Brest tilt balance their way, CSM with a significant advantage

EHF / Danijela Vekić

16 March 2024, 20:00

The first leg of the EHF Champions League Women play-offs on Saturday produced two exciting games. CSM Bucuresti boosted their chances of progressing further to the quarter-finals after a convincing victory over Krim Mercator Ljubljana in the Match of the Week. Brest Bretagne prolonged their unbeaten streak in the competition to nine after a well-fought win against FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria.

centre back Andrea Lekic was FTC's top scorer with nine goals, bringing her all-time Champions League tally to 1,021 goals and earning third place in an exclusive over 1,000 Champions League goals club, surpassing Anita Görbicz
Brest's Valeriia Maslova also scored nine times in a 30:28 win against FTC, their fourth overall victory against the Hungarian side
MOTW marked the fourth time CSM managed to conquer Krim's fortress in their five clashes since the 2016/17 season
CSM's Cristina Neagu received the Player of the Match award after her performance, Laura Glauser also had a crucial role in a 30:24 win over Krim with 16 saves at 43 per cent save efficiency
the race is still on between two all-time CL top scorers, Jovanka Radicevic (Krim Mercator) and Cristina Neagu (CSM Bucuresti) - after scoring six and nine times against each other respectively, they are on 1,135 and 1,110 goals

PLAY-OFFS, FIRST LEG

FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) vs Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA) 28:30 (15:14)

Brest took an important away win ahead of the rematch next week and came a step closer to the quarter-final clash with Team Esbjerg. The French team were off to a good start, holding onto a two-goal lead for almost 25 minutes mainly due to a great performance by Valeriia Maslova.

However, FTC turned the tide on Serbian power as Andrea Lekic stepped up in crucial moments. Not only did she tie the outpost (12:12), but her fifth goal in the game sent her to third place in an exclusive over 1,000 Champions League goals clubs, surpassing Anita Görbicz.

That momentum was crucial for FTC to take over ahead of the break. Brest's halftime talk bore fruit as they made a 4-0 goal run and got their biggest margin in the game (18:15). Both coaches tried to shake things up by changing the goalkeepers and they played important roles as the game was coming to the clutch time. FTC had a chance to draw but another mistake saw them conceding an easy goal on an empty net, losing for the fifth time at home this season.

It is always a pleasure to play against FTC, it was a tight fight for the win. It doesn’t mean we can be calm, we have to continue working to prepare for next week.

Pablo Morel

Head coach, Brest Bretagne Handball

Congratulations to Brest, we played a very good game today. Maslova played also very well, I hope next year she plays like this all the time, just in our green jersey. With the team we will do everything this week to correct our mistakes for next week.

Angela Malestein

Right wing, FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria

I would like to thank the fans for the great atmosphere. I believe that we will give them back in the second game what they deserved today. We never give up and everything is still open before the return game. We can definitely give even more than we showed this time.

Dragan Adžic

Head coach, Krim Mercator Ljubljana

Both teams know each other very well, and Dragan Adžic and I are in close contact. And that always makes it more difficult to play. Nevertheless, I am satisfied. This game was very important for us and it is a good feeling to come home with an advantage before the return leg.

Adrian Vasile

Head coach, CSM Bucuresti