Rostov-Don chase three wins and Krim first points
After their impressive 31:29 away win against Baia Mare, Larvik appear to be favourites against Slovenian side RK Krim Mercator.
Two successive wins also make Rostov-Don look like, at least, narrow favourites in their away game against HCM Baia Mare.
GROUP A
RK Krim Mercator (SLO) vs Larvik (NOR)
Friday 30 October, 18:00 local time, live on ehfTV.com
Through their 31:29 win away against Baia Mare last Friday, Larvik bounced back after a 27:21 defeat at home to Rostov-Don in their opening match.
Krim, on the other hand, have started their Champions League campaign with two clear defeats – 33:27 at home to Baia Mare and 35:25 away to Rostov-Don.
Therefore, the Slovenian champions obvious need to start getting some points on the board if they are going to have any hope of qualifying for the main round.
The results on the first two match days make Larvik favourites despite playing away.
“Of course, we got some self-confidence from our win in Romania, but I still expect a difficult match.
“Krim are a very unpredictable team, so we are being very cautious,” says Larvik coach Tor Odvar Moen who hopes to have at least one of his injured players fit for the game in the Arena Stozice in Ljubljana.
“Based on the latest bulletins, Anja Hammerseng-Edin should be fit for Friday, but instead we now have doubts about Nora Mork who sustained an injury in our Cup match against Vipers Kristianssand (a 30:20 win for Larvik)
“We hope to have her fit for the match in Slovenia,” adds the Larvik coach.
History is slightly in favour of Larvik, who have won nine out of the previous 16 Champions League meetings between the two teams, while Krim have taken seven wins.
HCM Baia Mare (ROU) vs Rostov-DON (RUS)
Friday 30 October, 18:00 local time, live on ehfTV.com
In spite of being debutants in the Champions League, Rostov-Don have started the group matches by taking the lead in the group with two straight wins.
The opening 27:21 win in Larvik was followed up by a 35:25 win at home against Krim last weekend, and some people might even consider the Russian champions to be favourites away against Baia Mare.
The Romanian outfit started with a 33:27 away win against Krim, and then only lost 31:29 at home to Larvik.
However, Rostov-Don coach Jan Leslie does not want to talk about being favourites.
“Baia Mare are very strong at home, where they are used to running over their opponents. We saw that with Esbjerg recently, for instance,” commented Leslie.
“We need to continue our fine performances from our latest matches, and we cannot afford any poor spells along the way.
“However, we may be able to benefit from the fact that Baia Mare are under pressure after their defeat to Larvik, but we still have to remember that we are meeting a very strong team, and we will have to perform at 100 per cent throughout the 60 minutes,” finds Jan Leslie.
TEXT: Peter Bruun / bc
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