Only Resita have a chance to defend their title from last year and the Romanians are on the right track to this achievement.
Men’s Challenge Cup: Resita still standing
The only title holders playing for defending their victory are Romanian Resita.
Minks vs Resita
The Belarus Arkatron Minsk are still without major European results, but this year they have been doing well in the Challenge Cup coming from the qualifiers. Resita, however, may be too strong for them as the Romanian side have already shown last year by taking the title after beating Drammen that they belong to the stronger teams of Europe. This year they have already beaten a Swedish and a Croatian side.
Hard vs Doboj
The Austrians reached their biggest success with a CL participation in 2003. Since then they have been a regular presence in the Challenge Cup where they have beaten a Portuguese and a Latvian team so far. They will meet a Bosnian side still waiting for the first bigger European success with many Croatian and Serbian players in their team.
Lisboa e Benfica vs Timisoara
Though the Portuguese side have beaten Shakhtyor Donetsk in the previous round, Timisoara seem to have more chance this time. The Romanian team have beaten a Swiss and an Icelandic side so far and their roster includes Hungarian and Serbian players.
Pfadi vs Glogow
In the years 1994-99 and 2002-2005, Pfadi Winterthur played in the Champions League. This also suggests that the Swiss side have considerably more experience than the Polish who have qualified for European competitions only for the second time in their history. They eliminated a Croatian and a Slovak side to come this far.
TEXT:
Eurohandball.com