Team Esbjerg's joy over CL-win is short-lived as key player sustains potential knee injury

Team Esbjerg's Nora Mork in action against  DVSC Schaeffler's Kristin Thorleifsdottir
Team Esbjerg's Nora Mork in action against DVSC Schaeffler's Kristin Thorleifsdottir Credit: Zsolt Czegledi / EPA / Profimedia

Team Esbjerg on Sunday preserved their chances of qualifying for the Final Four of the women's Champions League through a 39-30 win against Hungarian outfit DVSC Schaeffler.

Thanks to the win, Team Esbjerg, who remain in third place in the Champions League group, edge closer to Metz and Györ in the top two places.

The first and second place teams advance directly to the quarter-finals, while the teams from third to sixth place will go into playoff matches - equivalent to the round of 16.

Team Esbjerg was also the clear favorite ahead of the match against the Hungarian visitors, and this became clear from the start of the match, when the home team quickly took control.

The visitors managed to keep Esbjerg's lead down to two goals, but after the first 15 minutes, the home team increased the pace.

With three quick goals within about a minute, Team Esbjerg took a 14-9 lead, and the Hungarians then had a hard time keeping up until halftime.

The 21-year-old winger Mia Emmenegger was virtually unstoppable in the attack. With six goals in the first half, the Swiss player, along with the rest of the team, went into halftime with a comfortable 21-12 lead.

Just five minutes into the second half, Team Esbjerg's Judith van der Helm was involved in a collision, where she appeared to sustain a knee injury and was carried off the court. She didn't return for the rest of the match.  

The second half was more even. Jovana Jovovic and Alicia Toublanc caused problems for Team Esbjerg's defense, but it was not enough to prevent the Danes from recording a comfortable win. 

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