Larvik bothered by injury, while Baia Mare eye main round berth

Larvik are missing several key players due to injury, when they fly to Russia for the top match in Group A against Rostov-Don.
On home court, HCM Baia Mare aim to take the last step into the main round, when they have a visit by RK Krim Mercator, who will fight for their last chance to proceed, though.

Women's EHF Champions League
GROUP A
Rostov-Don (RUS) vs Larvik (NOR)
Saturday 14 October 18:00 local time

Both teams have qualified for the main round already, so the match in the Palace of Sport is entirely a matter of gathering points for the next stage of the tournament.

When the two teams met in Norway on the first match day of the group phase, Rostov-Don won clearly 27:21 after even leading by ten goals along the way.

Rostov coach Jan Leslie still has happy memories from that match on 17 October.

“We were extremely happy about our win in Larvik, but just as much about our performance.

“However, Saturday is an entirely new match. Larvik have made a fine comeback, and in their away match against Baia Mare recently, the showed that they are not easy to shake, and that they have plenty of experience on this level.

“Of course, we hope to be able to make another good match, which will be necessary to beat a top team like Larvik, and we are extremely focused on doing just that,” Jan Leslie tells ehfCL.com.

His team will be meeting a Larvik outfit who are seriously hit by injury woes.

The twin sisters Nora and Thea Mørk as well as Anja Hammerseng-Edin and Tine Stange are all ruled out due to various injuries.

“We focus on the players who are fit, but of course, all those injuries make a difficult match even more difficult.

“However, we still have many top class players who are fit, and we go for the win, as we do in every match we play,” says Larvik coach Tor Odvar Moen.

The number of injuries by Larvik does not influence much on the way, Jan Leslie sees the match, though.

“We do not focus that much on who they have in their team, and who they do not have. They have a strong team, and we will have to perform throughout the 60 minutes in order to have a chance to win.

“We will simply have to see, who are in their team and who are not, when the match start.

“We are free of injury ourselves, and we are happy about that,” says the Rostov-Don coach.

HCM Baia Mare (ROU) vs RK Krim Mercator (SLO)
Saturday 14 October 18:00 local time, live on ehfTV

Baia Mare are still in need of at least one point more in order to copy their main round berth from last season.

A draw at home against Krim Saturday evening would do the job for the Romanian team, and the chance of that, and even of a win is definitely there, as the Slovenian visitors are still without any points in the group.

Baia Mare won by six goals, 33:27, when the two teams met for the first time in the group phase, and on the court, the Romanian outfit are obvious favourites to repeat the triumph.

However, Krim also still have a chance to reach the next round of the competition, and Baia Mare are exactly the opponent, they still have a possibility to get past to take the third position, which gives access to the main round.

If Krim can win in Baia Mare, the decision of which of the two teams will make it to the main round, will be postponed until the last match day next Friday, and if Krim manage to win by at least seven goals, head coach Marta Bon's team will even have the upper hand in the battle for the last main round ticket.