10 double-headers to conclude EHF European Cup Men round 2

RK Trimo Trebnje went to Austria to beat Vöslau by 32:28 in the first leg with the help of their goalkeeper duo Urban Lesjak and Mark Šalamon, who combined for 15 saves. The return leg is scheduled for Saturday at 19:00 CEST in Slovenia.

• Olympiacos SFP, GRK Ohrid, SKKP Handball Brno and HB Dudelange have already secured their participation in round 3
• 10 double-headers are scheduled for the next days, as well as 18 more return legs
• former EHF Challenge Cup winners Diomidis Argous from Greece travel to Montenegro to face RK Budvanska Rivijera in a double-header on Friday and Sunday; last season, the Greek side reached Last 16
• four teams have a two-goal advantage going into the second leg: HC Dinamo Pancevo (29:27 against HCB Karvina), Sparkasse Schwaz Handball Tirol (29:27 against Dragunas Klaipeda), Nærbø IL (32:30 against MOL Tatabanya KC) and HSC Suhr Aarau (30:28 against HC Metaloplastika Elixir)
• Cassano Magnago HC take a one-goal advantage (29:28) back to Italy after a narrow victory over HV KRAS/Volendam in the Netherlands last Saturday
• HC Fivers WAT Margareten need to mount a comeback at home after losing the first leg of the Austrian derby against Förthof UHK Krems, 31:27; their shot efficiency has to improve from 56 per cent last weekend, including their seven-metre shot accuracy, as they only scored once from three opportunities in the first leg
• Bosnia and Herzegovina have five teams in the race for round 3, and two of them have high chances of qualifying to the next round: MRK Sloga Doboj (41:31 against ZRHK TENAX Dobele) and HC Izvidac (40:19 against Besa Famgas)
• the other three Bosnian clubs — RK Vogošca, RK Konjuh Zivinice and RK Leotar — will play double-headers this week and are eager to keep the quintet further in the competition

Luxembourg aim for historic milestone

After HB Dudelange beat KH Rahoveci decisively in their double-header at home last week, 86:61 on aggregate, two more teams from Luxembourg have the chance to reach the third round.

HB Red Boys Differdange travel to Kosovo to face KH Kastrioti in a double-header, while HC Berchem meet with Oxford University HC for the two-legged duel in Crauthem. If Differdange and Berchem advance to the next round, it would be the first time in history that three teams from Luxembourg reach round 3 of a European club competition.

Technically, this was also the case in the EHF Challenge Cup 2017/18, with the mention that the competition started with round 2.

Photos © Sezoens Achilles Bocholt (main), Förthof UHK Krems (in-text)