Leipzig the seventh team in the Main Round
Leipzig becomes the seventh participant of the EHF Women´s CL Main Round after winning in Austria. The last team to reach the next stage will be known on Sunday after Viborg has played against Dinamo.
Group B:
Hypo Niederösterreich - HC Leipzig 20:23 (12:11)
They danced on the field, they were cheered by their fans – and after the final whistle they started their big celebration: HC Leipzig has qualified for the second straight time in club history for the Main Round.
By winning the close, tense, and decisive last match they broke another international club record: HCL took six points from three away matches. For Hypo, the Cup Winners´ Cup will be a new dimension in their international career, as in the last six years (and of course before) they progressed much further.
The first half was equal with weak attacks from both sides. Hypo relied on their strong goalkeeper Olga Sanko and the HCL defence also stood strong.
Once the Germans took the lead in 36th minute, they held it until the final whistle.
Even a Hypo time-out at the score of 17:20 couldn’t awaken the Austrians, as they continued to miss too many chances. But it took until the 58th minute for the game to be decided with a score of 22:19 for Leipzig.
Itxako Reyno de Navarra - DVSC-Korvex Debrecen 39:24 (10:14)
The Spanish Champion celebrated its fifth straight victory since the opening-day defeat against Leipzig, clearing the final hurdle in the Group Phase in overwhelming fashion.
The Spaniards, who had already qualified for the Main Round as number one, played cat and mouse with the Hungarians from the 20th minute onwards, and after the score had been as close as 9:8 at the beginning.
For Debrecen, the international season is over with only one EHF Champions League victory gained – on home soil against Hypo.
In Navarra they hardly had a glimpse of a chance, especially in the second half when Itxako accelerated and Debrecen simply surrendered. In the 40th minute the gap was ten goals for the first time (26:16).
Bulath scored seven goals for DVSC, while Pena was the Itxako top-scorer with six.
Group D:
Audi ETO Győr - RK Krim Ljubljana 26:21 (11:9)
AUDI ETO Győr is the winner of Group D with ten points, ahead of Krim with eight, after this match of two teams which had already qualified.
The first half was mostly even, despite the fact that Győr had the better start. Even so, Krim remained on eye level.
After the break it only took nine minutes before the difference was six goals at 16:10, and eleven minutes later, things were pretty much decided at the score of 22:15.
The biggest gap was at 24:16, and although Krim pulled closer in the final stages, it was too late to turn the game.
Top scorers were Vérten with six goals for Győr, and Vergelyuk and Mavsar with five each for Krim.
TEXT:
Björn Pazen