Slovakian sides in spotlight as EHF European Cup Women round 3 starts

The action starts on Friday 6 November with two matches. Three teams will book their tickets to the last 16 in double-headers this weekend, then one more will join the list for the next stage on Monday evening.

Also scheduled for this weekend are five first-leg ties, before seven more double-headers take place from 13 to 15 November.

• 32 teams from 22 countries enter round 3; the Netherlands, Faroe Islands and Slovakia are the most represented, with three clubs each

• Serbia, Italy, Portugal and Israel each have two teams in this round

• SSV Brixen Südtirol and Madeira Andebol SAD meet in Italy for their first leg match on Saturday; the sides met four years ago in round 2 of the competition, when the Portuguese side advanced with a 56:43 result on aggregate, after winning both matches (25:22; 31:21)

• The second Portuguese team, Clube Jovem Almeida Garrett, travel to Greece for a double-header against 2024/25 quarter-finalists O.F.N. Ionias, who currently top the table in the Greek league with an unbeaten record; Almeida Garrett have bounced back from consecutive losses and sit fourth in their domestic league

• Haukar and RK "Levalea 2010" Nikšic meet in Hafnarfjodur to play their double-header on Sunday and Monday; while Haukar enter the competition, Nikšic beat Differdange in a double-header in Luxembourg in the previous round, where left wing Sanja Andrijaševic was top scorer with 15 goals across the two matches

HC DAC Dunajská Streda in flow state

HC DAC Dunajská Streda arrive for their first-leg match in the Netherlands in a flow. The Slovakian side will meet JuRo Unirek VZV on Sunday afternoon and again seven days later at home.

Dunajská Streda made some headlines during the summer with the signings of Lara Buric, Angela Jankulovska and Anna Kubálková. While Kubálková is currently sidelined with an injury, the pair of Buric and Jankulovska made an impact in the previous round.

The chemistry within the Dunajská Streda back court seems to be evolving, with Beatrix Elo (right back) and Julia Farkas (centre back) also contributing very good performances. In the domestic league, Dunajská Streda top the table with seven wins from eight matches. Their only loss came in mid-September.