The handball players of Brest lost in the final of the Champions League, beaten by the Norwegians of Kristiansand 34 to 28, Sunday, May 30 in Budapest.
Tired by the enormous battle waged the day before to eliminate the Hungarians of Gyor, triple title holders (2017, 2018, 2019), in the semi-finals, the Brestoises have always been left behind, for the first final of a French women’s handball club in the Champions League.
The players of Laurent Bezeau, who led his last match on a coach’s bench before taking up duties at the National Sports Agency (ANS), could not do anything against the Norwegians who played very little. months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and which were worn by left-back and center-half Henny Reistad, named at just 22 years old best youngster of the C1 season.
Henny Reistad was unstoppable, both in the semi-finals (10 goals, all in play) against CSKA Moscow and in the final against Brest (12). The Norwegian will take charge of Denmark and Esbjerg after the Olympics this summer.
In this final which looked like a remake of the Euro-2020 final – five French European vice-champions in December in Denmark play in Brest and seven Norwegian European champions play in Kristiansand – the Heidi Loke’s teammates got off to the best start (9-4, 10e).
New cycle next season
The heroines of the day before, starting with goalkeepers Cléopatre Darleux and Sandra Toft, did not find the solution to the Norwegian attacking game, and the defense put to work for seventy minutes the day before against Györ appeared blunt and much more porous than in half (32 goals conceded against 23 on Saturday).
The Brestoises once again found themselves in the position of the team which played away, because the Hungarian supporters had chosen their camp with Kristiansand, of which several players like Nora Mork or Heidi Loke have long worn the jersey of Gyor.
The second period was a demonstration of the talent of Reistad, a new nugget of the Norwegian hand which has continued to clean the skylights of Toft and Darleux.
The European adventure of the BBH ends in this second place, and the French hand will have to wait a little longer before having the female equivalent of Montpellier, the first and only French club winner of the Champions League for men in 2003 and in 2018.
For Brest, it is now time to prepare for a new sporting cycle, since Pablo Morel will succeed Laurent Bezeau on the coach’s bench from this summer.
At the same time, Bella Gullden will join the ranks of new European champions Kristiansand as center-half, while left-back Ana Gros will join CSKA Moscow in her quest for a first Champions League.
The spring of the hand tricolor remains positive all the same, since the final lost by Brest in C1, the first for a French women’s club, comes three weeks after the coronation of Nantes in the European League, the new little sister of the C1.