Storhamar progress to play-offs; Krim seal fourth place in MOTW

EHF / Adrian Costeiu

22 February 2025, 20:00

The last Match of the Week of the EHF Champions League Women 2024/25 group phase saw Krim Mercator Ljubljana finish this stage of the competition on a high. Their second win of the season against HC Podravka Vegeta (30:29) secured them fourth place in the group standings.

Meanwhile the question of the last qualified team for the play-offs from group A was quickly answered after the first match between CSM Bucuresti and CS Gloria 2018 BN. Gloria’s 23:32 loss put them out of contention and ensured Storhamar Handball Elite would progress to the next phase, despite their 20:24 defeat by group winners Metz Handball in France.

Krim’s one-goal victory in the MOTW was their third unbeaten match in a row, following a draw and a win in the last two rounds
after scoring 30 goals in the previous 13 matches this season, Jovanka Radicevic kept her best performance of the season for the last MOTW of the group phase, putting nine goals past Podravka
Podravka finish fifth, but conceded five losses by a single goal, including three in the last three matches, against CSM Bucuresti, FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria and Krim
the Romanian duel between CSM and Gloria went the former’s way, with a 32:23 win for the Romanian champions seeing Gloria eliminated from the competition
Gloria, in their maiden season in the European premium competition, have won only three matches and finished off with a five-match losing streak, finishing two points behind Storhamar
since the current format was introduced, Metz are the second team to finish the group unbeaten after Györi Audi ETO KC in the 2020/21 season and have amassed the largest number of points for a single team in the group phase, 27, with 13 wins and a single draw
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria sealed their 12th win of the season in 14 matches, reaching their highest number of wins in a single Champions League season — their previous record was 11 wins

GROUP A

MOTW: Krim Mercator Ljubljana (SLO) vs HC Podravka Vegeta (CRO) (11:12)

Jovanka Radicevic, the second-best scorer in the history of the competition, kept her best performance of the season for when it mattered. The right wing scored nine goals from nine shots and helped Krim finish the group phase on a high with the 30:29 victory over Podravka. The biggest margin between the two sides was three goals at 21:18 with 45 minutes played, and they were tied again at 27:27 in the 56th minute — before Radicevic wrapped things up with her last two shots. It was Krim’s second one-goal win against Podravka, as the Croatian side conceded their fifth one-goal loss this season and their third in a row. The Slovenian side will now face HB Ludwigsburg for a place in the quarter-finals, while Podravka meet Brest Bretagne Handball, in what will likely be a tough encounter.

I would like to point out once again how important this game was for us. We had a lot of pressure, we have suffered in the last weeks. But we left our hearts on the court.

Ambros Martin

Head coach, Krim Mercator Ljubljana

We fought well, but unfortunately not enough to win. We were unlucky. Not today, not even in the last three games, all of which we lost by one goal. We have learned a lot. We have time to prepare for the two games in March.

Klara Birtic

Right back, HC Podravka Vegeta

They made it difficult for us to create the same chances as we did against Esbjerg in the Danish league. And they play nice and calm and create chances all the time. But we kept fighting till the end.

Jakob Larsen

Head coach, Nykøbing Falster Håndbold

All Champions League games are important and we must use the same energy and power as allways. I am very happy that we managed to keep our seven-against-six defence and in general I am very happy with the game.

Allan Heine

Head coach, FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria

20250222 Krim Podravka 6 NT — Nebojsa Tejic/kolektiff

20250222 Krim Podravka 5 NT — Nebojsa Tejic/kolektiff

20250222 Krim Podravka 4 UH — Uros Hocevar/kolektiff

20250222 Krim Podravka 1 NT — Nebojsa Tejic/kolektiff

20250222 Krim Podravka 2 UH — Uros Hocevar/kolektiff

20250222 Krim Podravka 3 UH — Uros Hocevar/kolektiff

It was a good game for us, we started really good especially in defence. It makes it easier for us to play if we have a good defence. We want to improve every week, we focus on our work and we only want to get better and better.

Inger Smits

Centre back, CSM Bucuresti

They played very good with good skills from all of their players. We need to rebuild some systems in our team and we need to keep going because it is handball and we have to fight for each ball.

Gnonsiane Niombla

Centre back, CS Gloria 2018 BN

I’m very happy with the result, but not with the way we played. It wasn’t perfect, and to be honest, it wasn’t our best match since the start of the season. Everyone looks tired; we’ve played a lot, and getting the victory was all that mattered. And they did. We finished first in the group.

Emmanuel Mayonnade

Head coach, Metz Handball

We came here with only a few players, and we were the underdogs. We played as best we could, stuck to the plan, but Metz Handball is one of the best teams in the world, so it was tough. In the first leg, we ran a lot, but today we just couldn’t keep up the same pace.

Tina Abdula

Right wing, Storhamar Handball Elite