The business end of the EHF Champions League Women, the premium competition for clubs in Europe, will take place in Budapest on 1 and 2 June, with four teams vying for the trophy in the EHF FINAL4, which will take place in the MVM Dome.

It is the 10th anniversary of the EHF FINAL4, introduced in the 2012/13 season, with four matches played in two days, with the final being scheduled on Sunday, 2 June, at 18:00 CEST, while the semi-finals are played on Saturday, 1 June, at 15:00 CEST and 18:00 CEST.

Like in the previous editions, heavyweight clashes are expected, and undoubtedly the match between the Hungarian powerhouse Győri Audi ETO KC and Team Esbjerg looks to be the headline, a crucial battle between two top sides in European handball.

While Győr are the team with the largest number of appearances in the EHF FINAL4, eight times, Esbjerg became the first Danish side to reach the EHF FINAL4 three times in a row. However, the Danish champions have never won a match so far in Budapest, conceding four losses in a row.

Nevertheless, Jesper Jensen’s side is set to cause issues for Győr, especially with their pair of top scorers, Nora Mork and Henny Reistad. The latter, the 2023 IHF Female World Player of the Year and the MVP of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, is the current all-time top scorer in the EHF FINAL4, with 60 goals in four appearances, and has won the title once, with Vipers Kristiansand.

But Győr, which had recently changed their coach, with Per Johansson, currently the Netherlands’ women’s national team coach, replacing Ulrik Kirkely in March, due to the Hungarian side’s unsatisfactory results this season, despite Győr starting the EHF Champions League Women with a 11-match winning streak.

This will also be a special EHF FINAL4 for Stine Bredal Oftedal, Győr’s centre back, who will play her last matches at club level, before featuring at the Olympic Games for Norway and retiring from her playing career after Paris 2024.

Jesper Jensen will solely focus on the Denmark women’s national team, which he helped clinch two bronze medals in the last two editions of the IHF Women’s World Championship, in 2021 and 2023, being replaced at Esbjerg by Tomas Axner, who is Sweden women’s national team coach.

In the second semi-final, SG BBM Bietigheim will become the 14th team to play in the EHF FINAL4, after delivering some incredible performances throughout the season to make in the business end of the European premium competition.

Bietigheim have lost seven matches in the preliminary round, but went on and eliminated two Danish sides with the same scoreline – 60:58 on aggregate against Ikast Handball in the play-offs and against Odense Handbold in the quarter-finals.

The German side, led by Jakob Vestergaard, who has already won the EHF Champions League Women twice with Viborg HK in 2009 and 2010, will face Metz Handball, as the French champions are also aiming for their maiden place in the final in the competition.

So far, Metz have lost only three matches this season, while Bietigheim have conceded eight losses, one less than the other three participating teams in the EHF FINAL4 combined.

Between the four sides, only Győr have won the title and they are the team with the largest number of wins in the EHF Champions League Women – five – however if Esbjerg win the trophy, Nora Mork will tie Katrine Lunde as the players with the largest number of titles in the European premium competition – seven.

Credit photo: EHF / Kolektiff Images