Valcea set standards

Just one and a half hours before the game, Oltchim found out that they would play their last European game of the season against Győr. Valcea were hoping for Nürnberg to make a miracle in Russia against Lada, but the Germans lost by one goal. This one goal meant that the Valcea vs Győr game was played purely for prestige.

Győr started better and they leading in the first 7 minutes. From that point on, Valcea played better and better. With a fantastic Lecusanu and a superb Maier, the Romanians outclassed their opponents. After 30 minutes, Oltchim were 4 goals in front of the Hungarians, 17-13.

The second half didn’t bring anything new: Valcea marched on to another easy home victory and maintained their clean home record: Oltchim never lost a game at home in the last two seasons in the European or domestic competitions. Nevertheless, they had to say goodbye to the EHF Champions League.

“It is hard to see the other teams qualify for the semi-finals. Especially when Valcea were the better against all the teams of the group if you look at the home and away games. But this is handball, and we must try again next season,” said Oltchim’s Steluta Luca after the game.

“I feel deep sorrow that we didn’t win today. But Valcea were better. Now we have to focus on Zvezda in the semi-finals,” said Győr’s backcourt player, Bradeanu, who will join her opponents from Valcea in the Romanian national team. Bradeanu will play for Romania at the end of March at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bucharest against Poland, Croatia and Cote d’Ivoire.

“I never believed that we would be out from the competition with 7 points in the Main Round. But the point we lost in Nurnberg turned out to be decisive. On the other hand, we are happy that we set new standards in Romanian handball: Oltchim are the only Romanian team – men’s or women’s – to pass the first group phase of the EHF Champions League,” said the coach of Valcea, Tadici.

Lecusanu (7 goals) and Maier (6) were the best scorers of Oltchim. On the other side, Mravikova was top scorer of Győr with 7 goals, one more than her teammate Bradeanu.