Only two teams which featured last season in the EHF FINAL4, the business end of the EHF Champions League Women, Györi Audi ETO KC and Team Esbjerg, will return to Budapest to fight for the coveted trophy, with the line-up for the competition which is scheduled on 1 and 2 June in the MVM Dome in Hungary’s capital being completed by Metz Handball and debutants SG BBM Bietigheim.

The biggest shock of the last two weeks was SG BBM Bietigheim securing their maiden spot in Budapest, after having already set their best-ever performance in the EHF Champions League Women when they qualified for the quarter-finals by eliminating Ikast Handbold in the play-offs.

Another Danish opponent was on the cards in this phase of the competition and it looked like Bietigheim are huge underdogs, after having previously conceded four losses in four matches against Odense Håndbold.

However, in the first leg, played in Germany, Bietigheim delivered a fantastic performance and clinched a 30:26 win, with Odense failing to really anything going in their tracks. On the other hand, with the second leg in Denmark and such a domination in previous matches, Odense could have turned the qualification around.

Indeed, twice in the first half, Odense cancelled the four-goal lead taken by Bietigheim in the first match, only for backs Kelly Dulfer and Xenia Smits to shine for the German side, which mounted a comeback, took the lead, eventually lost 30:32, but cruised to the EHF FINAL4 with a 60:58 aggregate win.

Bietigheim, the winners of the EHF European League Women in the 2021/22 season, have now qualified for the EHF FINAL4 for their first time in history and are the first German side to reach the semi-finals of the European premium competition since Walle Bremen in the 1995/96 season.

Katrine Lunde, the All-Star goalkeeper at the 2017 IHF Women’s World Championship delivered yet another masterpiece at 44 years of age, saving 17 shots for a 71% saving efficiency for Vipers Kristiansand in the second leg of the doubleheader against Györi Audi ETO KC.

However, Vipers’ 26:24 win against the Hungarian powerhouse meant nothing, as the Norwegian side became the first reigning champions to fail to make it to the EHF FINAL4 since Györ, who won the title back in the 2013/14 season and then missed out on the next final tournament ending up eliminated by Vardar in the next season's quarter-finals.

The 30:23 win for Györ was decisive, as the Hungarian side now looks to add to their sixth title – a record – to their cabinet, when they play in the EHF FINAL4, supported by their own fans in Budapest.

Team Esbjerg became the fifth team in history to make the EHF FINAL4 three times in a row, after they secured two wins and a 55:49 aggregate win against FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria, with the 2023 IHF Female Player of the Year, Henny Reistad, starring in both matches for the Danish side, which has not won a match yet in the EHF FINAL4.

For the fifth season in a row, CSM București fell short of reaching the EHF FINAL4, after a 47:56 aggregate loss against Metz Handball. This was the most lopsided doubleheader in the quarter-finals, as the Romanian side conceded a 24:27 loss at home and failed to regain their footing in the second leg, when they lost by a six-goal margin, 23:29.

Metz are for the third time in the EHF FINAL4, but have never made it to the final. In fact, only Györ have made it to the final so far, as neither Esbjerg, nor Metz did not win any of the two semi-finals played so far.

Team Esbjerg, SG BBM Bietigheim, Györi Audi ETO KC and Metz Handball will find out their opponents on Wednesday, 7 May, at 17:00 CEST, when the draws for both the Women’s EHF FINAL4 and the Men’s TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 take place in Budapest.

EHF Champions League Women, 2023/24 season – quarter-finals

Vipers Kristiansand (NOR) vs Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN) 49:54 on aggregate (23:30 and 26:24)
CSM București (ROU) vs Metz Handball (FRA) 47:56 on aggregate (24:27 and 23:29)
SG BBM Bietigheim (GER) vs Odense Håndbold (DEN) 60:58 on aggregate (30:26 and 30:32)
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) vs Team Esbjerg 49:55 on aggregate (25:26 and 24:29)