Always present in the Final 4 of the Champions League for four years with Rostov (2018, 2019) or CSKA Moscow (2021), Russia was again this season in a position to place one, or even two clubs in the C1 semi-finals.

But following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army on February 24, the European Federation (EHF) decided to exclude all Russian and Belarusian clubs from its competitions.

Rostov, who had guaranteed a direct place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the end of the group stage, was to play the winner of the play-off between Metz and Dortmund, a confrontation which thus turns into the quarter-finals without having one. the name.

The opportunity to seize is great for the players of Emmanuel Mayonnade, who have had a good run (nine wins, one draw and four losses) in a tough pool with three of the four teams present in the Final 4 last year -- Györ, Kristiansand and CSKA Moscow.

Metz coach Emmanuel Mayonnade, during the semi-final of the Final Four of the Handball Champions League against Rostov, on May 11, 2019 in Budapest ATTILA KISBENEDEK AFP / Archives

"It's satisfying, we had a good first part of the season in the Champions League", explains the back of the Dragonnes, Orlane Kanor, who retains the victory in Norway against Kristiansand, defending champion, in February 31 to 25.

And to hang a new Final 4 after that of 2019 (4th place), they will have the advantage of receiving the return match, which would not have been the case against Rostov.

With Grace Zaadi

Above all, Metz is approaching this decisive phase of the season with a significant reinforcement thanks to the return of Olympic champion Grace Zaadi, released for the end of the season by her Rostov club, another consequence of the conflict in Ukraine.

Emmanuel Mayonnade thus finds himself with the pair of half-centers who have been the heyday of Olivier Krumbholz's Bleues for several years, with an association between Zaadi and Méline Nocandy.

"There was not too much need for adaptation. Grace was still in Metz two years ago and the game project has changed little. It happened quite naturally and as if she had not left" , explains Kanor, while Zaadi turned professional in Metz in 2013 and played in the yellow and blue jersey until spring 2020.

Messina Grace Zaadi, during the semi-final of the Final Four of the Handball Champions League against Rostov, on May 11, 2019 in Budapest ATTILA KISBENEDEK AFP / Archives

Opposite, Borussia Dortmund was unable to play its last two league matches last Sunday and Wednesday, due to positive cases of Covid, which however do not call into question the holding of the match.

Reigning French champion and finalist in the Champions League last season, Brest for its part has a course much more strewn with pitfalls on its way to Budapest, where the Final 4 will take place, with a difficult first stage against the Danes from Odense.

Coralie Lassource's teammates strengthened their second place in the French championship thanks to a string of three successes.

If the Brestoises were to overcome the Danish obstacle, they will have to go through a formidable quarter-final against Györ and his armada of international stars - the Norwegians Stine Oftedal, Kari Brattset, Silje Solberg, and the French Amandine Leynaud, Laura Glauser and Estelle Nze Minko.

© 2022 AFP