Larvik's optimism before second leg

Title-holders Larvik suffered their third defeat on home ground in the EHF Women´s Champions League, and last weekend´s loss is the one that hurts most for the Norwegian club. Their counterpart Buducnost holds a two-goal lead before the return clash in the famous Moraca hall, where the Montenegrin hosts have won all of their games so far in the competition.

Despite the defeat, Larvik´s key figure, Tonje Larsen, is still optimistic that it´ll be her side that will progress to the final: "Two goals are nothing in handball and we still have two halves left to turn the aggregate and earn a final berth," she said after the defeat.

Larvik had a nightmare start to the match, with the scoreboard showing 6:1 for the guests after just 11 minutes, but coach Ole Gustav Gjekstad´s team fought back bravely and closed the gap minute-by-minute.

A head-to-head duel was then established, with a slightly better ending for the away side. The hosts led 20:19 less than 10 minutes before the final whistle, but Buducnost turned the result, thanks to more focus in the dying minutes, to win 22:20.

"It´s a pity that we will start two goals down on aggregate in Podgorica. Of course we’d hoped for a little advantage, but it´s still possible to go on to the final," added the middle-back.

"We have a lot more going on that we didn’t show in the Larvik Arena and being only two goals behind is not the end of the world. There will be a lot of noise down there in Montenegro, but we will use it to our advantage," added Larsen.

Buducnost won for the first time ever in Larvik, as in last year´s semi-final, they lost both matches against Larvik.

Despite the home defeat, coach Gjekstad says that his side is not eliminated yet: "We need to stay under 22 conceded goals in Podgorica and then we can certainly progress."

Tonje Larsen added: "We’ve played two of four halves now and are two goals behind. There is another whole game to play, and we can make it. We believe in it and will play much better than last weekend."