Reactions: Managers and Presidents on the CL Qualification Draw
Eurohandball.com talks to club representatives right after the CL Qualification Draw was carried out.
The qualification round will see top handball already in September as some of the top European clubs will play for the available CL places.
To reapeat last season
Lada Togliatti have played the CL Final against Slagelse just a month ago and now they pay attention to the qualification group opponents. Lada will play against Spanish Valencia, Polish Lubin and the 2nd ranked team in the Qualification Round 1, Group B.
Julia Visner, manager of Lada Togliatti: It is really difficult to talk about the chances right now. Valencia maybe a strong opponent, but I don’t know much about the Polish side, Lubin. I think, the draw brought “normal” results for our team.
eurohandball.com: Are there going to be changes in the squad?
Julia Visner: No, we will start next season with the same players. The objective will be to repeat the results we achieved last season.
CWC winner with great expectations
The winner of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 2006/07 was Romanian side Valcea. They had a brilliant season and showed that they belong to the European elite in women’s handball. President Gavrilescu was at the draw.
Ioan Gavrilescu, President of C.S. Oltchim RM Valcea: We also wanted to be drawn into Group 1, which seems to be the easiest, but we will not bother about it. Regarding the organisation right, we wanted to be drawn before the second team in our group as we still hope to organise the group in case Madeira would decide not to.
eurohandball.com: What about the team for next season? Are their changes in the roster?
Ioan Gavrilescu: Our team will stay together in 90%; only one player will leave and two will arrive.
eurohandball.com: What is the objective after winning the Cup Winners’ Cup last season?
Ioan Gavrilescu: We would like to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
New players, better team
Hungarian Győr was semi-finalist last season, still this year they start in Qualification Round 2. Lajos Kiss talks about his expectations.
Lajos Kiss, manager of Győri Audi ETO KC: We were drawn into the best possible group, I believe. Of course, we respect the French team and their results, but we are satisfied with it.
eurohandball.com: What about the team?
Lajos Kiss: We will be stronger than last year. We signed three top players: goalkeeper Pálinger, Mravikova and Tomori. With them, we hope to repeat our performance from last season.
Why not Barca?
Not only the big clubs, the smaller ones were also represented at the draw. Belgian side, KV Sasja, will meet Romanian Constanta. The President of the club was sorry that his team could not get FC Barcelona instead…
Paul De Loose, President of KV Sasja: We are sorry that we can’t play against FC Barcelona. It is really a once in a lifetime opportunity for a squad on our level to meet such a great club. We could have filled the sports hall and it could have been a great celebration on the 50th anniversary of our club.
eurohandball.com: What can we know about the Belgian champions?
Paul De Loose: It is the oldest handball club in Belgium; we have always played in the first division in our history. We have a young team based on Belgian players only. The players are not professionals; everyone has a job or is a student. However, they have been playing together since 1998 and we won the Championship and the Belgian Cup this year.
