"Hope is the last to die"

The first leg of the EHF Champions League Final brought big disappointment over the Valcea players and staff. After the 21-28 defeat in Herning, Valcea’s president, Ioan Gavrilescu, hardly found words to explain why his team lost nerves and pace in the second half.

eurohandball.com: What was the reason that Oltchim lost the first leg game with such a big difference?

Ioan Gavrilescu: Unfortunately, last Saturday was not one of our best days. As a matter of fact, my opinion is that we played one of our worst games in the last years. And crucially we were not at all able to stop the best European handball player that showed a fantastic performance against us Of course I am talking about Bojana Popovic. She definitely was the key factor for the defeat in Herning.

eurohandball.com: When saying Valcea played poorly, what is your main criticism?

Ioan Gavrilescu: Our strongest weapons are the line players and the wings. In that game we didn’t at all manage to get an advantage from those positions. That put more or less all the pressure on our back players at the 9 meter line, which didn’t end quite well. We also must admit that Viborg has astounding back players, and we suffered a lot from them.

eurohandball.com: What are your expectations for the second leg? Do you still hope to win the trophy?

Ioan Gavrilescu: We will definitely try to turn the result. Hope is, as usual, the last to die. But I am afraid that a seven-goal difference is too much for a Champions League final.