Metz win group D in convincing style

Metz Handball win Group D, and take six points with them to the main round, after defeating Women's EHF Champions League debutants SG BBM Bietigheim by six goals at home Sunday afternoon.

• Metz win the group with 10 points, Bietigheim finish third with six.
• Bietigheim reach the main round in their maiden Champions League season.
• Metz take six points to the main round, while Bietigheim take two.

GROUP D

Metz Handball (FRA) vs SG BBM Bietigheim (GER) 27:21 (12:10)

Metz Handball win their group with 10 points, and take six points with them to Group 2 of the main round, after their convincing win in Les Arenes on Sunday afternoon.

Champions League debutants Bietigheim take two points with them to the main round.

Both teams were sure to proceed to the main round before the match, but the points for the next round were still crucial to both sides.

Bietigheim started by getting ahead 2:0, but the rest of the match was more or less dominated by Metz.

The 2:0 deficit changed into a 3:2 lead in a hurry, and an early Bietigheim timeout did not help the visitors.

Bietigheim were only allowed to lead once more, at 5:4, before the home team took several three goal leads before the break.

From the start of the second half, Metz seemed to virtually run over their opponents.

It was 16:11, then 18:12 and soon after 20:13. The French champions even got 10 goals up at 25:15 and 26:16, before Bietigheim clawed their way back to a more reasonable deficit before the end.