21.03.2019, 02:10
Porto one point from clinching quarter-final berth

GROUP C PREVIEW: With a draw away against Liberbank Cuenca, FC Porto Sofarma can book a ticket to the Men’s EHF Cup Quarter-final before the last match day

Porto one point from clinching quarter-final berth

A draw in Spain against Liberbank Cuenca on Sunday afternoon will send FC Porto Sofarma to the quarter-finals of the Men’s EHF Cup.

There will only be three quarter-finals, as THW Kiel have already won Group D and thereby booked direct access to the AKQUINET EHF Cup Finals, which the north German club are hosting.

The fact that there will only be three quarter-final ties means that the poorest second-placed side in the four groups will miss the quarter-finals, which puts the other three teams in Group C under heavy pressure.

Ahead of this weekend’s clashes, HC Dobrogea Sud Constanta are second with four points, while Cuenca and TTH Holstebro are both on two. As six points may not be enough to reach the quarter-finals from second place, even wins for Cuenca and Holstebro may turn out to be insufficient.

GROUP C
HC Dobrogea Sud Constanta (ROU) vs TTH Holstebro (DEN)
Saturday 23 March, 18:00 local time, live on ehftv.com

• Currently on four points, Constanta will boost their quarter-final chances considerably with a win, while a victory may not even be enough for Holstebro, who are on two points

• After trailing for great parts of the second half, Holstebro won the first meeting 29:25 thanks to right wing Kasper Kildelund scoring the last four goals of the match

• Holstebro are missing right back Peter Balling and line player Vignir Svavarsson due to injury

• Despite missing those two key players, Holstebro defended their fourth place in the Danish league on Wednesday by winning 30:28 at home against Aarhus. Constanta are still number one in the Romanian league

Liberbank Cuenca (ESP) vs FC Porto Sofarma (POR)
Sunday 24 March, 12:00 local time, live on ehftv.com

• Porto need a draw to be completely sure to reach the quarter-final

• As they tally two points, only a victory will do for Cuenca – and even that may turn out to not be enough to reach the quarter-final

• Porto won the first meeting between the two teams 37:26

TEXT: Peter Bruun / cg