A three-week break in the European premium club competition is over, as the DELO EHF Champions League is back this weekend with the Round of 16 phase, featuring seven crucial games for the future of the teams in the competition.

The schedule is headlined by the first-ever all-Romanian clash in the knockout phase of the competition, as the domestic rivalry between SCM Ramnicu Valcea and CSM Bucuresti will see a Romanian side in the quarter-finals.

Ramnicu Valcea and Bucuresti are the top two Romanian teams, having both reached the DELO EHF Champions League final in the last 11 years, with CSM becoming the first Romanian side to clinch the trophy in the 2015/16 season.

Four-time IHF World Player of the Year Cristina Neagu, a former Valcea player, will spearhead CSM’s challenge, while Valcea, who have won only three of the last 20 mutual games, yet secured a domestic title and both the Romanian Cup and Supercup against CSM, will hope for a collective effort to stop their opponents.

The two sides already met on 18 February in the Romanian League, on neutral ground, with a depleted CSM Bucuresti, missing nine players and their coach due to COVID-19 positive tests, taking a convincing 27:22 win against Valcea.

The winner of the all-Romanian clash will face either Russian rookies CSKA Moscow or Slovenian side RK Krim Mercator in the quarter-finals.

Reigning champions Györi Audi ETO KC are overwhelming favourites against German side SG BBM Bietigheim, with the Hungarian powerhouse riding a 51-game unbeaten streak in the competition and winning more games in this season’s group phase (10) than Bietigheim sealed in four seasons in the DELO EHF Champions League (seven).

A win for Györ could set up a 100% Hungarian clash in the quarter-finals, as the winner of this tie will face either Buducnost or FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria. The two teams have met 11 times prior to this season in the DELO EHF Champions League, with FTC taking six wins. The Hungarian side could prove too strong for a depleted Montenegrin side, yet Buducnost’s spirit is always a big advantage for Bojana Popovic’s team.

Group A winners Rostov-Don will face Croatian champions Podravka Vegeta, who will play their first European game after their former coach Zlatko Saracevic passed away on 21 February.

Rostov’s inconsistent form might have cost them the first place in the group, but the experience and depth, which has made them a team to watch this season, saved Per Johansson’s side in the business end of the group phase.

The two Danish teams still in the competition will have a tough ask in the Round of 16. Odense Handbold, a team that lost their last three games, face Norwegian powerhouse Vipers Kristiansand. While Vipers might have looked like favourites on paper, they will miss the Women’s EHF EURO 2020 top scorer, right back Nora Mork, and line player Heidi Loke due to injury.

Team Esbjerg face Brest Bretagne Handball in the other game, with the team that progresses facing either Metz Handball or BV Borussia 09 Dortmund in the quarter-finals. 

Due to the current regulations imposed by the health authorities in France, the first game between the two sides, scheduled for Sunday in Dortmund, will be postponed to next week.

Round of 16 schedule in the DELO EHF Champions League
M1: Podravka Vegeta vs Rostov-Don
M2: BV Borussia 09 Dortmund vs Metz Handball
M3: SCM Ramnicu Valcea vs CSM Bucuresti
M4: Buducnost vs FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria
M5: Vipers Kristiansand vs Odense Handbold
M6: Team Esbjerg vs Brest Bretagne Handball
M7: RK Krim Mercator vs CSKA Moscow
M8: SG BBM Bietigheim vs Györi Audi ETO KC

Quarter-final schedule of the DELO EHF Champions League
Winner M4 vs Winner M8
Winner M7 vs Winner M3
Winner M5 vs Winner M1
Winner M6 vs Winner M2

Visit the official website for more information about the DELO EHF Champions League.

PHOTO: SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea / Alexandru Nitisor / Image Plus