SUMMARY: Nykøbing and Ikast set for all-Danish final

• Ikast secure a place in the final by beating Thüringer 31:26
• Nykøbing beat Dortmund on penalties after a superb comeback
• read the semi-final previews here, find out how to follow the weekend's action or join the fan zone party
• watch the matches live on EHFTV (geo-restrictions may apply)
• grab the last few tickets here
• photos copyright Kolektiff Images

Saturday 13 May

21:15

That's all from us tonight. We'll be back tomorrow at 10:00 CEST with the build-up for the final and placement match - two national derbies!

20:57

Here are some quotes from that match - you can find all the reaction here.

20:45

Some more great clips to share - first, the winning penalty save ...

... and then Nykøbing's celebration, captured on court!

20:10

The press conference is now live.

20:08

After a breathless match, catch up on the drama with our match review!

19:57

Although Cecilie Greve secured the win, Yara ten Holte had a good day and it was her save which gave us the penalty shootout.

19:54 | RESULT

BV BORUSSIA 09 DORTMUND 33:35 NYKØBING FALSTER HÅNDBOLD

Alina Grijseels steps up - the captain needs to score but Cecilie Greve saves and Nykøbing will face fellow Danes Ikast in the final!

19:52

Cecilie Greve stops Dana Bleckmann! It's equal again.

Marie Hélène Sajka scores and Greve stops Haruno Sasaki! Advantage Nykøbing.

19:51

Mia Svele scores for Nykøbing; Anna-Lena Hausheer equalises.

Elma Halilcevic is stopped by Yara ten Holte and Dortmund have the edge.

19:48 | END OF EXTRA TIME > PENALTIES

It's 32:32 after a tense and drama-filled 10 minutes of extra time. We are into a penalty shoot-out.

Yara ten Holte prevented a Nykøbing win by stopping an Elma Halilcevic fast break with seconds on the clock. Incredible stuff.

19:40 

After the first period of extra time, it's still level at 30:30.

Play is a bit scrappy as the teams fight for every ball; shots going wide and mistakes being made. But then a place in the final is on the line.

19:34

Extra time begins with Nykøbing in possession.

19:30 | FULL-TIME

BV BORUSSIA 09 DORTMUND 29:29 NYKØBING FALSTER HÅNDBOLD

We have extra time! As both the last attacks fail, regular time ends with a draw. 

There will now be two five-minute periods of extra time, with penalties if the result remains level after that.

19:26

Nykøbing are continuing to defend hard and it's paying off as they successfully prevent Dortmund from equalising. The Danes lead 29:28 with 90 seconds left.

19:20

And come back Nykøbing do, using some fast counter attacks to equalise at 27:27. Seven minutes left ...

19:17

What a response from Dortmund to Nykøbing's fight! They retook the lead and extended it to 27:24 in a 3:0 run of their own. Jakob Larsen calls a timeout - his team have just under 10 minutes to come back once more, for a place in the final.

19:10

And Nykøbing take the lead after a 6:0 run. Dortmund equalise again almost straight away, but the Danes have the momentum.

19:06

Nykøbing strengthen their defence and it pays off, with two goals taking the score to 22:20 in Dortmund's favour. Dortmund call a timeout in a bid to stop their opponents' run.

19:00

After eight minutes of the half, it's still a four-goal difference between the two teams, and not much to differentiate them in their performances either. Both are defending well, although Dortmund's defence is perhaps slightly stronger, aided still by Yara ten Holte.

18:53

We're back, with more fast and physical play as Dortmund seek to extend their lead and Nykøbing try to close up again.

18:47

Two fans are playing a game with a seriously gigantic SELECT ball at the break for a goody bag prize. The Nykøbing fan wins after the Dortmund fan nearly knocks over the delegates' table with the ball (don't worry, it was stopped in time!)

Meanwhile, check out these saves from the first half.

18:40 | HALF-TIME

BV BORUSSIA 09 DORTMUND 17:13 NYKØBING FALSTER HÅNDBOLD

The first half ends with Dortmund just in control, largely thanks to Yara ten Holte who's winning the goalkeeper duel. Here's Danijela Vekić with her thoughts.

18:29

Dortmund lead 13:9 after a couple of great Yara ten Holte saves and a solid period in attack. Nykøbing are keeping the pressure on and make it 13:10 as Mia Svele scores a penalty. Six minutes left to play in this half.

18:22

At 9:8 Henk Groener calls a timeout. We've just had a couple of excellent saves, first from Cecilie Greve then Yara ten Holte - though the Dortmund keeper is having a better day so far.

After the timeout Dortmund score quickly to give themselves a two-goal lead for the first time.

18:16

The game remains pretty equal. Elma Halilcevic scores on a fast break; then Nykøbing concede a penalty which Anna-Lena Hausheer puts away. Soon after Nykøbing lose the ball and Zöe Sprengers gives Dortmund their first lead of the game; it lasts all of 34 seconds. 

The two sides are producing good defence and fast attacks and neither is yet able to establish any sort of control.

18:09

A few mistakes by both teams in these early stages, with shots going high or wide. It's 4:4.

18:03

Danish-German duel number two is underway and it's Nykøbing's Alberte Kielstrup who scores first, quickly followed up by one for Dortmund from Dana Bleckmann.

17:50

Dortmund and Nykøbing are about to throw off, but first here's some quotes from the previous semi-final.

17:20

Live now, it's the press conference - featuring Ikast coach Kasper Christensen and goalkeeper Jessica Ryde, and Thüringer coach Herbert Müller and Austrian left wing Sonja Frey.

17:15

Hot off the press, here's the match report from the first semi-final. 

Dortmund and Nykøbing are warming up now for the second game.

17:05 | FULL-TIME

IKAST HANDBOLD 31:26 THÜRINGER HC

On their third attempt, Ikast are through to the final! The lead they established in the first half was just too big and Jessica Ryde just too good for Thüringer to stop them. 

17:01

Jessica Ryde is off court and Andrea Austmo has taken her place, and made a good save just now. Ikast lead 30:25, with just over two minutes to go.

16:57

Emma Lindqvist is given a red card for a foul on Lydia Jakubisova - her hand was high and hit Jakubisova in the face. But Ikast still lead by a comfortable margin.

16:55

There was a long period where Thüringer were just unable to score, and it allowed Ikast to take a 28:20 lead. Thüringer have just pulled one back, but with only six minutes on the clock, it does look like Ikast have finally made it to the final.

16:46

Here's Vilma Matthijs' great steal from earlier on.

16:44

We're into the last quarter of the game, and Ikast lead 23:17. It's been better from Thüringer but they've also missed a couple of easy shots, and they've only scored 11 field goals - Nathalie Hendrikse has netted all six penalty shots.

16:36

Annika Lott makes it a three-goal game and in the process becomes the joint top scorer of the competition, alongside Valcea's Iryna Glibko. 

Ikast take a timeout.

16:34

Thüringer are still trying their seven-on-six in attack and it just earned them a goal. Nicole Roth, the third of their three goalkeepers, is currently on court; Jessica Ryde continues to do well at the other end for Ikast.

16:27

A good restart for Thüringer, who score three goals in quick succession including an excellent steal by Vilma Matthijs Holmberg just now. It's 18:14 and we have a game!

16:10 | HALF-TIME

IKAST HANDBOLD 17:10 THÜRINGER HC

After their two previous semi-final losses Ikast clearly don't want to risk another. A combination of fast attacking play and a stellar Jessica Ryde have given them a big half-time lead. For more thoughts, here's EHF journalist Danijela Vekić ...

16:04

Sonja Frey scored the first couple of goals for Thüringer - good goals too!

Ikast now lead 14:7. Thüringer keep trying a seven-on-six attack but every time they turn over the ball Ikast are able to run and score into the empty net. In the last attack Irma Schjött stayed on, and Ikast's subsequent possession came to nothing.

15:58

Mistakes are costing both teams - Ikast have conceded three penalties and Thüringer two so far, while Thüringer have had four two-minute suspensions which have allowed Ikast easy goals. Jessica Ryde is also on seriously good form, with five saves from nine shots so far. It's 12:6 to Ikast.

15:49

There's been lots of talk this season about how good the European League goalkeepers are, and Jessica Ryde has been particularly effective. She's brought that form to Graz. 

15:47

Ikast have taken a 7:4 lead, taking advantage of a period of power play to score a couple of times into Thüringer's empty goal. It's looking good at the moment for the Danish team. 

Thüringer's supporters are doing a great job at providing support with their band of drummers banging out a consistent rhythm from their corner.

15:43

It's a pretty physical game, with hard defending and lots of running. Emma Friis has just scored Ikast's second seven-metre goal of the game to equalise at 4:4. 

15:38

We're five minutes in and it's a fast-paced game but not many goals have been scored - it's 2:1 to Thüringer.

15:32

Off we go!

15:20

Ten minutes until throw off! 

Click this link for details of how you can watch the matches, wherever you are in the world!

15:10

The first semi-final at 15:30 CEST between Ikast and Thüringer is Ikast's third appearance in a row at this stage of the European League. 

Ikast are unbeaten this season, but they were also unbeaten last year and still lost their semi-final where they fell 33:34 to eventual champions SG BBM Bieitigheim. Their last European trophy was the Cup Winner's Cup in 2015. 

Thüringer did not play the European League last season, but have been impressive since the first qualification round this year. They are as good in attack as Ikast, with left back Annika Lott on course to be the competition's top scorer - she's netted 56 goals so far, just four behind current leader Iryna Glibko of SCM Ramnicu Valcea who is not in Graz.

14:54

So let's find out a bit more about the two matches ahead today, which feature the four group phase winners.

Starting with the second semi-final at 18:00 CEST, between Dortmund and Nykøbing ...

Both these sides started in the qualification rounds, and both lost the first legs of their quarter-finals to qualify for the EHF Finals. Dortmund came back from a nine-goal deficit against Nantes to take a 10-goal win at home; Nykøbing lost by three in Valcea but won by nine goals at home. 

Dortmund have won one previous European trophy - the Challenge Cup in 2003 - while Nykøbing's best previous result in Europe is the semi-finals of the EHF Cup in 2016/17.

14:33

The teams are arriving on court for their warm-up, with Ikast first to appear, and the fans are starting to take their seats too. We're less than an hour away from throw-off!

14:25

Earlier this week the finalists for the EHF Excellence Awards were named, including several players on court in Graz: left wings Emma Friis (Ikast) and Elma Halilcevic (Nykøbing); left back Annika Lott of Thüringer; and Dortmund centre back Alina Grijseels and goalkeeper Yara ten Holte.

14:02

Fans are starting to arrive in the arena - a whole bus full of Thüringer supporters, and several carrying drums, so we're guaranteed a good atmosphere in what is a great hall. Over the next 90 minutes we'll preview the games ahead.

13:05

Dortmund have posted some pictures from training yesterday here at the Raiffeisen Sportpark. Right now, the arena announcer is rehearsing the team announcements for the first semi-final, throwing off now in less than two and a half hours.

12:45

Time to have a look at some of the teams' social media ahead of the games. Here's Nykøbing on the hunt for supporters on the streets of Graz.

12:30

Another young player set to star later today is Mia Svele of Nykøbing Falster Håndbold. She's spent three years in Nykøbing and is returning to Storhamar Handball Elite next season.

Although Nykøbing had a poor start to the group phase they rallied in the last four games and won their group thanks to a superior points difference over Sola HK and DVSC Schaeffler. Svele talked to EHF journalist Danijela Vekić about her time at the club at yesterday's media call - read what she had to say here.

11:50

We're about to head to the arena, but before then, here's the next in our series finding out how well players know each other - it's Thüringer's Josefine Huber and Nathalie Hendrikse!

11:25

The EHF European League is a great showcase for some of handball's brightest young talents. Yesterday journalist Danijela Vekić caught up with one of them, Ikast's Julie Scaglione. Scaglione is just 18 but this is already her third EHF Finals. She's a graduate of the superb EHF 'Respect Your Talent' programme which aims to help the best young players across Europe develop a successful professional career. In this interview Scaglione talks about Ikast's season, their hopes for the Finals, and what she got out of being part of Respect Your Talent.

11:08

Fan support throughout the season is incredibly valued by the teams - just look at the 11,112 who turned out to cheer Dortmund in their last group phase match against Siófok. 

So we gave the teams a chance to say thank you!

10:55

Time for a vote - let's see who you think will make it through to the final of the EHF European League Women 2022/23. Will we end up with another Danish-German showdown, or is it going to be a national derby tomorrow?

10:25

At yesterday's media calls we caught up with some of the players, including Dortmund duo Dana Bleckmann and Yara ten Holte, who are sharing a room here in Graz. But how well do they really know each other?

Click here to find out ...

10:00

Welcome to Graz! The weather is wet but that just makes it perfect for heading to an arena or settling down in front of the TV for some handball action.

We'll bring you all the build-up ahead of the first semi-final at 15:30 CEST, and then regular match updates throughout the afternoon and evening as we discover the two teams who will play tomorrow for the EHF European League Women trophy.

If you're joining us in Graz, great news: head to the arena nice and early to visit the fan zone, which has loads of great activities to do that will test your handball skills.

If you can't be with us, make sure you're following all our social media channels - Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - for exclusive behind-the-scenes content and clips from the games.