducnost
Despite FTC's win in the second leg, Buducnost advance to the quarter-finals of the DELO EHF Champions League with a 50:48 win on aggregate.
Jovanka Radicevic has been named as the Player of the Match, presented by DELO, in Match of the Week. Whilst Buducnost's goalkeepers both had big performance, nine goals from 10 shots for a wing makes that selection easy to justify.
19:25
Angela Malestein had the opportunity to put FTC three in front but her shot from the wing was saved by Armelle Attingre. With a 28:28 score with 30 seconds remaining, it would appear that Buducnost are on the verge of reaching the quarter-finals.
19:19
FTC have taken the lead 27:26 in the second leg, prompting an immediate Buducnost timeout! It is worth noting that 12 players are on the scoresheet for FTC in this match.
19:10
FTC scored to level at 21:21 – but not through the penalty that were awarded. Emily Bölk fired home from nine metres to level the score in second leg. Of course, they will need to find something extra to beat Buducnost on aggregate.
19:06
One notable aspect of the game in the second half is that FTC's counter attacks are beginning to flow. They could draw level at 21:21 if they convert the penalty that they have been awarded.
19:01
A four-goal run for FTC moved the score from 12:19 to 16:19, forcing Buducnost to take a timeout, but Arenhart has denied two more shots from the Hungarian side after the breather.
18:57
As you can see below, Barbara Arenhart's performance in the first half was instrumental in ensuring that Buducnost had a sizeable advantage after 30 minutes in Hungary.
The big picture is that we are the team that qualified. I am very happy we could manage the end of the game and that we had the brains and the handball skills to qualify. The fact that CSM Bucuresti qualified for the DELO EHF Champions League quarter-finals for the sixth time shows the quality that our team has. I really hope that we are the team that will go to the DELO EHF FINAL4.
18:40
HALF-TIME: FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 9:15 Buducnost
Despite being pegged back to 5:5 after taking an early 3:0 lead, Buducnost have kicked on again towards the end of the first half and are ahead 15:9 at the break. With Radicevic and Arenhart in top form for the Montenegrin side, it would appear that they are destined to reach the quarter-finals if FTC cannot produce something miraculous in the second half.
18:34
With seven goals from seven shots, Jovanka Radicevic is pleased with how her evening is developing. And why not when Buducnost lead 13:8 with half-time approaching?
18:30
In a game where goals are likely to be at a premium, Barbara Arenhart has made eight saves for Buducnost from 15 shots, while FTC's Blanka Bíró has been replaced by Kinga Janurik after not making any saves from nine shots faced.
18:17
We mentioned the potential importance of the right wings in Match of the Week in the blog earlier on Saturday. With four goals from four shots, Jovanka Radicevic is roaring for Buducnost against FTC.
18:04
Match of the Week between FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria and Buducnost is underway. Allison Pineau opened the scoring for Buducnost and they have extended their lead to 3:1 after nearly four minutes.
Last week was very good for us. We knew that it wouldn't be easy today, they performed very well, they could lead counter attacks, but I am satisfied with our victory and that we are among the best eight Champions League teams.
17:45
Here are the aggregate scores from our three DELO EHF Champions League 16:00 CET matches today:
CSKA 47:46 RK Krim Mercator
CSM Bucuresti 54:50 SCM Ramnicu Valcea
Györi Audi ETO KC 69:48 SG BBM Bietigheim
17:39
RESULTS: Györi Audi ETO KC 32:28 SG BBM Bietigheim
CSM Bucuresti 21:27 SCM Ramnicu Valcea
In the two other play-off matches that began at 16:00 CET, Györ and CSM Bucuresti have both booked their quarter-final berths – although as the final scores would indicate, they did so in contrasting style.
Györ advance with victories in both legs against Bietigheim, while CSM suffered a six-goal defeat against Valcea at home. Where would CSM be without Neagu is a question to ponder?
17:32
RESULT: CSKA 27:21 RK Krim Mercator
A six-goal home win for CSKA against Krim ensures that they have advanced to the quarter-finals by one goal on aggregate. It is fair to say that the CSKA players were delighted at the end of the match!
17:27
First Dmitrieva appeared on the left wing to finish a free-flowing move for CSKA with four minutes left and now she breaks through to put the Russian side up 26:20 with two minutes left.
17:20
Valcea lead 24:18 against CSM Bucuresti with six minutes remaining in Bucharest. Neagu has scored half of CSM's goals in the match.
17:19
As we enter the last 10 minutes, Anna Seydokina may be on her way to being CSKA's heroine against Krim. She has made six saves from nine shots faced so far, but with the Russian side currently ahead 23:16, more may be required in the closing stages to seal CSKA's place in the quarter-finals.
17:14
Györ's commanding win in the first leg effectively sealed their place in the quarter-finals. As the Hungarian side lead 28:23 with 10 minutes remaining, it is safe to say that there will not be a dramatic finish. But that does not mean that there has been no drama in the match. Did this goal from Beatrice Edwige cross the line? On the replay, it would appear so...
17:09
Momentum swings aplenty – and there are probably more to come. CSKA retake a four-goal lead after Polina Gorshkova scores from the left wing, forcing Krim to call a timeout.
17:02
When Darya Dmitrieva scored this goal for CSKA in the first half, the Russian side were flying – and seemingly heading towards the quarter-finals!
16:57
CSKA began the second half with a failed in-flight from the attempt from the left wing. Samara Da Silva Vieira scored from six metres for Krim on their next attack, but she appeared to be hurt by a foul which drew a suspension for Darya Dmitrieva. Krim now only trail by one goal (14:13) and their confidence as a team is seemingly increasing.
16:45
CSKA's strong start in the first half against Krim has been moderated by the Slovenian side's determined effort towards the end of the first period.
It is business as usual for Györ, who are ahead by three at half-time against Bietigheim, while Valcea's good opening – as typified by Daciana Hosu's save below – has put them in contention against CSM Bucuresti.
16:40
HALF-TIME SCORES
CSKA 14:11 RK Krim Mercator
CSM Bucuresti 11:15 SCM Ramnicu Valcea
Györi Audi ETO KC 19:16 SG BBM Bietigheim
16:34
Five goals and popping perfect passes into the line – Matea Pletikosic has had a great first half for Krim.
16:32
Jovana Risovic made an astonishing 26 saves in the first leg for Krim. The Serbian goalkeeper has made three saves from 16 shots in the second leg against CSKA, but Matea Pletikosic has scored five from six for Krim and the Slovenian side have reduced the deficit to three goals (13:10).
16:25
With nearly 20 minutes gone in Bucharest, SCM Ramnicu Valcea lead 11:7 against CSM Bucuresti. Of course, even with that lead, Valcea still trail by five goals on aggregate.
16:20
CSKA have certainly look determined to eliminate Krim's advantage from the first leg.
In fact, as the Russian side have just scored a fast break to take a five-goal lead (10:5) for the first time in the match, Krim's aggregate lead has disappeared inside 18 minutes. But as we know, there are still 42 minutes left and anything is possible!
16:01
Here are the line-ups for CSKA and Krim as we get underway in Russia.
15:35
In the DELO EHF Champions League group phase, CSKA played eight matches in Moscow, winning seven and drawing one. But how many of those seven wins were by a margin of five or more goals? The answer is just three. There is no room for error this afternoon – CSKA have to win by at least five goals against Krim if they are to stand a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.
15:25
Whilst our initial focus this afternoon will primarily be on the second leg between CSKA and Krim, Match of the Week will see FTC attempting to recover a three-goal deficit from the first leg against Buducnost.
With Angela Malestein and Jovanka Radicevic featuring, we will see two of the top right wings from this season.
15:05
Good afternoon. Welcome to Saturday’s live blog coverage from the DELO EHF Champions League second leg play-off matches. From the four matches that we have on the schedule, two clashes certainly have the possibility of being thrilling second leg encounters.
Throw-offs at 16:00 CET
Győri Audi ETO KC vs SG BBM Bietigheim (37:20)
CSM Bucuresti vs SCM Ramnicu Valcea (33:24)
CSKA vs RK Krim Mercator (25:20)
Throw-off at 18:00 CET
MOTW: FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria vs Buducnost (19:22)
We know that Vipers are coming with everything they got on Sunday and for that we have to be 100% ready. Right now, we are struggling with a lot of injuries but that is not going to set us back; we just have to find new solutions in the next match. We are going to give it our best to get a win.
16:00
Good afternoon! We are 24 hours away from the start of the decisive leg of the DELO EHF Champions League play-offs.
The live blog will be the place again to keep you up-to-date on all what happens on and off the courts, as the competition takes its next step towards the DELO EHF FINAL4 on 29/30 May in Budapest.
Which eight teams will make it to the quarter-final? Here is your schedule for the weekend:
