CSM Bucharest missed qualifying for the Final Four of the Champions League

CSM Bucharest missed qualifying for the semi-finals of the Champions League, after losing the second leg with Metz, score 23-29. In the first leg played in Bucharest, the French won 27-24.

The “tigresses” were timid in the beginning of the game against Metz, conceding three goals in a little more than a minute.

The French women led 4-1, before CSM came back to 4-3, but the Bucharest women also missed some huge opportunities, including a shot from 7m that Cristina Neagu sent wide.

Jorgensen also missed a penalty kick at 5-4, which allowed the Romanian team to restore parity with a pointer from Neagu.

There followed, however, a very weak period of the “tigre women”, who made childish mistakes and preferred throws from difficult positions.

Metz broke away at 8-5 and only the sensational interventions of goalkeeper Glauser kept the difference within a reasonable margin.

Arntzen scored with two well-placed balls from 7m and Glauser made another magnificent save to allow CSM to level at 10.

The half-time score was 15-14 to Metz, with Omoregie scoring a vital goal for CSM in the last second of the first half.

Gutierrez restored the tie immediately after the restart, but Metz held on to the advantage and even though they were outnumbered they managed to restore a two-goal gap.

A splendid goal achieved by Neagu with a back throw kept the CSM at a distance from which they could force a comeback, but the “tigresses” did not know how to take advantage of the hosts’ mistakes, committing a multitude of their own errors.

Psychological moment in the 12th minute of the second half, when Arntzen hit the crossbar from 7m, at a time when CSM was inferior, but Glauser did another miracle at the other end of the field.

Time-out requested by CSM at 21-18 for Metz, 12 minutes before the end, when qualification already seemed light years away, but immediately after Crina Pintea missed two consecutive shots and Metz broke away at 24-19.

“Maybe we won’t qualify, but let’s show that we don’t deserve this score”, said Cristina Neagu at the second time-out requested by Adrian Vasile, but the mission seemed impossible with ten minutes left to play.

So it was in the end. It ended 29-23 and CSM Bucharest misses for another season the presence at the Final Four tournament of the most important interclub competition.