The group phase of the EHF Champions League Women is over, with four teams qualifying for the quarter-finals, after finishing on the top two places in each group, while the next four teams in each group progressed to the play-offs.

The 16 participating teams were divided into two groups of eight teams each, with a balanced format seeing two Hungarian sides - Györi Audi ETO KC and FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria, and one French and one Danish side - Metz Handball and Team Esbjerg – making it into the quarter-finals.

Metz Handball delivered the best performance for any side in the history of the competition since the current format was introduced, in the 2020/21 season, racking up the largest number of points by a single team, 27, with 13 wins and one draw.

Metz threw off the competition with a draw against Storhamar Handball Elite, 29:29, but went on to build a 13-match winning streak, becoming the second unbeaten team at the end of the group phase after Györi Audi ETO KC, in the 2021/22 season, yet the Hungarian side had 10 wins and four draws.

The reigning champions, Györi Audi ETO KC, won their group, with 11 wins, one draw against Buducnost and one painful, seven-goal loss against Odense on their home court, but they proved too strong for the second-placed Team Esbjerg, beating the Danish side both at home, 28:26, and in the last match of the group phase, 29:23.

The battle for a place in the play-offs, for the teams finishing between the third and the sixth places, was a treat in both groups. In Group A, Krim Mercator Ljubljana, which had a seven-match losing streak, secured the play-offs berth with one match to go and clinched the fourth place with a 30:29 win against Croatian side HC Podravka Vegeta in the last match of the group phase.

It was the fifth loss by a single goal for Podravka, but the Croatian side finished fifth, one place ahead of the reigning EHF European League Women champions, Storhamar Handball Elite, which finished sixth, despite their 20:24 loss against Metz Handball in the last match.

Storhamar went through thanks to a loss from CS Gloria 2018 BN, which conceded their 11th loss of the season against fellow Romanian side CSM Bucuresti, 23:32, as the Romanian debutants crashed out of the competition, just like Danish side NFH.

In Group B, Györi Audi ETO KC won the group, with 23 points, with four points over Team Esbjerg. The third place went to Odense Handbold, the Danish side which is currently led by the new Norway women’s national team coach, Ole Gustav Gjekstad.

Odense lost both matches against Esbjerg by nine goals, failing to mount a challenge for the second place, while the fourth place was clinched by Brest Bretagne Handball, which finished on a four-match winless streak.

The last season’s runners-up, HB Ludwigsburg, ended up on the fifth place, with a barren run in the middle of the group phase seeing the German side finish two points behind Brest.

After Vipers Kristiansand’s retirement due to bankruptcy, the Norwegian side lose the last five matches, 0:10, but they still finished sixth, however the next place – the seventh one – was the one progressing to the play-offs and it was Rapid Bucuresti which delivered the goods, after a dramatic last match against Buducnost.

The Romanian side went down early, but mounted a spirited comeback, eventually taking a point against Buducnost, 24:24, with Sorina Grozav converting a penalty shot with one second to go, helping her side progress to the next phase, which would not have been possible in case of a draw.

In the play-offs, Rapid will face fellow Romanian side CSM Bucuresti, while Storhamar meet Odense, with Ludwigsburg measuring up against Krim Mercator Ljubljana. Podravka are due to play against Brest, in a battle for a quarter-finals spot.

The first leg of the play-offs will take place on 22 and 23 March, while the second matches are scheduled for 29 and 30 March.

The 2023 IHF Female Player of the Year, Henny Reistad, is the top scorer of the group phase, the only player to score in triple digits, with 122 goals, followed by CSM’s Slovenian centr back, Elizabeth Omoregie, with 90 goals, and France’s line player, Sarah Bouktit, with 87 goals.

Play-offs 

M1: Rapid Bucuresti (ROU) vs CSM Bucuresti (ROU)
M2: Storhamar Handball Elite (NOR) vs Odense Håndbold (DEN)
M3: HB Ludwigsburg (GER) vs Krim Mercator Ljubljana (SLO)
M4: HC Podravka Vegeta (CRO) vs Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA)

Quarter-finals

Winner M4 vs Metz Handball (FRA)
Winner M3 vs Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN)
Winner M2 vs FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN)
Winner M1 vs Team Esbjerg (DEN)

Photo credit: EHF / Kolektiff