Returning newcomer and hope for a good omen in Leipzig

HC Leipzig hope for a good omen on Saturday. One year ago they faced Belarusian champions BNTU Belaz Minsk in their semi-final of the qualification tournament in Trondheim, Norway. Beating Minsk opened the gate to the final, in which the German runners-up eliminated the hosts to make it to the group phase for the seventh time in the club history.

Next weekend Leipzig again is part of the Women’s EHF Champions League qualification, and again they were drawn against the team from Minsk in their semi-final. But in 2014 the team of the new head coach Norman Rentsch have a major advantage on their side as they host the tournament and hope for the support of 4,000 fans in their arena.

Both semi-final matches and the final game for the group matches ticket will be streamed live on ehfTV.com.

Home support more than welcome

And they will need this help from the stands, as – if they reach the final – they will face the winner of the match FTC Hungaria Railcargo vs. Dalfsen from Netherlands, in which the Hungarian club is the clear favourite.

"We are proud to host this qualification tournament, and we hope to grab the chance on home court,“ manager Kay-Sven Hähner said.

"It will be very tough, but if you want to be part of the group matches you know in advance that the hurdles will be high. We are ambitious and aim for the group phase,“ he added.

In the previous Bundesliga season, Leipzig were clearly (14 points) below the defending champions Thüringer HC, who have qualified directly for the EHF Champions League. But after four years without any title the German record champions raised the cup trophy as the winner of the final tournament on home ground.

"This title boosted our confidence for this season, in which another trophy – regardless the competition – is our objective,“ coach Norman Rentsch said.

Müller out, Schülke in

He started his mission without last season’s top star. Susann Müller, top scorer of the 2013 world championship in Serbia, replaced Katarina Bulatovic at reigning Champions League winners Györ. Despite a huge transfer amount Leipzig did not sign any big names this summer.

"It’s our clear will to give young players a chance to develop, and hopefully develop also in the Champions League,“ manager Hähner stated.

The most important "newcomer" is goalkeeper Katja Schülke (pictured right). After she had been out last season due to a pregnancy and a birth of her son, the German international and team captain is back now. And Schülke returned in a brilliant way, saving 20 shots in Leipzig’s highlighter in the preparation, beating Györ 26:23.

Injury list too long

But right before the Champions League qualification tournament the list injuries rose.

Three players – including Icelandic newcomer Anna Atladotir – are out for a long term, and also German international Saskia Lang will miss the matches.

"We are hit really hard in our back court axis. I hope we can manage to compensate it,“ said coach Rentsch. To bolster the squad, Leipzig just signed the Romanian back court player Roxana-Alina Ioneac.

"It would be highly important for the German women’s handball to have two teams among the 16 best in Europe,“ Hähner hopes for a successful tournament on home ground.

If Leipzig win the tournament, they will be part of Group A including Krim Ljubljana, Dinamo Volgograde and Hypo Niederösterreich. Twice in club history (2009/10 and 2010/11) Lepzig even qualified for the main round of the EHF Champions League. As in this season three teams per group proceed from the group matches, the hopes are not that low to go on. "But first the qualification is extremely hard,“ said coach Rentsch.