A great fiesta in Rm. Valcea, as the hosts Oltchim outclassed French champions Metz 30-21 (18-12) in a one-sided duel which was effectively decided after 30 minutes, in the second group of the Champions League, according to eurohandball.com.
Oltchim now have maximum points, whilst Metz are without points after two rounds.
“We are glad that we have delivered a great match and won. We were aiming for this victory and we have shown again that we are on the right track in the tournament. I think that we started very strongly, and with our clear lead, we demoralized Metz,” analyzed Oltchim´s Aurelia Bradeanu.
And indeed the hosts delivered a storming start, with four straight strikes and no answer from the away team. Metz, in good shape after last weekend´s close duel against Buducnost, had no answer.
Only Russian international Ekaterina Andryushina gave a solid performance, her colleagues were all on average level. The Oltchim players, backed by their loud fan groups, were all ‘on fire’ and dominated the whole 60 minutes.
Coach Sebastian Gardillou´s team was unable to come back with a proper answer and new tactics in the second half, so Oltchim celebrated their first home victory, the second in the Main Round.
Middle-back Bradeanu expects a tough game next weekend: “Against Buducnost it will be much more difficult, but we now start our preparations for them.”
“We entered the game with determination; we’ve trained all week for this game. We treat each game seriously and this was visible. It’s a long way to go until the semifinals, our minds are on next week’s game against Buducnost,” Valentina Ardean Elisei stated in her turn for Digisport.
Oltchim tops the group with 4 points (+15 goal average), followed by Buducnost with 4 points (+10 goal average), Metz Handball (0 pts) and RK Krim Mercator (0 pts). The top two teams will qualify for the semifinals.
