National champions women - part 3: south-west Europe

Based on the current European Cup ranking, only the 19 best national leagues will provide teams for the 2013/14 Women's EHF Champions League season. In five parts, ehfCL.com shines the spotlight on each of the teams who qualified for the next edition of Europe's top flight and their race for the ticket in their respective national competitions.

The second part is dedicated to teams from south west Europe - Spain, France and Italy.

SPAIN (Balonmano Bera Bera)

After a year-long absence, Spain will once again have a representative in the Women’s EHF Champions League.

Balonmano Bera Bera claimed the Spanish championship by just two points ahead of Elche, who were within touching distance until the last game of the season. With one point separating the teams heading into the finals game day, Elche needed a victory and hoped that Balonmano Bera Bera would draw or lose.

However, the chasing team failed to win, drawing with the relegated Castelldefels, while Bera Bera cruised to a 32:18 victory to secure the title with a record of just two defeats and one draw in 26 matches.

FRANCE (Metz Handball)

Metz Handball dominated the first phase French league from a very early stage, taking first place after the eight match and never looking back. They sat comfortably on top of the table, six points ahead of Fleury Loiret, after just one draw and one defeat from their 18 games.

Both Metz and Fleury Loiret proceeded directly to the semi-finals of the play-offs and were joined by Mios-Biganos and Issy Paris Hand. Metz lost the first leg of their semi-final against Issy Paris, but stormed to victory with a 25:15 win in the second leg, similar to Fleury, who won by six in the second leg after drawing the first against Mios-Biganos.

There seemed to be a shock on the cards in the final after a 27:22 first leg victory for Fleury.

However, Metz showed their true class, just as they had done throughout the season, to take a 27:21 second leg win and the league title, giving them a place in the Women’s EHF Champions League Group Matches, while Fleury Loiret were awarded a wild card place in the qualification tournaments.

ITALY (Jomi Salerno)

Jomi Salerno became Italian Champions for the third time in four seasons, and fourth time in the club’s history, after a closely contested season with HC Sassari. The teams were level on points after the first phase, before Salerno took first place at the end of the second phase with one more victory.

The sides met once again in the play-off finals. In a best-of-three series, Salerno took the first game with a comfortable eight-goal victory, but Sassari struck back with a 32:23 win in the second game.

The decider was an extremely tight game, with Jomi Salerno coming from behind to win 26:25 and book their place in the Women’s EHF Champions League qualification.