As the first leg of the CL playoff concluded there was a alight uphill for Ikast HB to face in the return game against SG BBM Bietigheim. Vipers Kristiansand brought a narrow win versus DVSC Schaeffler home.
Lois Abbingh had a blast a delivered 13 goals for the reigning champion. Still, Vipers had to wait until the final minutes to complete a small turnaround to halfway lead.
DVSC Schaeffler was up by four goals with ten minutes to go. Abbingh and Anna Vyakhireva turned up the heat and Katrine Kunde unsurprisingly performed excellent during the deciding minutes to secure well-earned 29–28 for the guests.
Ikast trembled for five minutes in the end of their away game against SG BBM Bietigheim. The German team could take advantage and Xenia Smits (eight goals) scored in the last attack to 29–27.
– We are very proud of the result and are delighted with this victory. But we have to keep working hard. It’s only half-time and next week will be a tough away game, said the top scorer to eurohandball.com.
CSM Bucharest is the only team with a considerable gap, plus six on Krim Ljubljana. As for Bietigheim, Vipers and Brest Bretagne (30–28 over Ferencvaros) the wins seem to guarantee exciting match-ups in the second game.
Champions League
SG BBM Bietigheim–Ikast HB 29–27 (13–14)
DVSC Schaeffler–Vipers Kristiansand 28–29 (16–16)