Leipzig steamroll their way to a record victory

Leipzig have pulverized Hypo after a powerful home performance and are now one of the favourites for one of the top two spots in group A. The visitors made far too many errors to avoid the inevitable and failed to follow their unexpected draw with Dinamo with a memorable performance.

HC Leipzig vs Hypo Niederösterreich 42:22 (20:11)

It was a dreadful start for the visitors, who needed more than six minutes to score the first goal. They were making beginner’s mistakes and Leipzig were counter-attacking themselves to a comfortable 7:2 lead after 11 minutes. Hypo’s coach Kovacs demanded aggression in the time-out, but it was just not there.

The Austrian champions couldn’t get their act together and after a series of easy goals Leipzig were 10 goals ahead (16:6 in the 22nd minute).

Another away time-out brought a brief spark for Hypo with Maria Musalem leading her team-mates to a 3:0 partial score. But Leipzig quickly collected themselves and extended the advantage back to +10 (20:10 in the 29th minute).

Hypo made a lot of changes in the line-up at the beginning of the secnd half and for a brief spell it looked good for them. But after a 0:3 partial score Leipzig again took matters into their hands and reached a +10 lead in the 37th minute. The match was done and dusted right there.

Hypo kept making error after error and the home counter-attacking machine was pounding the goals in. It was +15 in the 42nd minute (30:15) and even +20 (41:21) just before the final buzzer.

Initial reports from Leipzig indicated that Saskia Lang would be out injured. But not only did she play - she was the joint top-scorer for the home team with Alexandra Mazzucco (9 goals respectively).

All in all only 2 of Leipzig’s outfield players failed to get on the scoreboard and 42 is now not only the answer to "The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" but also the highest number of goals scored in the European top flight for them. Leipzig also set a new club record for their biggest win as they doubled their previous top mark (10 goals).

An impressive shooting performance of Gorica Acimovic with eight goals was simply not enough to prevent the record EHF Champions League winners from their worst defeat in history.