The EHF European Cup Men semi-finals have Scandinavian flavour this season, as three of four teams still in contention for the title represent the Nordic region.
Two of them will meet in a Norwegian derby, with the first leg of the Drammen HK versus Nærbo IL tie to be held on Saturday in Drammen.
- this season, Drammen won both domestic league encounters with Nærbo — 39:26 and 37:31
- in the regular season of the Norwegian league, Drammen finished second while Nærbo took fifth position
- in the other semi-final, Romanian side SC Minaur Baia Mare will face Sweden’s Alingsås HK. The first leg will take place on Saturday in Romania
- Nærbo and Baia Mare reached the semi-final without playing in the previous round, as their quarter-final games with SKA Minsk (BLR) and HC Victor (RUS), respectively, were cancelled
- Drammen eliminated HSC Suhr Aarau (SUI) in the quarter-finals — 64:61 on aggregate — while Alingsås were too strong for Talent tym Plzenskeho kraje, winning 58:54 on aggregate
Men and women run parallel courses
Baia Mare remain the only non-Nordic team in the competition, and their campaign can already be called successful, as the Romanian team had never reached the quarter-final of a European club competition before this season.
Interestingly, SC Minaur Baia Bare’s women’s team have also made it to the business end of the international season, in the EHF European League Women. On 14 and 15 May, they will fight for the trophy in the EHF Finals Women 2022, after contesting the same stage in 2020/21.
