31.10.2017, 02:00
Bietigheim in new role as favourites

MID-WEEK PREVIEW: Both coaches agree that SG BBM Bietigheim are favourites ahead of their second meeting with Vipers Kristiansand, but the German side’s coach is unsure how his players will handle this position

Bietigheim in new role as favourites

Only 10 days after SG BBM Bietigheim won 29:24 away against Vipers Kristiansand, the two Women’s EHF Champions League debutants meet again – this time on the German champions’ home ground.

• Vipers and Bietigheim are side by side with two points each on the group table
• Bietigheim are chasing their first home win in the EHF Champions League
• Vipers are aiming for their first away points

GROUP D
SG BBM Bietigheim (GER) vs Vipers Kristiansand (NOR)
Wednesday 1 November, 18.30 local time, live on ehftv.com

Bietigheim won the first match between these sides with a comfortable result of 29:24 – the German champions even led the match in Kristiansand Aquarama by up to nine goals along the way.

That was Bietigheim’s first win in the Champions League, and although the teams are level on the group table with two points each, the Round 3 victory appears to make Bietigheim the favourites ahead of Wednesday’s clash in the MHPArena, Ludwigsburg.

“Being favourites is new to us, like everything in the Champions League, and I am not sure how my players are going to react to that,” says Bietigheim’s Danish head coach Martin Albertsen.

“In the match in Norway, we finally got our game going, especially in the first half, and I hope for this to continue one home ground as well.

“We have won everything in the Bundesliga so far, and I hope that this stability will also be reflected in our performances in the Champions League from now on.”

For Vipers, it is a question of improving their performance compared with that of the home match.

“We were certainly not happy with our home game against Bietigheim, where we made way too many mistakes,” says head coach Kenneth Gabrielsen, who travelled to Bietigheim for the Round 4 match with his team on Monday afternoon.

“Getting a point or two in Germany will be very difficult, but we are determined to prove that we can at least do better than we did in the first match.”

TEXT: Peter Bruun / cg