Midtjylland put faith in home ground statistic
Even though HC Vardar have won their last three matches against FC Midtjylland, the home team seek confidence in their strong performances at home this season, while Vardar playmaker Andrea Lekic sees patient attacking play as a key to success for her team.
• Vardar have won their three latest encounters with FC Midtjylland
• Midtjylland have qualified for the Women´s EHF FINAL4 once before, while Vardar have been all three times so far.
• Neither team have ever won the Women´s EHF Champions League.
• Midtjylland have won five out of six home matches in the Champions League this season.
Women's EHF Champions League Quarter-final, first leg
FC Midtjylland (DEN) vs HC Vardar (MKD)
Sunday, 9 April 17:00 hrs local time, live on ehfTV.com
The results between the two teams speak in the favour of Vardar before the first leg of the quarter-final in Ikast Sunday.
The Macedonian side have won the last three matches against FC Midtjylland more or less clearly.
The two teams met in the match for the third place at the very first Women's EHF FINAL4 in Budapest in 2014.
On that occasion, Vardar won 34:31, while the Macedonian wins were considerably clearer, as the two clubs met in the group matches of the Champions League last season. Back then, Vardar won 33:24 at home and 25:15 away.
However, Midtjylland find confidence in another statistic: Their fine home statistic in the Champions League this season, where they have won five out of six home matches. Larvik are the only team who have been able to win in Ikast, while teams such as Gyöir Audi ETO KC, CSM Bucuresti and Rostov-Don have all been defeated in the IBF Arena.
"We have not got the best possible statistic against Vardar, but we put faith in our fine performances at home this season.
"Vardar are a great team, but so were Györ and CSM
"This makes us confident that at home we can found the sensation it would be to eliminate Vardar," Midtjylland coach Kristian Kristensen tells ehfCL.com.
"For the moment, we focus entirely on our home match Sunday.
"We only hope we can perform so well that we are not swept completely off the board before we travel to Skopje for the return match," he adds.
Patient attack and fast defensive runs needed
"You could say that we are favourites, but I still expect a tough first match anyway," Vardar playmaker Andrea Lekic tells ehfCL.com.
"Midtjylland have been very strong at home this season.They have a lot of individually highly skilled players, and they are a team who like to run a lot.
"If we are going to be successful in that game, we will need to play very patiently on our attack, and furthermore, we need our defensive runs to be very fast in order to stop their fast breaks.
"I will not say in advance, what would be a good result for us in the first match, but of course, a win is always a good result!" adds Andrea Lekic.
TEXT: Peter Bruun / si
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