Last season’s finalists AEK Athens to enter the Challenge Cup in Round 3

The runners-up of the Men’s Challenge Cup 2017/18 AEK Athens will begin their campaign in the competition’s new edition only in the Round 3.

In total, no fewer than 48 teams will participate in the 2018/19 season as 16 teams are seeded for the third playing round, while 32 will start already in the Round 2 after the European Handball Federation has released the seeding for the new season of the Men’s Challenge Cup.

There will be no matches in Round 1. The first leg of the Round 2 is planned for 13/14 October and the second leg will follow one week later. AEK’s domestic rivals and the only former Challenge Cup winners (2012) in the starting grid, AC Diomidis Argous are among the seeded teams in the Round 2.

The Round 3 maches will be played 17/18 November and 24/25 November respectively.

Both the Round 2 and Round 3 pairings will be determined by the draw on Tuesday 17 July.

Check the seeding of teams here