Bøhn: It could be heaven or hell!

Before the start of the Main Round of the EHF Champions League Karl Erik Bøhn, head coach of the Norwegian women’s champions Larvik HK, seems to be optimistic. With their Group 1 opponents RK Krim Mercator from Slovenia, Györ from Hungary and HC Leipzig from Germany, he realises that his team can end up anywhere from place one to four.

In the Main Round Larvik will be allowed to bring their new French star Rafaëlle Tervel into play for the first time in the Champions League. eurohandball.com spoke to Karl Erik Bøhn about their chances in the main round.

eurohandball.com: What does it mean to your team that you can make use of Rafaëlle Tervel now?

Karl Erik Bøhn: It obviously means that we have not only one more player to send on, but also more options when it comes to moving around our resources. Tervel is a not only an extremely good player, but also an extremely versatile player. She can play in the backcourt line as well as on the wing and even on the line. That makes her a great asset to our game.

eurohandball.com: On your club’s website you characterised the Main Round draw results as the draw of your dreams. Could you elaborate at bit on that?

Karl Erik Bøhn: Our opponents are three teams we know very well. We know all the three away grounds and the cities we are going to play in. Those are places where we have always felt well. Besides, our journeys for the away games will not be too long. However, it could be heaven or hell in that group. We can end up on any place between one and four.

eurohandball.com: Several experts share the opinion that Group 2, with Oltchim Vâlcea, Viborg, Hypo Niederösterreich and Dinamo Volgograd is slightly stronger than your group. Do you agree?

Karl Erik Bøhn: I doubt there is a lot of difference between the two groups. For instance, Györ, who are in our group, defeated Vâlcea in the group stage. Furthermore, I do not think there is a big difference between Vâlcea and Krim, and Volgograd is probably not any stronger than Leipzig. Hypo were lucky to even go on to the Main Round, and Viborg have recently lost to KIF Vejen. So I really do not see any big difference.

eurohandball.com: Your first match will be on the road against Leipzig on Sunday. How are your chances?

Karl Erik Bøhn: I expect a very difficult mission. Leipzig have a strong team who have been doing particularly well at home, where they drew against Viborg and defeated Podravka and Byåsen pretty easily in the Group Phase. I understand that our match is not going to be played in Leipzig, but in Dessau, some distance from Leipzig, but I still expect them be supported by a lot of spectators. However, we are very keen on an away win, as winning our home matches may not be enough for us. Besides, who says that we will be able to win all our home matches? In the Group Phase, it meant a lot to us to start with an away win against Budućnost. We will definitely try hard to repeat that beginning.