Our women’s handball team took a big step towards the quarter-finals of the Champions League a week ago in Dortmund, and heading into the return leg at Érd Arena, the goal was clear: finish the job. If anyone had been tempted to feel comfortable with the six-goal advantage, that feeling quickly disappeared during the week. Our run of bad luck with injuries continued — Emily Vogel and Orlane Kanor were not included in the squad, Darja Dmitrijeva could only contribute from the bench, and Petra Simon had been struggling with illness in recent days. As a result, we lined up with a significantly depleted squad, albeit in front of a full house and our home fans.

Jesper Jensen had limited options and handed a starting role to Anna Szeibert. The youngster showed some early nerves, but after a short spell off the court, she began to show her quality. Early on, however, it was Laura Glauser who kept us in the game with a series of key saves, as the team searched for its rhythm. Dortmund took the lead, and without our French goalkeeper saving two penalties, our six-goal aggregate advantage could have been under serious threat within the opening ten minutes. Instead, the deficit never grew beyond two goals, and we gradually settled into the game.

At the other end, Melinda Szikora — who had been honoured before the match by FTC’s Executive Vice President Zoltán Nyíri ahead of her upcoming retirement — was also in fine form, resulting in a low-scoring contest. That suited us, as did Petra Simon finding her rhythm midway through the half. With her leading the attack, we turned the game around after trailing 6–8. Although Dortmund regained the lead once more, we went into the break level.

The restart, however, was far from ideal. Within moments, we found ourselves three goals down and had to stay composed. Jesper Jensen called a timeout at the right moment, and just like in the first half, our play began to build again step by step. Malestein and Simon led the way in attack, while Glauser continued to shine in goal, and the crowd increasingly got behind the team.

We drew level at 20–20, and then came the decisive push. From 20–21, we scored four in a row to open up a three-goal lead on the night and a nine-goal advantage on aggregate with ten minutes remaining.

It was clear, however, that the team was not only fighting for the next round but also for the win. Petra Simon, for example, sprinted back after a turnover with the same determination as if the tie had just begun. In the end, victory slipped away — just like at the end of the first half, a last-second 7m throw was missed — but qualification was never in doubt.

As a team, fighting together, we got the job done against Dortmund and can now look ahead to the quarter-final against Metz — hopefully with a full squad, ready to battle for a place in the EHF FINAL4.

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