​Reigning Romanian women’s handball champion Rapid Bucureşti defeated Croatia’s Lokomotiv Zagreb 31-27 (16-12) away in their Champions League Group B opener on Saturday.

Badea (6 goals), Buceski (6), Lacrabere (5), Ostase (4), Canor (4), Lopez (2), Gutierrez (2), Grozav (1) and Hernandez (1) scored for the Rapid.

“We started three years ago in the 2nd league and this year we have a chance to play against the best club teams in the world. A crazy dream that few believed in in 2019, a dream that came true in May with the championship title. Let’s enjoy every moment of the Champions League and every victory in this huge competition, rest assured that as long as we work with passion day and night, the results will not make us wait.” – this is Saturday’s message from the Rapid Bucharest club.

In Group B, Kastamonu vs. Buducnost was played on Saturday with a score of 27-40, while the other matches will be played on Sunday between Esbjerg vs. Gyor ETO and Metz Handball vs. Storhamar.

Rapid schedule in Group B of the Champions League

Lokomotiv Zagreb vs Rapid Bucharest 27-31

September 18, 2022: Rapid Bucharest – Metz (15:00)

25 September 2022: Kastamonu vs Rapid Bucharest (15:00)

October 9, 2022: Rapid Bucharest – Esbjerg

October 15, 2022: Future – Rapid Bucharest (19:00)

October 23, 2022: Rapid Bucharest – Storhamar (15:00)

3-4 December 2022: Gyor vs Rapid Bucharest

December 10-11, 2022: Rapid Bucharest – Gyor

17-18 December 2022: Storhamar vs Rapid Bucharest

January 7-8, 2023: Rapid Bucharest – The Future

14-15 January 2023: Esbjerg vs Rapid Bucharest

January 21-22, 2023: Rapid Bucharest vs. Kastamonu

4-5 February 2023: Metz vs Rapid Bucharest

February 11-12, 2023: Rapid Bucharest vs Lokomotiv Zagreb.

The Norwegian team Vipers Kristiansand owns the trophy.