24.03.2021, 11:00
Home teams in driving seat; AEK to play Neva twice

QUARTER-FINAL PREVIEW: Three home teams look to defend first-leg advantage, while AEK host Neva in double-header

The quarter-finals of the EHF European Cup Men conclude this weekend.

Three return-leg matches are scheduled for Saturday but before that, AEK Athens HC and HC Neva SPb will play a double-header on Thursday and Friday in Athens.

• in the Last 16, AEK eliminated CSM Bucuresti after a strong home comeback in the second leg
• Neva faced no big problems in previous rounds, beating ZRHK Tenax Dobele (LAT) and RK Gracanica (BIH)
• in three other quarter-final ties, home sides are strong favourites now, as they all claimed five-goal wins away from home last week
• Ystads IF defeated Polva Serviti 33:28, RK Gorenje Velenje beat HC Robe Zubri 31:26 and Sabbianco Anorthosis Famagusta won at CS Minaur Baia Mare 27:22
• eight teams in the quarter-finals represent eight different nations
• all five matches will be streamed live on EHFTV

Velenje out to finish the job

RK Gorenje Velenje, who competed in the EHF Champions League as recently as in the 2017/18 season, are seen as one of the favourites to win the European Cup this season.

So far, the Slovenian side have won all seven games in the campaign. After eliminating Ego Handball Siena (ITA), Cocks (FIN) and RK Borac m:tel (BIH) in the previous rounds, they beat HC Robe Zubri (CZE) in the first-leg quarter-final, 31:26, and now have a good chance to reach the semi-final before the home game on Saturday.

TEXT: EHF / Sergey Nikolaev