After failing to protect a four-goal lead after 40 minutes against Rostov last week, Bietigheim imploded in the final 15 minutes against Krim to extend their losing run to five games.

The German club gifted their hosts the game, as the Slovenian side deployed an amazing comeback to secure only their second win in the past 13 games in the DELO EHF Champions League.

GROUP A
RK Krim Mercator (SLO) vs SG BBM Bietigheim (GER) 28:26 (12:16)

• Krim had their worst ever start in the competition, failing to win in their first three games
• Bietigheim led by as many as five goals in the second half, but a 6:1 run from Krim tied the game at 21:21 with 11 minutes to go
• the Slovenian side kept pushing and secured their first win of the season despite a 49 per cent attacking efficiency
• with five goals, 22-year old right back Julia Maidhof jumped to first place in the top goal scorer standings, scoring 29 goals in five games this season
• with their first win of the season, Krim climb to fifth in the standings with three points, while Bietigheim are last with zero points

Lack of depth costs Bietigheim again

Despite an experienced roster, Bietigheim are constantly finding new ways to lose games. Last week, against Rostov, they were up 22:18 with 20 minutes to go and lost by a goal. Against Krim, Bietigheim led for the first 50 minutes and even had a 20:15 lead with 21 minutes to go.

Depth seems to be an issue, and the German side will certainly regret these two losses if they fail to proceed to the next phase of the competition.