Less than two weeks after having won their 10th Danish championship in history, Viborg HK is chasing an even greater achievement - their first Champions League championship ever. And the Danes are closer than ever to winning the attracted trophy...

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Less than two weeks after having won their 10th Danish championship in history, Viborg HK is chasing an even greater achievement - their first Champions League championship ever. And the Danes are closer than ever to winning the attracted trophy after two unsuccessful attempts in the past.

In 1997 Viborg lost on aggregate to Mar Valencia - a 9 goal deficit from the first match in Spain was more than Viborg could catch up at home - and in 2001 the Danish team lost over two matches to Krim Ljubljana.

This year, however - and again with Krim as the opponent - the Viborg players are really close to the big triumph, being two goals up before the second leg at home after a 24:22 win Sunday in the two team’s first meeting in Ljubljana. Krim will therefore have to win by three in Denmark Saturday evening - or win by two and score more than 24 goals.

Optimistic but cautious players
It is no wonder that the Viborg players are optimistic - but also cautious, knowing how fast a two goal lead can vanish in handball, even at home.

"The whole team really feels on top of things after our crisis back in January" said Viborg’s Chinese stat Chao Zhai, who played an important part in the Danish win in Ljubljana, scoring 5 goals and playing one of her best matches this season.

"The second match is going to be really exciting. We know that Krim is a good team, and that they will probably be coming with 150 km an hour! However, we are going to make it another tough match for them!" Chao Zhai promised.

Warning from Skov
"We do not have the Cup yet. There is still one “half” left, which will be starting from 0:0, so we have definitely not won yet!" back-court player and strong defender Rikke Skov warned.

"In the first match our defence proved its strength by keeping Krim’s score down to 22 goals, and that is fantastic. Furthermore, we succeeded with our shots from the distance. We did really well in Slovenia, and we will need the same attitude in the second match, as I am sure that Krim really do not care, if they play at home or away, as they are good at both, so the pressure is still on us" the Danish national player looked ahead.

The match has been moved from Viborg Stadionhal to NRGI Arena in Århus, which can take about 2,000 spectators more than Viborg’s usual home ground - and all 4,750 tickets for the match have been sold already.

Apart from injured back-court player and defender Lene Thomsen, Viborg coach Tomas Ryde will be able to send his strongest possible team on the court.


Text: Peter Bruun
Photo: Ales Fevzer