Favourites aim to secure their passage

The halfway mark of the Women’s EHF Champions League in Group B has left little room for doubt that 2012 winners Buducnost and rising force Vardar will stroll into the main round and both teams should advance on Sunday with two games to spare.

The question remains who will join them, with Thüringer and Podravka locked in a third-place battle and likely to come away with nothing from difficult trips to Podgorica and Skopje respectively.

Boasting a plethora of world class players in their ranks, the champions of Montenegro and FYR Macedonia are strong favourites on home court to complete the double over their rivals after beating them away last weekend.
 
GROUP B
Buducnost (MNE) vs Thüringer HC (GER)  
Sunday 09 November at 19.00 hrs local time, live on ehftv

Thüringer HC have the accolade of being one of the most spirited teams in the Women’s EHF Champions League, with their rivals often stressing the German side’s irrepressible die-hard attitude no matter what the score is.

If they are to stand even the slightest chance against a star-studded Buducnost outfit, Thüringer will need that trait more than ever as they are up against one of the prime candidates to win Europe’s elite club competition.

Buducnost have so far steamrolled over all three group stage rivals and it looks unlikely that they will suffer an upset after a solid performance in last week’s reverse fixture in Nordhausen, when Cristina Neagu scored six goals while Katarina Bulatovic and Radmila Petrovic chipped in with five each in a comfortable 27:22 win for the Montenegrin giants.

“The important thing is that we have a maximum nine points from three matches and having played fewer pre-season games than any of our rivals in the build-up period, I believe we still have plenty of room for improvement,” prolific right back Katarina Bulatovic told reporters.

“We struggled a bit in the first game against Thüringer and I think we will play on a higher level at home,” she said.

Thüringer coach Herbert Müller knows his side will be under no pressure to deliver and can hence reshuffle his cards in an effort to evaluate his players in different positions ahead of the crunch away game to Podravka next week.

His side will certainly be buoyed by Wednesday’s emphatic 32:20 home win over HC Blomberg-Lippe in the German Cup, but Thüringer are certainly aware that Buducnost will be an entirely different prospect.
          
WHC Vardar SCBT (MKD) vs Podravka Vegeta (CRO)  
Sunday 9 October 19.00 hours local time, live on ehftv

Vardar had to overcome an unexpectedly strong challenge from Podravka in the first match in Croatia, when only an effervescent performance from 2013 World Player of the Year Andrea Lekic spared the Macedonian giants their blushes.

Lekic scored a season-high seven goals and Croatian left back Andrea Penezic added six to steer Vardar away from rocky waters looming  after a poor first-half display in Koprivnica.

With a Main Round berth beckoning Vardar are likely to take nothing for granted this time and will surely hit the ground running in front of their passionate fans in the Jane Sandanski Arena.

“Only a win will do at home against Podravka,” Vardar coach Indira Kastratovic told a news conference on Friday.

“I am not happy with our current form and how we performed in recent matches but I am confident that we will improve immensely and show that we are one of the best teams in Europe,” she said.

Croatian left wing Maja Zebic added: “We must not underestimate Podravka because they are a good team but there is no doubt that we are the strong favourites to win this game.”

Podravka will once again rely on the prowess of their evergreen stalwart Miranda Tatari, who led the charge in the reverse fixture with seven goals and again proved that she is a real bonus upon her return from a one-year spell at Russian side Astrakhanochka.  

The Croatian runners-up, who relinquished their local supremacy to traditional rivals Lokomotiva Zagreb last season, warmed up for the clash with a 37:29 league win over Sesvete after line player Andrea Covic netted seven goals and Jelena Trifunovic scored eight, six of them from the seven-metre penalty line.