Crunch round rekindles last season’s rivalries

In group A, SG BBM Bietigheim and CSM Bucuresti will aim to extend their unbeaten streaks and cement their top two places, after a flawless start of the competition.

GROUP A

FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) vs Vipers Kristiansand (NOR)
Saturday, 15 October, 16:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Vipers are entering the game after their first loss in 11 matches in the EHF Champions League Women, with their largest-ever win streak snapped by Bietigheim last week
• FTC’s attack was the main issue at the start of the season, with the Hungarian side being one of the only two teams to have scored less than 100 goals in the first four matches, their 99 being only better than Lokomotiva Zagreb’s 80 goals
• Vipers’ right back Anna Vyakhireva is the top assists provider in the competition, setting up 28 goals, five more than any other player in the first four matches
• FTC have conceded a single loss on their home court in the past 12 matches, against Brest Bretagne Handball two rounds ago
• the two sides have met six times in the European premium competition, sharing three wins each, with FTC taking two of those wins on their home court

Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA) vs Odense Håndbold (DEN)
Saturday, 15 October, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• the French club are coming into the match hot, riding a two-game winning streak, while Odense have conceded two losses in a row
• Brest’s seventh goal will be their 2,000th in the history of the EHF Champions League Women, the 19th team to hit that milestone
• Odense will continue to have a depleted squad, with injuries hitting their core. Backs Mia Rej, Dione Housheer and Larissa Nusser are out for the match against Brest, while Lois Abbingh just gave birth
• the French side’s main problem this season has been their efficiency, scoring only 53.1 per cent of their shots, the fourth lowest effiency in the competition
• Odense conceded their first loss in the Danish league this week, with a tough 22:32 game against Ikast Håndbold

SG BBM Bietigheim (GER) vs RK Krim Mercator (SLO)
Sunday, 16 October, 14:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• the German side are on a 60-game unbeaten run dating back to March and are leading the group, after clinching a superb home win against Vipers Kristiansand last week
• Bietigheim are also in the middle of their best-ever streak in the competition, four games unbeaten, with three wins and a draw
• no team has scored more goals than Bietigheim’s 146, as the German side improved their historical average number of goals scored per game from 24.8 in the past seasons to a superb 36.5 goals per game this season
• Krim’s right wing Jovanka Radicevic needs only 12 goals to become the best-ever scored in the history of the EHF Champions League Women, with the record still held by her former teammate, Anita Görbicz, with 1016 goals
• Krim are unbeaten against the German champions in the European premium competition, winning one game and drawing the other one when they met in the 2020/21 edition

CSM Bucuresti (ROU) vs DHK Banik Most (CZE)
Sunday, 16 October, 16:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• CSM have registered their best-ever start in the EHF Champions League Women, with three wins and one draw putting them second in the group to Bietigheim who have a better goal difference
• Most have conceded 160 goals in the first four games, the worst amount in history for a team to start the season, shipping at least 40 goals in three of the four matches played
• after a 10-goal outing in the previous win against Odense, Romanian left back Cristina Neagu entered the top 10 of the goal scorer standings with 25 goals. She needs only 65 to become the third player in history to score 1,000 goals in the European premium competition
• the Czech side are now in the middle of their worst-ever losing streak, seven games, as they have won only one game from the 10 games played in the competition
• with 122 goals from 188 shots this season, CSM have the third best efficiency in the competition, 67 per cent, only behind Bietigheim and Györ

GROUP B

MOTW: Team Esbjerg (DEN) vs Metz Handball (FRA)
Sunday 17 October, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Metz are one of the four teams still undefeated in the Champions League with three wins and a draw after four rounds, putting them top of group B
• this will be the teams’ fifth meeting. The last time was in the third-place match of the EHF FINAL4 Women 2022 when Metz beat Esbjerg 32:26
• Esbjerg have two defeats so far this season. In round 1 they lost 29:31 to Györ and in round 4 32:34 to Rapid
• Nora Mørk was one of several players missing against Rapid and there remain question marks over the depth of Esbjerg’s squad for the game against Metz
• Henny Reistad is Esbjerg's top scorer this season with 29 goals out of 47 shots, putting her fifth on the competition's top scorer's list; Bruna de Paula leads the scoring for Metz with 28 goals
• the Match of the Week will be Metz's 165th match in the top-tier competition and they are looking for their 84th win
• Esbjerg defeated Randers HK 34:25 in the domestic championship this week, while Metz had a clear win over Nice Côte d'Azur in the French championship

Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK (TUR) vs HC Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO)
Saturday 16 October, 16:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• this will be the first encounter between the two bottom teams of group B
• Kastamonu have the second least-effective defence in the competition with 148 conceded goals in four matches – but they face the least effective attack in Lokomotiva, who have scored only 80 goals in four rounds
• Kastamonu extended their losing streak to 18 after Storhamar beat them 31:29, the longest in Champions League history
• Katarina Jezic, the Turkish side's second-top scorer so far, played for Lokomotiva on two occasions, the last time in the 2014/15 season when the Croatian club was a first-time Champions League competitor
• 20-year-old Klara Birtic leads in Lokomotiva squad with the most goals scored this season, 17 out of 29 at a 58.6 per cent efficiency

WHC Buducnost BEMAX (MNE) vs CS Rapid Bucuresti (ROU)
Saturday 16 October, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• even though Buducnost have two defeats in four rounds, against top teams Esbjerg and Metz, this is their best season start since 2020/21
• debutants Rapid Bucuresti are the undefeated team of group B alongside Metz Handball, with whom drew in round 2
• Buducnost's team captain Milena Raicevic still leads the Champions League Women top scorer list. scoring 35 goals in four games
• Rapid Bucuresti has the third most successful attack of the competition, behind Bietigheim and Györ
• the Romanian club is travelling to Podgorica for their first-ever match against Buducnost after a narrow 39:29 win over HC Zalău in the domestic championship

Storhamar Handball Elite (NOR) vs Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN)
Sunday 17 October, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• this is the first match between the two in the competition's history
• this will be Storhamar's third home match this season and they are hunting their third home win; Györ have played only one away match so far, in round 1
• Györ have the second-best attack of the competition, leading in the group with 131 scored goals. Their back court is one of the most efficient, with Ana Gros, Estelle Nze Minko and Veronica Kristiansen scoring more than 45 of those goals
• Storhamar still lack the experience of playing the top-tier competition, visible in the matches against tough opponents, but managed to make a comeback against Kastamonu for their second win of the season
• Norwegian Maja Jakobsen is Storhamar's key player, with 30 goals so far this season – making her the fourth top scorer of the competition