13.10.2017, 05:25
Portugal may hope for two teams in the next round

ROUND PREVIEW: No fewer than eight matches of the Men's EHF Cup Round 2 will be streamed live and free of charge on ehfTV.

Portugal may hope for two teams in the next round

Both Portuguese teams in the Men's EHF Cup are fighting for a ticket for the third and final qualification round for the group phase of the Men's EHF Cup this weekend, when no fewer than eight matches will be shown live on ehfTV.

In Poland, SL Benfica are continuing their efforts to copy their achievement from last season and reach the group phase, as they visit Gwardia Opole.

Benfica are bringing a 28:24 lead with them from the first leg at home.

The match against Opole on Sunday at 16.00 local time is broadcast live at ehftv.com.

While Benfica are defending a four-goal lead in Poland, Futebol Clube do Porto are starting from scratch.

Porto are hosting a double-header against Macedonian HC Ohrid 2013 who sent KRAS/Volendam from the Netherlands out of the first round after a draw and a one-goal win.

The matches in the Dragao Caixa in Porto, on Saturday and Sunday both at 15.00 local time are broadcast live on ehftv.com.

In the last round, SG INSIGNIS Handball Westwien sent out their fellow Austrians from Bregenz, but now, the team from Vienna find themselves in trouble, being down 27:22 against Wacker Thun after the first match on home ground last weekend.

“We know what we are capable of doing, though, and we have proved that so often already this season, and we will at least fight throughout the 60 minutes of the return match. Then, we will have to see what comes out of it,” said Westwien manager Conny Wilcynski ahead of the away game on Sunday at 17:00 hrs local time. The match will be live on ehftv.com.

Romanian HC Dobrogea Sud Constanta are entering the tournament with the double-header at home against BSK Handball Elite, while the Norwegian visitors won a Nordic derby against Icelandic Afturelding narrowly by three goals on aggregate in the first round.

Saturday and Sunday at 18.00 local time, the two teams meet in the City Hall of Constanta to fight out the Round 3 berth between them. Both matches are live in ehftv.com.

Two teams, Pfadi Winterthur from Switzerland and Balatonfüredi KSE from Hungary are already through to the next round after winning double headers last weekend, while an exciting match may be expected in St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg HC are chasing a five-goal deficit against FH Hafnarfjordur after the Russian side lost 32:27 in Iceland last weekend. A five-goal distance should not be impossible to catch up with on home ground, though.

RK Nexe seem closer to the next round, being two up before receiving Pölva Serviti. Nexe won the first leg in Estonia 27:25, and have a very good chance of taking a further step towards the group phase, where the Croatian club has been once before, in the 2014/15 season.

Five goals are also separating Cocks and Achilles Bocholt before the Finnish champions receive the Belgian team for the second leg.
Achilles Bocholt won an extremely high-scoring match 40:35 at home last weekend, and maybe, Cocks should watch out for Damian Kedziora Saturday. The 30-year-old left wing scored no less than 15 goals in the first match.

Find the overview of all matches here
 

TEXT: Peter Bruun / br