Metz and CSM seek early main round berths

An away win against Buducnost on Sunday will earn Metz Handball a ticket to the Women’s EHF Champions League Main Round with two Group A match days remaining. In Group D, CSM Bucuresti can achieve the same through a home win against Vipers Kristiansand, and FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria can join them if the results this weekend go the Hungarian team’s way.

GROUP A
Odense HC (DEN) vs Larvik HK (NOR)
Sunday 4 November, 13:30 local time, live on ehftv.com

• Larvik will aim for better than their October 19 meeting with Odense, when the Danish side won 33:25 in Larvik
• The match will be Larvik’s 200th in the Women’s EHF Champions League
• Odense earned their 12th win out of 12 in the Danish league on Wednesday night, defeating Team Esbjerg 24:23 in the top game at home. In the Norwegian league, Larvik won as clearly as 36:19 at home against Skrim
• Odense added Camilla Pytlick, daughter of head coach Jan Pytlick, to the squad during the week

Buducnost (MNE) vs Metz Handball (FRA)
Sunday 4 October, 19:00 local time, live on ehftv.com

• With a win, Metz will clinch an early main round berth
• Buducnost will be seeking revenge for the 25:24 away defeat to Metz in the first group match clash this season, on October 21
• Metz travel to Montenegro as undefeated top team in the French league following a 33:21 win away against Fleury Loiret on Wednesday – after being down 13:14 at half-time

GROUP D
CSM Bucuresti (ROU) vs Vipers Kristiansand (NOR)
Sunday 4 November, 18:30 local time, live on ehfTV.com

• A win on Sunday would see CSM gain safe passage to the main round, after the Romanian side already won against Kristiansand two weeks ago, 29:27
• CSM boast the second most effective attack in the competition, with 93 goals scored over three games
• The Romanian side also have the top scorer in the competition – Cristina Neagu, with 26 goals in the first three games. Playmaker Andrea Lekic is close behind, with 22
• This will be the 10th Women’s EHF Champions League game for Vipers, who have yet to secure an away win until this point

FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) vs SG BBM Bietigheim (GER)
Sunday 4 November, 14:30 local time, live on ehfTV.com

• This will be FTC’s 150th game in the top European competition. The Hungarian side are the seventh to reach this milestone, after Györ, Buducnost, Hypo, Larvik, Krim and Viborg
• The hosts are on a four-game winning streak in all competition, including a 39:18 win against Vac in the Hungarian league on Sunday
• The German side announced last week that coach Martin Albretsen’s contract has been extended until 2020
• FTC took their second win in three mutual games against Bietigheim two weeks ago, 28:25, after a dominant second half