The teams will face each other in a two-leg final and the first game will be staged on Sunday in Elche.
FINAL, FIRST LEG
ATTICGO Bm Elche (ESP) vs MSK IUVENTA Michalovce (SVK)
Sunday 19 May, 12:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- neither Michalovce nor Elche have played in the final of a European club competition before, but both teams were the losing semi-finalists of the European Cup last season
- Elche eliminated HC Byala (BUL), O.F.N.Ionias (GRE), Madeira Andebol SAD (POR), HC Gjorche Petrov-WHC Skopje (MKD) and fellow Spanish team Rocasa Gran Canaria on their way to the current final
- Elche won nine of their 10 matches in the competition, only losing the first leg at Madeira in Last 16, 27:26
- Michalovce boasted a nine-game winning run in the tournament before sharing spoils with Portugal’s Sports Lisboa e Benfica (30:30) in the second leg of the semi-final
- starting from round 2, the Slovakian side proved too strong for ZRK Borac (BIH), KHF Istogu (KOS), ZRK Mlinotest Ajdovscina (SLO), Cabooter HandbaL Venlo (NED) and Benfica
- Elche’s Danila So Delgado is the top scorer of the current tournament with 56 goals, while Marija Radovic is Michalovce’s leading scorer with 46 goals
Spanish teams dominant in the EHF European Cup
Since the inauguration of the EHF European Cup Women in 2020/21, Spanish teams have played in the final every season, with Costa del Sol Malaga winning the title in 2021 and Rocasa Gran Canaria lifting the trophy in 2022. And in 2023, Club Balonmano Atletico Guardes were also close to success, but lost to Konyaalti BSK.
In turn, a women’s team from Slovakia reached the final of any European club competition for the first time since 1998, when Banska Bystrica lost against Hungary’s Dunaujvaros in the EHF Cup.
Photo © Sport Lisboa e Benfica
