While Costa del Sol Malaga have one foot in the EHF European Cup Women 2021/22 final, fellow Spanish team Rocasa Gran Canaria still have it all to do in the second leg of the semi-finals this weekend.
Gran Canaria need to make up a one-goal difference after losing 20:19 to Ukrainian side HC Galychanka Lviv in the first leg last week.
The return leg is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 14:00 CEST and the match will be streamed live on EHFTV.
Gran Canaria are chasing their fourth European final in six years, after winning the former Challenge Cup in 2016 and 2019 and reaching the final in 2018.
- the low-scoring game last Saturday saw some goalkeeping heroics, as Galychanka's Viktoriia Saltaniuk boasted a 47% rate and Rocasa's Silvia Navarro stopped 42% of the shots
- the match took place in Hodonin, Czech Republic, as Lviv found a shelter there after the war broke out in Ukraine
- the Ukrainian team stayed in the same place to prepare for the second leg before flying to Canary Islands
- defending champions Malaga will travel to Serbia to face ZRK Bekament Bukovicka Banja on Saturday at 19:00 CEST
- Malaga's 36:21 win at home leaves Bukovicka Banja with a mountain to climb ahead of the return leg
- the draw for the home right in the two-leg final will take place on Thursday 7 April at 14:00 CEST at the EHF office in Vienna
Lviv hope to take historic next step
If both Spanish sides go through, the final will feature the two most recent winners of the third-tier European club competition, as Gran Canaria won the Challenge Cup in 2018/19 (the 2019/20 edition was not played to a finish) and Malaga claimed the inaugural EHF European Cup Women title in 2020/21.
In turn, Lviv are eager to defend their narrow one-goal advantage over Gran Canaria and reach their maiden European final. In the past, the Ukrainian team have reached the Challenge Cup semi-final twice, in 2014 and 2015, and now they hope to take the next step in what is already a special season for them.
