Györi ETO KC had an excellent away game at Team Esbjerg when the group stage passed the finish line. Meanwhile, Rapid Bucharest held Buducnost at an even outcome, thus securing the last playoff position.
Even with zero points for the entire spring season, the now collapsed Vipers Kristiansand would have made it into top six action. But the bankruptcy and exclusion meant that Rapid Bucharest and Buducnost played it out to prolong the season after the Sunday matchup.
Bucharest was three goals behind with just three minutes remaning but Estavana Polman’s and Sorina Maria Grozav´s attacking capacity was rewarded while Buducnost failed all of their last attempts, 21-21.
Bruna Almeida de Paula provided Györ with many capable shots but the defense and Sandra Toft between the posts were even better explanations to the Hungarian champion win versus Esbjerg. Györ doubled the and lead in the second half and finished with 29–23 and a total of 25 points after 14 games.
The play-off setup was presented soon after the final whistle. The top two teams from each group wait out until the quarterfinal stage while the remaining eight start of in the first elimination round:
Play-off (22/23 and 29/30 March)
Rapid Bucharest–CSM Bucharest
Storhamar–Odense HB
HB Ludwigsburg–Krim Ljubljana
Podravka Vegeta–Brest Bretagne
Quarterfinals (19/20 and 26/27 April)
Winner Podravka Vegeta/Brest–Metz HB
Winner Ludwigsburg/Krim–Györ
Winner Storhamar/Odense–Ferencvaros
Winner Rapid Bucharest/CSM Bucharest–Team Esbjerg