22.04.2021, 11:00
Velenje, Ystad aim for comebacks at home

SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW: Both AEK and Anorthosis take a two-goal lead into the decisive leg of the European Cup Men semi-final

Both semi-final ties of the EHF European Cup Men are still wide open following last week’s first leg.

While AEK Athens HC and Sabbianco Anorthosis Famagusta enjoyed two-goal home wins last weekend, their opponents RK Gorenje Velenje and Ystads IF hope to turn things around at home on Saturday.

Both matches will be streamed live on EHFTV: Velenje vs AEK at 14:00 CEST and Ystad vs Anorthosis at 15:00 CEST.

• in the first leg, Ignacio Moya’s seven goals helped AEK beat Velenje in Athens, 31:29
• in Nicosia, home side Anorthosis also celebrated a narrow victory against Ystad, 26:24
• the first leg marked the first defeats this season for both Velenje and Ystad, who had previously claimed eight and six wins, respectively
• Velenje and AEK have reached a European final before, Ystad and Anothosis are appearing in the clubs’ first ever semi-final
• the two-leg final will be contested on 15 and 22 May

Velenje seek European glory

Velenje played in the EHF Cup final in 2008/09 and last participated in the EHF Champions League in 2017/18. Now the Slovenian team hope to earn their maiden European trophy.

Boasting a much a much younger squad than AEK, Velenje are eager to overcome the two-goal deficit on their home court on Saturday. Their goalkeeping duo Aljaz Panjtar and Emir Taletovic combined for 16 saves in Athens, and if they do as well again, it should help Velenje in their attempt to reach the club’s second European final.

TEXT: EHF / Sergey Nikolaev