The Brest handball players qualified for the first Final 4 in the club's history, after eliminating their rivals Metz in the quarter-finals on Saturday, and will travel to Budapest at the end of May with the ambition to perform well.
On Saturday, the Brestoises conceded the draw 26 to 26 in the return match in the Arènes Messines, an almost impregnable fortress in the Champions League (only one defeat for the Dragonnes since January 2017 at home in C1), a result sufficient to rise in semi-final after the Breton demonstration of the first leg (34-24) last week.
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The Messines were forced to try things to try to catch up with the 10-goal delay: coach Emmanuel Mayonnade thus played most of the attacking phases placed in the first period with seven outfielders against six, and offered a defense staged in 1-5 with Orlane Kanor or Yvette Broch advanced.
In vain.
“We started the game very seriously.
This is what we said before the start of the meeting.
We saw that they tried things, but we found good solutions and we remained very calm ”, rejoiced Ana Gros, a little less in sight (4 goals) than in the first leg.
Coralie Lassource's teammates were able to return to the locker room at the break with a three-goal advantage (17-14), then were able to manage the second period quietly enough to qualify for the semi-finals.
Aim for a first French final in C1
For the Final 4 of the Champions League, scheduled for May 29 and 30 in Budapest, the Brestoises will be able to aim for a first final for a French women's handball club, after the semi-final of Messines in 2019, lost against the Russians of Rostov .
The draw for the semi-finals is scheduled for Tuesday.
Since the start of the season, Brest has managed to hold the best European teams, like the two draws against the Hungarians of Györ, triple holders of the continental title (2017, 2018, 2019) in the group stage ( 25-25 and 27-27).
Above all, Laurent Bezeau's players arrive with full confidence at the end of the season, with very well-built successes in the round of 16 against the Danes of Esbjerg, and in the quarters against Metz.
They were deprived for the return quarter of goalkeeper Cléopatre Darleux and left-back Kalidiatou Niakaté, affected in an ankle and who will have seven weeks to get back in shape from here to Final 4. The absence of right winger Pauline Coatanea, declared a contact case, also reminds us that the threat of Covid-19 still hangs over the Breton team.
“In Final 4, we can expect anything.
For starters, I hope that by then everything will be okay.
This year with the Covid, it's special.
After there, everyone can win and we will go to get this Champions League, ”announced Ana Gros, top scorer in the C1 so far (118 goals).
This quarter-final between Brestoises and Messines sounds like a passing of the baton, for this season at least, between the two dominant clubs of the French women's hand, Metz, quadruple champion of France in title, being in difficulty vis-a-vis the superiority of the moment of the BBH.
The Brestoises won their first three clashes against Metz, and did not concede a draw until the end of the match on Saturday.
Three are still scheduled by the end of the season: a semi-final of the Coupe de France at the end of April and a very likely final of the French championship in mid-May.
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