And here's the thing about handball — you never know what's coming. Borussia Dortmund women held CSM Bucharest to a 35:32 draw in the EHF Champions League on Friday. The hosts, unbeaten through two games, took something from a fixture where away victory was expected. Bucharest remain top of their section with four points, but the result halted their perfect start.
To be fair, Bucharest had looked imperious in their previous outings. A 42:26 win over Târgu Mureş and a 36:26 victory against Budućnost suggested they were second to nothing. Dortmund, meanwhile, had drawn their opening two matches and sat seventh with zero points. The script seemed written before kickoff.
By then the match had taken a different shape entirely. The hosts kept their side in it through sheer persistence, refusing to let Bucharest pull away. Thirty-five goals for Dortmund is no mean feat against a side that had been dismantling opposition all season. Bucharest scored 32, but the gap was never as wide as the early minutes might have promised.
What the statistics don't capture is the momentum shift. Bucharest had averaged nearly 38 goals per game in their two victories. Dortmund's defensive shape, or perhaps the support of the fans, made the difference. The heat took the sting out of it for the home side, who refused to be overrun.
Our prediction called for an away win with 81 per cent confidence. We were wrong, and the match proved why. Bucharest were out-thought on the touchline, or perhaps they simply underestimated a Dortmund side that had never been beaten. The draw brought them together early, but the result changed everything.
Dortmund now sit on two points from two games, level on points with Bucharest despite the table position. The hosts have one foot in the next round, and Bucharest face a tougher path than expected. The line has barely moved in the standings, but the narrative has shifted entirely.
