Last eight know route to final after European Cup Women draw
Having sailed through the last 16 over the weekend, the remaining eight teams still standing in the EHF European Cup Women 2023/24 can now start planning properly for not just the quarter-finals, but also their potential semi-finals. Today (23 January 2024) in Cologne the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals took place, meaning the clubs at the business end of the competition know the path they must follow if they are to reach the final.
The draw, made on the fringes of the Men's EHF EURO 2024 at the LANXESS arena in Cologne, featured no seeds and no country protection.
That meant any of the three Spanish sides remaining could have been drawn to face each other in a national derby, and that is exactly what the draw produced, as KH-7 BM. Granollers were paired with Rocasa Gran Canaria, who have won this competition three times (twice under its former name, the EHF Challenge Cup), most recently in 2022.
Not only that, the winner of that tie will play another all-Spanish contest in the semi-finals, if last year's fourth-placed team ATTICGO Bm Elche (ESP) get the better of North Macedonia's HC Gjorche Petrov-WHC Skopje in the last eight. Spain has had at least one finalist in each of the last five editions - a run they will be desperate to extend.
It is impossible to have an all-Spanish affair in the final, but the prospect of an Iberian showdown for the gold medals remains a possibility, as Sport Lisboa e Benfica from Portugal were placed in the other "half" of the draw.
No Portuguese side has ever reached the final of Europe's third-tier women's competition, and they have a tough task in the quarter-finals, up against Armada Praxis Yalikavaspor from Türkiye, whose compatriots Konyaaltı BSK currently hold the trophy.
The winners of that tie will face the winners of the final quarter-final; MSK IUVENTA Michalovce of Slovakia versus Cabooter HandbaL Venlo from the Netherlands. Last year's bronze medallists IUVENTA are aiming to go at least one better and be Slovakia's first finalists, while Venlo can be the first Dutch finalist this century.
The draws in full:
EHF European Cup Women quarter-final draw
MSK IUVENTA Michalovce (SVK) vs Cabooter HandbaL Venlo (NED)
ATTICGO Bm Elche (ESP) vs HC Gjorche Petrov-WHC Skopje (MKD)
KH-7 BM. Granollers (ESP) vs Rocasa Gran Canaria (ESP)
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (POR) vs Armada Praxis Yalikavaspor (TUR)
EHF European Cup Women semi-final draw
Winner of KH-7 BM. Granollers (ESP)/Rocasa Gran Canaria (ESP) vs Winner of ATTICGO Bm Elche (ESP) vs HC Gjorche Petrov-WHC Skopje (MKD)
Winner of MSK IUVENTA Michalovce (SVK)/Cabooter HandbaL Venlo (NED) vs Winner of Sport Lisboa e Benfica (POR)/Armada Praxis Yalikavaspor (TUR)
The first team drawn (as shown above) in each tie will play the first leg at home.
The first leg of the quarter-finals is scheduled for 9/10 March, the second leg for 16/17 March. The semi-finals follow on 20/21 and 27/28 April, respectively.
