20.11.2014, 04:25
Hypo looking for a miracle

GROUP A PREVIEW: Last round in Group A will decide the last team to be promoted to the main round. Will it be Krim or Hypo.

Hypo looking for a miracle

Krim will try to finish the Women's EHF Champions League Group Matches in style in front of the home crowd and secure a spot in the next phase, while Hypo travel to Russia in search of a sensation.

GROUP A
RK Krim Mercator (SLO) v HC Leipzig (GER)
Friday 21 November at 18:45 local, live on ehfTV
 
It is very simple - the Slovenian champions have to grab a win to ensure promotion. But it was at Leipzig almost a month ago, where Marta Bon's girls first came face to face with reality that one simply cannot put together a totally new group of players and not have oscillations.

That fact became bitterly apparent after the defeat at Hypo in the last round, a defeat that could prove costly if all the starts align for the Austrian champions in the final round of the group.

"We have to be constant in our approach an keep our game at a high level," says Bon, who will count on Mirjeta Bajramoska to contribute her share of goals, and her girls to improve their defence, which will help the goalkeepers to shine once more.
 
The high spirits after securing qualification in Leipzig were dampened a little by the latest Bundesliga defeat against Metzingen (28:29) and they will be keen to prove that their qualification was no fluke.

Karolina Kudlacz and Saskia Lang tormented Krim in the last encounter, while Katja Schülke is in constant form between the sticks. This should be an entertaining affair with lots of pace on both sides.

Dinamo-Sinara (RUS) v Hypo Niederösterreich (AUT)
Sunday 23 November at 14:00 local time, live on ehfTV
 
For Hypo to reach the main round two things must happen: Krim must lose at home v Leipzig, and they must win in Volgograd. In light of recent developments this seems like a very long shot, but Hypo has already managed to steal a point against the group leaders in Austria and Dinamo's promotion has already been assured.

However complacency should not be a problem for the team from Volgograd. Not only it is unlikely that they would succumb in front of the home fans, but they also play for points which they take together with them to the main round.

Their squad has enough quality players that can pull the rest forward should a slump in form occur. Olga Akopian shows a lot of resolve lately, to name just one.
 
Hypo have the best scorer of the Champions League in Gorica Acimovic, but handball is a team sport and no player can carry the whole burden on one's shoulders. As the Austrian champions have showed against Krim in the last round, they still have resolve and if they show enough fight, the match could be a tight one. But if Dinamo reach a nice margin early in the game, it might just be a formality.

TEXT: Grega Sever / br