Podravka and Storhamar secure quarter-final berths
Two more quarter-finalists of the EHF European League Women have been determined following Round 5 games on Sunday. In Group A, HC Podravka Vegeta and Storhamar Handball Elite celebrated home wins, and both sides secured their progression.
In Group D, Costa Del Sol Malaga also made a step towards the quarter-final, as they easily defeated the last-placed CSM Targu Jiu.
Congrats to my girls on this important win, as well as all the games played until now. They fought every step of the way and they deserved it. In my opinion this was a much harder game then the one we played in Vac because we had much more to lose. The start of the game was hard for us but we managed to find our pace and take control of the game. Of course we could have finished some plays better. Vac put some pressure on us in the second half but we were able to stay calm. Even without some key players like Tina Barisic we managed to achieve this and I would like to congratulate the entire club for the support. Our achievement is that much greater because we have reached quarterfinals with exclusively domestic players.
Congratulations to Podravka for winning today's game and qualifying for the next round. I am pleased with my team but that opening of the second half is something we can clearly improve. In that period Podravka showed their experience in European matches and we were unfortunately unable to get back into this one.
It was a bit weird of a game. We knew it would be tough. We had to use a lot of strength and fight all the way. It went our way in the end, and I am very happy that we are in the quarter-finals.
It was an even match between two good teams. There were a lot of tactics and a lot of nerves. It was a difficult away game for us. Storhamar won with the same numbers as last time and they deserve to go to the next stage.
