“Earthquake” at CSM Bucharest: today’s incendiary meeting will result in elimination from the Champions League

CSM Bucharest was assembled with the declared objective of winning the Champions League. What we weren’t told at the time of our inception, however, in 2007, was that after achieving this goal, once in 2016, “the specialty of the house” will become the elimination in the quarters!

If we aim to see the glass half full, “the tigresses” have nine consecutive appearances in this phase of the competition. Unfortunately, they’ve just reached their 6th straight season of stopping here. Which is a counter-performance, considering that the batch is a stellar one, especially in the current season. This is exactly what the journalist Marius Huțu (welovesport), one of the best specialists in our press on handball, noted.

“To top it off, the failure to score with Metz in the last two weekends came in the season when CSM had on paper the best batch in history, according to the players’ records. But also peace, because absolutely no one interfered with the team. Mistakes were made somewhere. Or the team is overrated…“, noted Marius Huțu, famous for his balanced analyses.

Adrian Vasile, CSM Bucharest coach. PHOTO: The Truth Archive

Having become head coach at CSM Bucharest since October 2019, Adrian Vasile (41 years old) is the first to pay the price for the repeated eliminations from the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The club financed by the Capital City Hall had already announced, as early as 2023, that Vasile’s stay on the bench is conditional on joining the Final Four of the Champions League. I mean, a goal that just missed.

Immediately after the even tougher failure in the return leg with Metz, with a six-goal difference, CSM Bucharest made a short announcement on social networks: “The team representatives will not provide statements upon arrival in the country, the club will communicate officially after the analysis meeting of the CSMB Board of Directors, which will take place on Tuesday, May 7“.

So, almost certainly, the separation from Adrian Vasile will be made official today. He will leave CSM with three titles in the Flower League. This if we also take into account the one from the current season who, in proportion to 99%, will be conquered by “tigress“, after those of 2021 and 2023, also under the command of Adrian Vasile. He has four more cups with CSM (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024), plus three Supercups (2019, 2022, 2023).

Champions League quarters, second leg

Metz – CSM Bucharest 29-23 (27-24 in the round)

Gyor – Vipers 24-26 (30-23 in the round)

Odense – Bietigheim 32-30 (26-30 in the round)

Esbjerg – Ferencvaros 29-24 (26-25 in the round)

The teams Esbjerg (Denmark), Metz (France), Bietigheim (Germany) and Gyor (Hungary) will play in the Final Four in Budapest (June 1 and 2).

Where did the “tigresses” from CSM stop in the last years in the League

Season Phase reached Last opponent

2023-2024 Quarters Metz

2022-2023 Quarter Vipers

2021-2022 Quarters Esbjerg

2020-2021 CSKA Moscow Quarters

2019-2020 Gyor Quarters*

2018-2019 Metz quarters

2017-2018 Final Four Rostov-Don**

*The double with Gyor was canceled due to the pandemic.

**CSM won the small final, capturing the bronze medals.