Sports weekend

The latest from men's and women's handball and domestic football

Florin Orban, 29.10.2021, 13:45

Dinamo Bucharest men’s
handball this past Thursday succeeded a great win in the Champions League. Xavi
Pascual’s trainees outclassed Hungarian opponents Veszprém, 31-29, on home
court. This was holders Dinamo Bucharest’s second win in the league’s group B.
The feat is all the more notable as Dinamo outperformed a team with an
impressive record. We recall Veszprem played the Champions League final four
times, in 2002, 2015, 2016 and in 2019. With 4 points, Dinamo are 6th-placed in
Group B. Dinamo Bucharest will travel to Germany for a fixture against Flensburg-Handewitt,
on November 17.

This
coming Saturday, Romanian women’s handball team CSM Bucharest play a Champions
League match at home, against French opponents Brest Bretagne. CSM Bucharest
are 4th-placed in the League’s Group A, with 6 points. At the top of the as-it-stands table are Rostov Don, followed by Ferencvaros of Hungary, with 8 points
each. 3rd-palced are Danish team Team Esbjerg, with 7 points. Germany’s
Borussia Dortmund are 5th-placed, with 5 points, followed by Brest
Bretagne, with 4. Croatian team Podravka Koprivnica are the last-but-one team
in the group, with 2 points. Montenegro’s Buducnost Podgorica are at the bottom of the
table, with zero points on their record sheet.

In
domestic football, eight teams have already advanced to the Romanian Cup’s
quarterfinals. They are third-tier squad CSO Filiaşi, second-league teams FC
Buzău and Poli Timişoara and League One teams Chindia Târgovişte, FC Argeş,
Universitatea Craiova, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe and FC Voluntari. On Thursday, in
the Cup’s last round-of-16 fixtures, FC Buzău defeated Dunărea Călăraşi 3-nil,
Sepsi Sfantu Gheorghe grabbed a 1-nil away win against FC U Craiova, in Drobeta
Turnu-Severin, while Poli Timisoara secured a 2-nil home win against Rapid Bucharest.

League
One’s 16th-round fixtures are scheduled at the weekend. On Friday, FC
Botosani take on Farul Constanţa. On Saturday, Universitatea Craiova go against
CS Mioveni, while CFR Cluj face FC Voluntari. Three matches are to be played on
Sunday. Gaz Metan Mediaş take on Academica Clinceni, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe are
pitted against Dinamo, while FCSB face FC Argeş. On Monday, UTA Arad play Chindia
Târgovişte, while Rapid Bucureşti take on FC U Craiova. CFR Cluj are at the top
of the table, with 33 points, followed by Universitatea Craiova, with 25.

(Translation by Eugen Nasta)