The Messinian tears flooding the Arena spoke volumes about the shock of their elimination in the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Ferencvaros (33-26) where the Dragonnes collapsed on Sunday. “We played very badly, we missed almost everything, noted their Danish center half Kristina Jorgensen. We missed so many shots.”
Its Metz Handball partners had a large six-goal lead to defend in their Arenas, where they have been impregnable for almost a year and a half, and were looking forward to qualifying for the Final Four on June 3 and 4 in Budapest.
Disastrous second half
But Emmanuel Mayonnade’s players, crowned French champions for the 25th time two weeks earlier, delivered a disastrous second half, scoring only nine goals in the last half hour. Elimination took shape on faces falling apart as the second half progressed, although a slim hope remained until the buzzer and Valeriia Maslova’s free throw, finally stopped by the Hungarian wall.
“We don’t make enough efforts, we don’t talk enough to each other”, was alarmed coach Emmanuel Mayonnade during a timeout, feeling the tide turn for Ferencvaros (24-20, 39th). Hungarian goalkeeper Blanka Biro, who came into play after halftime, instilled doubt in the Messines (six saves, 36%) who only converted 56% of their shots (against 72% on the way).
The absence of Burgaard has serious consequences
Only the young pivot Sarah Bouktit (20) survived, alone compiling five of the nine Metz goals after the break. Even if their first half of the match was much less controlled than in the first leg (32-26), the Messines were on the right track to qualify against Ferencvaros in the middle of the match (17-17). Admittedly, the Lorraines were deprived of their right-back Louise Burgaard, hit in the knee and announced “unavailable between three weeks and a month” just before the meeting by the club.
Given Bruna de Paula’s return from convalescence, who had been on the flank for a month due to a sprained ankle, and Tamara Horacek’s difficulties on Sunday, his presence would undoubtedly have weighed. The fact remains that the disillusion is total for Metz Handball which only recorded the second defeat of its season after that in October against Esbjerg. Worse, Emmanuel Mayonnade’s players had not experienced a setback in their Arenas for almost a year and a half and a match against CSKA Moscow. They will have to remobilize for the last deadline of their season: the final of the Coupe de France, June 10 against Paris 92 at Bercy.