Great expectations in Halmstad

Even though HK DROTT Halmstad have been Swedish champions 11 times, the home match against SG Flensburg-Handewitt Wednesday night will be the club's first home game in the EHF Champions League Group Phase ever. Quite naturally, the expectations are high.

“We are obviously not favorites, and no one can expect us to be able to defeat Flensburg, but it is great for us to be able to present the Champions League to our spectators, and of course we will do our utmost to make a fine performance throughout the entire 60 minutes,” Halmstad´s head coach Ulf Sivertsson told ehfCL.com.

On Saturday he saw his team lose their debut match in the VELUX EHF Champions League 35:33 away to Gorenje Velenje, and despite the defeat, that match has made the optimism grow in Southern Sweden.

“We were content after that match, not by having lost, but by having made a fine performance where we might as well have won, if we had only been a little better at making use of our scoring opportunities. That match gave us the feeling that we can play a part in our group.

"We realize that we did not meet the strongest team in the group, and of course we will have our difficulties against Hamburg and Flensburg. Aalborg also have a strong team, while I still do not know a lot about the Spanish team (Naturhouse La Rioja) apart from the fact that they lost relatively big at home to Hamburg in their first match,” Sivertsson said.

Hoping for solid support

While Flensburg are not sure how many of their fans will take the trip to Halmstad to support their team, Ulf Sivertsson hopes for a massive home crowd to support his team in the Halmstad Arena.

“Many among our regular spectators do not buy their tickets in advance but do simply show up and buy their ticket at the gates, so I do not know how many we may expect.

Our arena can take 3,850 spectators, and I expect over 2,000 at the very least. We have sent letters to all clubs in Southern Sweden, so I really hope for massive support. We will need it,” Ulf Sivertsson said.

Magnus Persson: Awesome experiences

Just like his coach, right back Magnus Persson is looking forward to the match against Flensburg.

“It will be an awesome experience, and we are really looking forward to that match. Maybe we should not think that much about it as our first home match in the Champions League, but just as any other match, as all matches in the Champions League are special,” 22-year-old Magnus Persson told ehfCL.com.

“Of course, we are in for an extremely tough challenge against Flensburg, as we are meeting one of the probably strongest teams in the world. However, our match in Slovenia (against Gorenje Velenje) gave a boost to our optimism, even though we lost, and optimism is exactly what we will need against Flensburg,” Persson concluded.

Further information

Follow the match live on ehfTV.com on Wednesday at 19:00 hrs local time