Flensburg in first place after clear win over Benidorm

GROUP B

FTC (HUN) vs Valur (ISL) 33:33 (14:18)

Valur and FTC combined for 82 goals when they first met in this group and another brilliant attacking game was in the cards for the second leg, but their defences worked better this time around. Both teams had their chances, but it was Valur who forged a way to the win, after taking a clear 18:14 lead at the break. While centre back Mate Lekai, FTC's most experienced player, failed to score a goal from four shots, the Hungarian side still managed to come back. They eventually sealed a point in dramatic fashion as right wing Bendeguz Bujdoso delivered the final goal with three seconds to go. FTC saved a point and are still in the mix to qualify, with one point separating them from fourth-placed Valur, who have only managed one point in the last three matches.

PAUC Handball (FRA) vs Ystads IF HF (SWE) 34:36 (18:15)

Six weeks earlier, PAUC had an excellent debut in the group, with a 33:29 win against Ystads IF HF, clinching a crucial away win. It left Ystads with a debt which was repaid in full on Tuesday evening when they mounted an excellent comeback to take their third win in a row in the group, 36:34. Down three goals at the break, 15:18, the Swedish side bounced back, relying once again on the excellent form of their top scorers, Jonathan Svensson and Kim Andersson. Svensson scored eight times, while Andersson added seven goals. The guests were unstoppable in the second half, scoring 21 times, to secure two points and clear a path to the knockout phase of the competition.

TM Benidorm (ESP) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 32:38 (17:21)

Flensburg came into the game after two consecutive losses, one against Ystads in the EHF European League Men and one against Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, but got their groove back, especially in attack, against Benidorm. The guests pulled out one of their best attacking performances of the season, one goal shy of the record set against Kwidzyn in qualification round 2. Line player Simon Hald Jensen was unstoppable, scoring seven times from seven shots, doubling his number of goals scored this season in the competition. After taking a four-goal lead at the break and in spite of a heroic game from Benidorm’s Ivan Rodriguez Martinez, who scored 12 times, Flensburg sealed their clearest win of this season, 38:32.