Two Portuguese sides secure European Cup Last 16 berths
A total of 17 round 3 matches of the EHF European Cup Women took place this week, and five teams progressed to the Last 16 following their wins in double-headers.
In particular, both Portuguese teams went through, as Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Madeira Andebol SAD hosted their rivals.
- in Lisbon, Benfica proved too strong for their Faroese rivals Neistin, winning 67:52 on aggregate
- in Funchal, Madeira hosted a doubleheader against Iceland's IBV Vestmannaeyjar and also had the upper hand, 69:42 on aggregate
- last season's EHF European Cup semi-finalists ATTICGO Bm Elche sealed their Last 16 berth already in midweek, as they beat Greece's O.F.N. Ionias on Wednesday and Thursday, 60:50 on aggregate
- ZRK Mlinotest Ajdovscina (Slovenia) and Jomi Salerno (Italy) also progressed, eliminating HV Herzogenbuchsee (Switzerland) and Swieqi RGF Malta Phoenix (Malta) respectively.
- three more double-headers as well as seven second-leg matches will be staged next weekend, on 17/19 November
Gran Canaria and Konyaalti win at home
The two most recent winners of the EHF European Cup Women only played the first-leg encounters this weekend, and both took home wins.
2022 champions Rocasa Gran Canaria from Spain made a big step towards the Last 16 following a 34:23 victory against their Croatian rivals ZRK Drugo Selo '55, with Melania Falcon Gonzalez scoring nine goals.
Current titleholders Konyaalti BSK from Türkiye won by a much smaller margin, 29:27 against KH-7 BM. Granollers, which makes the tie very open ahead of the return leg in Spain.
