Eight double-headers set up exciting weekend for last round 3 tickets

• Greek runners-up AEK Athens return to the EHF European Cup after last season’s participation in the EHF European League; they reached round 3 in their last EHF European Cup season
• CS Minaur Baia Mare, RK Porec, AEK Athens HC, Sabbianco Anorthosis Famagusta, RK Leotar Trebinje, Drammen HK, Kur, and HC Lovcen-Cetinje host double-headers this weekend
• former EHF Challenge Cup winners Diomidis Argous secured a 26:21 win in the first leg against HC Vise BM; playing the return leg at home will further enhance their chances of qualifying for round 3 for the first time
• in the Baltic derby between Mistra and VHC Sviesa, Sviesa take a 34:30 advantage from the first leg as they visit Mistra at home in Estonia. Sviesa have won four of their last five encounters
• HC Izvidac and Raimond Sassari are separated by just one goal after the Bosnian side took a 39:38 away win in Italy. Sassari left back Dino Hamidovic scored 13 goals last weekend and will be hoping for a repeat
• MRK Krka and ØIF Arendal secured two-goal wins in the first legs against HC Metaloplastika Elixir (32:30) and Bianco Monte Drama 1986 (37:35), respectively; while the Slovenian side host the second leg, the Norwegians have to travel to Greece

Goal machines HC Alkaloid strike again

Scoring goals seems to be in the DNA of HC Alkaloid. The Macedonian side scored 42 goals in the first leg against Dragunas Klaipeda, securing a dominant 11-goal win (42:31) in the process. Right wing Nikola Kosteski (10) and left wing Arnaud Bingo (nine) were responsible for nearly half of the goals.

The result continued a strong attacking streak for the team led by Macedonian handball legend Kiril Lazarov, and included nine successful fast breaks.

In their domestic league campaign, the Skopje-based team has accumulated a goal difference of +88 over the first eight games, scoring 283 goals (35.4 per game). They have hit 30 goals in every competitive match so far this season and will expect to do the same as they travel to Klaipeda on Saturday afternoon.

Photos © Filip Viranovski, HC Metaloplastika