Prior to the DELO EHF Champions League 2019/20 season being cancelled, both Team Esbjerg and Brest Bretagne Handball had reached the quarter-finals for the first time in the competition.

This season only one of these two sides will reach the quarter-finals, and following the first leg play-off match, Brest are much closer to this goal as they claimed a six-goal away win, 33:27.

PLAY-OFF, FIRST LEG
Team Esbjerg (DEN) vs Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA) 27:33 (16:17)

• it was the first meeting between the two teams in a European club competition
• Brest were dominant throughout most of the first half and led 17:14 by the 28th minute, but Esbjerg's Sonja Frey and Marit Røsberg Jacobsen closed the gap to 17:16
• early in the second half, Esbjerg went in front 18:17, but the French side took the match under their control again, and a 5:0 run between 44th and 50th minute helped them to a 30:23 lead
• Ana Gros netted 10 times for Brest, while Nerea Pena (nine goals) was Esbjerg’s top scorer 
• the second leg match will be played on Sunday 14 March in Brest

Gros back in first place

On Saturday, CSM Bucuresti's Cristina Neagu scored 13 goals in the Romanian derby against Valcea and climbed to the top of the competition’s scoring chart with 89 goals.

However, Ana Gros, who had been the leading scorer for a long time, netted 10 times for Brest on Sunday, which helped her to reclaim the top position with a tally of 97 goals.