Brest Bretagne Handball knows its opponents in the group stage for the 2024-2025 Champions League season. And the least we can say is that the Finistère club was spoiled during the online draw. “We weren’t expecting an easy group anyway,” assures Nicolas Roué, sports manager of BBH. With only 16 teams, it’s always very dense. Last year, we could have considered ourselves in an easy group. Except that in the end, the two finalists were in our pool.”
In a tough and homogeneous group, Raphaëlle Tervel’s players will find teams accustomed to playing in the Champions League. “There are never any easy matches but perhaps even less so this year. We will only face experienced teams,” explains Nicolas Roué.
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Vipers Kristiansand (Norvège)
Seven-time Norwegian champion, Vipers Kristiansand is one of the contenders for the title. Surely revengeful after being beaten in the quarter-finals last year, the Vipers remained on an incredible hat-trick in the Champions League (2021, 2022, 2023). During its first coronation, the Norwegian club logically dominated Brest in the final.
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Esbjerg (Danemark)
The Danish champion, fourth in the Champions League in 2022 and 2023 but third last year, has one of the best European teams. Counting in its ranks Henny Reistad, the Norwegian left back, voted best world handball player of the year in 2023, Team Esbjerg always plays the leading roles in this competition.
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Budućnost Podgorica (Montenegro)
BBH will find some familiar faces against Buducnost, where Aïssatou Kouyaté and Kalidiatou Niakaté are now playing. Last year, the Montenegrin team, which did not reach the knockout stage, created a surprise by holding Brest to a draw at the Arena. “On paper, this team may be less considered, except that it is used to this competition and it always poses problems,” explains the BBH sports manager. Winner of two Champions Leagues (2012 and 2015), the Montenegrin champion crushes its national championship after winning its 17th national title in a row in 2023-2024.
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Ludwigsburg (Germany)
This season, SG BBM Bietigheim became Ludwigsburg, named after the city where the team plays. Already in the Brest group last year, the German team had an average group stage (6th), alternating between good and bad. But Jakob Vestergaard’s players woke up during the knockout phase to the point where the reigning German champion played in the Final Four and even outclassed Metz to reach the final, the first in its history. A final ultimately lost against Györ. “On paper, very few would have bet on them in the final, so we have to be wary,” insists the sports manager. “We won’t have too many surprises about their level. They’re a team with big builds.”
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Györ (Hungary)
Runner-up to Ferencváros in Hungary, Györ was the scarecrow in pot 3. The outgoing winner of the competition, the club with six Champions League titles, where former Brest goalkeeper Sandra Toft and French international Estelle Nze Minko play, has an impressive track record and will be one of the main candidates for its own succession. “We were a little scared at the start of the draw because after the first two balls drawn, we already knew we were going to play them. They are obviously a very complicated team to play,” summarizes Nicolas Roué.
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Rapid Bucarest (Romania)
Perhaps the most affordable team in the group. Penultimate in its group last year, Rapid Bucharest, Romanian champion in 2022, nevertheless remains a solid team and difficult to maneuver. “Even if the squad is not completely defined, playing there still remains very complicated,” specifies the Brest sports manager.
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Odense (Denmark)
Third in the Danish championship last season, Odense was relegated to pot 4. Accustomed to playing in the Champions League every year, the Danish team finished just ahead of Brest in the group stage but stopped short of the Final Four. “On the last ball, between Bistrita and Odense, if it had been the other way around, it might have rebalanced the groups,” regrets Nicolas Roué. In addition, the Danish team is coached by the Norwegian Ole Gustav Gjekstad, who is none other than the coach of Vipers Kristiansand during their treble.
