MIDWEEK PREVIEW: The French and Montenegrin teams want to follow up on their strong results in away matches last weekend
Two matches in the DELO EHF Champions League 2020/21 that were postponed in earlier rounds have been rescheduled for Wednesday.
In group A, FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria and Metz Handball are now going into a double-header, as both teams will meet again for the reverse fixture in France on Sunday.
FTC have been struggling in home matches, while Metz hope to continue where they left last weekend - with a win at RK Krim Mercator.
In group B, SCM Ramnicu Valcea will try to build on their first win of the season when they host ZRK Buducnost, who grabbed a point at Brest Bretagne Handball.
GROUP A
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) vs Metz Handball (FRA)
Wednesday 20 January, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- this match has been rescheduled from round 3 in September
- Metz are ranked second with 12 points from eight matches, FTC fifth with 10 from nine
- Metz travelled to Hungary straight from Slovenia, where they defeated Krim last Saturday
- FTC suffered their third home defeat last weekend, against Team Esbjerg; only Bietigheim and Krim have worse home records in group A
- Metz have signed French international Chloé Valentini for next season and extended contracts with many key players, including Orlane Kanor and Louise Burgaard
GROUP B
SCM Ramnicu Valcea (ROU) vs ZRK Buducnost (MNE)
Wednesday 20 January, 17:00 CET, live on EHFTV
- this match was initially planned for round 7 in November
- after six straight defeats, Valcea finally earned their first points of the season at Podravka Vegeta (27:25) last weekend
- that result saw Valcea overtake BV Borussia 09 Dortmund and Podravka into sixth place
- Buducnost came close to upsetting second-ranked Brest in France last weekend, leading 18:11 at half-time before settling for a 28:28 draw
- Buducnost have three points from two matches since former star player Bojana Popovic took over as head coach
- in the reverse fixture in November, Buducnost claimed a hard-fought win at home, 29:28
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