Gloria Bistrița defeat Odense in first home EHF Champions League match

CS Gloria Bistrița defeated Danish side Odense Håndbold 29–27 on Sunday, 20 September, in their first home match of this season’s EHF Champions League. The match at TeraPlast Arena was played in front of 2,850 spectators and remained closely contested until the final minutes.

Gloria Bistrița secured the two points after a tight match in which the difference between the two teams remained small, with the hosts’ defensive performance and goalkeeper Evelina Eriksson’s saves playing an important role in the final result.

The Swedish goalkeeper finished the match with 14 saves from 40 shots, a 35% save rate.

In attack, Johanna Reichert was Gloria’s top scorer with seven goals, followed by Lorena Ostase with five, Larissa Nüsser and Danila So Delgado with four each, Nina Engel and Asuka Fujita with three each, Veronika Malá with two, and Evelina Eriksson with one.

Viver: “The small difference was made in defence”

After the match, Gloria Bistrița head coach Carlos Viver highlighted the close nature of the contest and his team’s defensive performance.

“I am very happy with the result and with the fight we showed throughout these 60 minutes. It was a very tough game and I think either team could have won. The small difference was made in defence, which worked really well in this game,” said Carlos Viver.

Evelina Eriksson, one of Gloria’s key players in the match, also spoke about the difficulty of the game and the significance of securing a first home victory in the Champions League.

“It was a great and tough game, just as we expected. I am very proud of my team and very happy to get our first win in our first home game in the EHF Champions League,” said the Gloria goalkeeper.

Vestergaard: “We didn’t expect that level of noise”

On the other side, Odense head coach Jakob Vestergaard congratulated Gloria and acknowledged that the atmosphere inside TeraPlast Arena made the match more difficult for his team.

“I want to congratulate everyone at Gloria Bistrița. They played a really good match, while the opening minutes from our team weren’t that good. We had some ups and downs, and in the end we missed too many shots. It is also very difficult to play here because of the spectators and the noise. We didn’t expect that. We are really disappointed that we didn’t take the two points, but we knew Gloria Bistrița are a very good team,” Vestergaard said.

Odense left wing Elma Halilcevic also pointed to Eriksson’s performance in goal as one of the difficulties faced by the Danish side.

“We weren’t prepared for your amazing goalkeeper. We made some poor decisions and we didn’t play that well,” Halilcevic said.

The 29–27 victory earned Gloria Bistrița two points from a match in which the teams remained close on the scoreboard and the outcome was decided in the closing stages. It also marked Gloria Bistrița’s first victory in front of their home supporters in this season’s EHF Champions League.