The inaugural season of the EHF European League Women is ready to continue with qualification round 3, the last hurdle before the group phase, scheduled to start on 9 January 2021.

Seven first-leg matches will be played this weekend, including three outings on Saturday and four more on Sunday.

• the German derby between Thüringer HC and HSG Blomberg-Lippe will take place on Saturday in Bad Langensalza
• on Sunday, three of four encounters will be played in France, as Paris 92, Nantes Altantique Handball and Fleury Loiret Handball will all host their rivals
• two other ties, H.C. Dunarea Braila vs Viborg HK and Storhamar Handball Elite vs Alba Fehérvár KC, will be played next weekend as double headers
• three more ties were drawn for round 3, but cannot be carried out due to Covid-19 restrictions, so MKS Perla Lublin, Astrakhanochka and Kuban are proceeding directly to the group phase
• four more seeded teams – CS Minaur Baia Mare, Herning-Ikast Håndbold, Handball Club Lada and Siofok KC – had their group phase tickets fixed at the start of the season

Schaeffler looking for revenge

Two of the sides set to start round 3 this weekend, Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK and DVSC Schaeffler, have already met in 2020, as they exchanged away victories in the group phase of the last season’s Women’s EHF Cup. With the teams finishing level on points, Kastamonu reached the quarter-final on head-to-head results, so now the Hungarian team are looking for revenge and will try to win away on Saturday.

On Sunday, an exciting duel is expected in Issy-Les-Moulineaux, where Paris 92 will host Nykøbing Falster Håndbold in the first-leg match.

And while Astrakhanochka, Kuban and Lada have already proceeded to the group phase, fellow Russian side HC Zvezda hope to join them with the help of a positive result away at Bera Bera.