Team Esbjerg will not return empty-handed from this year's Final 4 in the Champions League.
After the one-goal defeat to Györ in the semi-final, the Danish champions took revenge in the bronze medal match, where French outfit Metz were beaten 30-27 in Budapest.
The world's best handball player, Henny Reistad, showed her qualities during the match as the Norwegian international scored five of the team's last seven goals to help Esbjerg defend their bronze medal from last year's tournament.
In the beginning of the match, however, Metz seemed to want it the most. After two minutes Metz took a 4-1 lead while Mette Tranborg made a string of technical errors and Henny Reistad seemed to be far from her usual level.
Midway through the half, however, Anna Kristensen began to find her feet between the Danish goalposts and took revenge for a poor performance in the semi-final.
She produced remarkable saves from free shots and shots from the wing, and her teammates capitalized on it at the other end to head for the interval with a 17-16 lead.
Metz quickly restored parity in the second half, and when Henny Reistad was hit by an errant French arm in the face after seven minutes at 20-20 and had to go to the locker room, it immediately affected Esbjerg's attacking play.
Reistad was away for four minutes which Metz used to take a 22-20 lead but when Reistad returned, the Danish attacking play was instantly revived.
Coach Tomas Axnér successfully switched to playing seven against six a couple of times, and with extra screenings Reistad had all the space to score important goals.
Down 23-25, the Norwegian scored four successive goals, so Esbjerg went into the last seven minutes with a lead of 27-25, as the defense and Anna Kristensen built a virtual impenetrable wall and Metz never recovered.