Top clashes in Slovakia open round 3 of EHF European Cup Men

The throw-off is scheduled in Slovakia, where Tatran Presov are up against Afturelding in the only double-header over the weekend, with the two duels scheduled for Friday and Sunday.

The hosts are regarded one of the competition’s favourites, but the visitors from Iceland eliminated Nærbø IL – the 2022 champions and 2021 runners-up – in the previous round, making for two promising duels in Presov.

• two Romanian teams, CS Minaur Baia Mare and CSA Steaua Bucuresti, are set to play their first matches this season, hosting HC Dinamo Pancevo and HC Linz AG, respectively; the same goes for RK Metaloplastika Elixir Sabac and RK Sloboda, who face BK-46 and Spor Toto SK on home court
• FH Hafnarfjordur are welcoming Sezoens Achilles Bocholt in the first leg in Iceland after victoriously coming back from the trip to Serbia’s RK Partizan, while the Belgian club eliminated HC Dragunas Klaipeda in round 2
• RK Vogošca secured a place in round 3 after scoring only a single goal more than their opponents in the previous round and now, the Bosnians are hosting the quality squad of SKKP Handball Brno in the first leg in Tuzla
• Croatian duo MRK Trogir and MRK Sesvete are looking to secure positive results in the first legs on home court against Olympiacos SFP and Besiktas Safi Cimento, respectively
• BSV Bern are set to welcome FTC-Green Collect, who played in the EHF European League group phase last season and comfortably secured a place in round 3 by defeating Parnassos Strovolou with a 37-goal difference on aggregate
• last season’s semi-finalists Runar Sandefjord are ahead of a difficult challenge as the Norwegian club is hosting Austria side Bregenz Handball, who defeated VHC Sviesa in the previous round
• Rukometni Klub Leotar, Förthof UHK Krems and HC Vise BM are hoping to get additional motivation in front of its own fans in the first legs on home soil as they face HCB Karvina, IBV Vestmannaeyjar and MRK Krka, respectively

HC Motor’s unbeaten record set for an ice-cold test

HC Motor are flying high this season, sitting on top of the Ukrainian league and yet to suffer a defeat in all competitions. But Valur are set to provide a stern test for their perfect record. Motor and Valur both played in the EHF European League group phase last season and are aiming to go far in the Europe's third-tier competition this season.

Valur cruised in the opening two rounds of the competition, and Motor comfortably won their tie against Handball Kaerjeng in the previous round. The first leg in the Slovakian city of Michalovce on Saturday promises to be a thrilling one ahead of the return leg in Reykjavik next week.

photos © Tatran Presov; Valur