Beaten finalists rectify loss

Portuguese ABC/UMinho got their revenge against Romanian Handball club Odorhei, who defeated them in the Challenge Cup finals last season, as the last teams for the Last 16 were finalised over the weekend.

Last season, Handbal club Odorhei defeated ABC/Uminho in the finals of the Men´s Challenge Cup but there was to be no remake of that final as the Portuguese side, who were in the EHF Champions League final back in 1994, sent the Romanian club out of the tournament this weekend.

Having won 25:24 in Romania in the first match last weekend, the Braga based team made no mistake in front of 1,000 spectators in the Pavilhao Flavio Sa Leite.

After a 13:11 lead at half-time, the home team proceeded to win 25:22 and clinch their Last 16 berth.

FyllingenBergen made sure that Norway’s second largest city will be represented in the Last 16, as they turned a four-goal deficit into a three goal win on aggregate against HC Berchem from Luxembourg.

Berchem had won the first leg at home 32:28, but FyllingenBergen managed to turn the tie around at home in Framohallen.

The home team virtually made it all clear in the first half, leading 18:11 at the break, and managed to keep this seven-goal lead throughout the second period, booking a 30:23 win at the end and a ticket for the next round.

“We did our job in the first half. Except for a short period in the second half, we were in control and ran them over in our fast counter attacks,” Fyllingen coach Erlend Aam told his club’s website.

In one of the double-headers this weekend, KV Sasja HC clinched their Last 16 berth at home against Macedonian outfit HC Prolet 62. The Belgian team won 24:20 and 27:22 over the weekend.

S. L. Benfica, who reached the semi-final of the competition last season, are also still in contention following a clear win on aggregate at home against IHV Vestmannaeyjar this weekend.

On Friday Benfica won 28:26 and were even better the next day as the Icelandic team were sent home with a 34:26 defeat in the second leg.

The Last 16 draw will take place on Tuesday 1 December at 11:00 hrs at the EHF Office in Vienna, Austria. The draw can be followed via the draw ticker on eurohandball.com or the @EHF Twitter account.

POT 1 (8 Teams)
HC Vise BM (BEL)
KV Sasja HC (BEL)
Handball Esch (LUX)
FyllingenBergen (NOR)
ABC/UMinho (POR)
S.L. Benfica (POR)
St. Petersburg HC (RUS)
Wacker Thun (SUI)

POT 2 (8 Teams)
Handball Team Celik (BIH)
HC Dukla Praha (CZE)
HC Kehra (EST)
A.C. Filippos Verias (GRE)
AO Poseidon Loutrakiou (GRE)
FIQAS Aalsmeer (NED)
HC Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB)
B.B. Ankara Spor (TUR)