European League 22/23

Group Stage (16 teams)

Hungary
Debrecen
Siofok
Vac
Mosonmagyarovar

France
Paris 92
Nantes
Besançon

Norway
Molde
Sola
Fana

Denmark
Ikast
Nykøbing  

Germany
Borussia Dortmund
Thüringer HC

Romania
SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea

Croatia
Podravka Koprivnica

Updated List

The Qualification Round has ended. It seems to be a "deal" between the big nations, plus Croatian Podravka.

This year, Romania had only 3 representatives, instead of 4. Măgura Cisnădie drew at home with Siofok, but there was a serious difference here. Unfortunately, Gloria Buzău lost against Mosonmagyarovar, with a difference of 1 goal in the two legs. Both with balanced squads though.

Ikast, Paris 92, Debrecen and Molde were qualified directly due to the coefficient.

It makes no sense Most, Lokomotiva Zagreb or Kastamonu to play in the Champions League with such squads.

Round 1



Vâlcea-Vác was played in front of a packed crowd too. After a 10-year hiatus, Oltchim's successor will once again sponsor Vâlcea! Starting with 2023.

Tamara Mavsar is so good. Why doesn't she play in a bigger team than Siofok?

10 magical minutes of Dutch gk Dujndam were enough yesterday for Sola to surprise at Nykobing and win 28-26. Somewhere between the minutes 36 to 48, she defied mathematics and saved four 100% chances, leading her team to a 4 goals lead. Then she became human again, Nykobing played with 7 in attack, Flader scored some important goals and Nykbing almost levelled, but Sola hold to the win. Elma Halilcevic was the best in Nykobing imo, but she missed the crucial shot in the end.

Besancon scored 41 goals in Norway to beat Molde 41-29. I really grew fond of Besancon this season, they began slowly but now they have 7 wins in a row in all tournaments. They play lovely handball, and I like there two players particularly:

ALIZÉE FRECON

The centre back doesn't necessarily scores much, but she is the engine of the teams, always energetic, running, operating her teammates. She is a real play-maker.

Clarisse Mairot

Sometimes left back, sometimes centre back, always intelligent. She is the star of the team and scores a lot, but she is also a team player who doesn't feel the need to be in the highlights all the time. She is only 22 y.o..

Both of these players come from handball dynasties and you can see they have deep understanding of the sport.

Dofer wrote:Tamara Mavsar is so good. Why doesn't she play in a bigger team than Siofok

The coach is her husband (Uroš Bregar).

It's just that the level in EHF is much lower in terms of defence. It's much easier to score there.

About a month ago, Besancon had a seven games winning streak, and got my compliments. Now they are five games without a win (considering a lucky penalties win in the cup). There is a reason for it: Alizee Frecon got injured fow few weeks and didn't play in any of these losses. There is no excuse though for the horrible form of all the other players (except winger Sabrina Zazai). Maybe it's because many players leave the team in the end of the season. Anyway, now Besancon has to beat Siofok in Saturday to keep qualifying hopes alive, and in their current form and probably without Alizee, it doesn't look good.

Another interesting game with an Hungarian team this Saturday will be Nykobing - Debrecen. Debrecen is my second favorite team at the European league, with the loudest fans and many interesting Hungarian players like Petra Vámos, Gréta Kácsor and Petra Tóvizi, and two good foreign gks like Catherine Gabriel and Ann-Cathrin Giegerich. The team is not always good, but always interesting to watch.

The game Dortmund vs. Siofok on sunday will take place at the Westfalenhalle which has seating for at least 11.000 spectators. BVB hopes to attract at least 8.700 spectators (their previous record from 1997 against Krim). So far 8000 tickets have been sold.

Many football fans are expected - which partly explains this:

Before the start of the European League game, the black and yellow C youth will explain the most important handball rules.

hb9 wrote:The game Dortmund vs. Siofok on sunday will take place at the Westfalenhalle which has seating for at least 11.000 spectators. BVB hopes to attract at least 8.700 spectators (their previous record from 1997 against Krim). So far 8000 tickets have been sold.

More than 10.000 tickets have now been sold. Maybe it will be a full house, even though the remaining places are quite far away from the action...

Two German clubs in Final Four. Who did expect it?

But actually how Nantes mastered not to get on, was unbelievable.

Congrats for German and Danish teams. Ikast looks like the clear favorite, but they are not very stable. Good for the German teams that the Final 4 takes place in Austria.

Germanicus wrote:But actually how Nantes mastered not to get on, was unbelievable.

Incredible choking by Nantes, I still can't understand it. Some of the players were so unconfident they didn't want to take any shots. Especially RB Ahanda, she shot only two times all game, and didn't shoot even in the last second of the last attack, when she had no other choice. Also Strömberg with only three shots all game. You can't win if the only back player who take shots is 20 y.o. Grandveau, no matter how good she is.

Nantes missed 5 out of 7 meters shots, while Borussia scored 4 out of 4. Great game by Grijseels, Sprengers (7 goals from 7 shots), Blekmann and Ten Holte.

Quarterfinals



Top Scorer: Annika Lott (Thüringer HC)

Final four

The final four will be held at the Raiffeisen Sportpark in Graz, Austria on 13 and 14 May 2023.



I think the Hungarian championship has declined. Many teams at the start of the competition, only Siofok in the quarters who lost by a big margin.

The German teams are the surprise of the competition, with the mention that Bietigheim in the Champions League was the disappointment (it managed to lose one of the 6 places, after a brilliant start).