All to play for as EHF European Cup Men semi-finals conclude

At the end of the weekend we will know the last two teams standing in the EHF European Cup Men 2024/25. On Saturday, HC Izvidac meet AEK Athens HC in Bosnia and Herzegovina at 20:00 CEST, while Runar Sandefjord face HC Alkaloid in Norway on Sunday at 17:00 CEST for the second leg of the semi-finals.

• three of the four semi-finalists had one week to recover from their first leg clashes last weekend; only HC Alkaloid had a match scheduled in the domestic league, as they beat RK Butel by 33:30 on Tuesday, only two days after their first leg in the EHF European Cup
• the Macedonian side have a five-goal advantage against Runar Sandefjord, after winning the goal-fest in the first leg by 42:37
• in the previous round, Runar suffered a six-goal defeat in the first leg against Olympiacos SFP, which they turned around with a 10-goal win at home in the reverse fixture
• AEK Athens HC travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina with a seemingly comfortable advantage of nine goals; in the previous three rounds, HC Izvidac never won the first leg, but always made it to the next round; however, the biggest disadvantage after a first leg were three goals in the quarter-finals against Haukar
• HC Izvidac’s goal-machine Diano Neris Cesko scored 75 goals so far in the competition, with an average of roughly eight goals per match before the first semi-final leg; he managed only four goals from 11 shots against AEK, his lowest amount of goals this season

Return to the final for the Greek powerhouse?

AEK Athens HC put themselves in a great situation heading into the second leg of the semi-finals with a nine-goal advantage. The objective is clear: return to the final, which they last reached – and won – in 2021. After last season’s finals run by eternal rivals Olympiacos SFP, the team from Greece’s capital wants to go one step further. 

And there is more on the table. AEK have already won the first title a couple of weeks ago, dominating the final weekend of the domestic cup. They also finished in first place in the domestic league, going into the play-offs with a crucial home court advantage in both the semi-finals and the finals, potentially against Olympiacos SFP, who finished in second place. One down, two to go. Will AEK make the next step to the treble this weekend?

Photos © Filip Viranovski (main), Eurokinissi (in-text)