European Cup Men Round 3 set after intense weekend

• Drama in Drama sees the Greek side Bianco Monte Drama 1986 advance against HC Lovcen Cetinje. The Montenegrin side had a five-goal advantage after their first leg win last week. However, Drama used their home advantage and a flawless performance from Konstantinos Kotsionis, who netted eleven times from eleven shots. The hosts celebrate a 31:23 home win and advance by three goals on aggregate
  
  
• HB Dudelange, HB Red Boys Differdange, and HC Berchem made history for Luxembourg; for the first time, three teams from the Grand Duchy reach the third round of European club competition; technically, this was also the case in the EHF Challenge Cup 2017/18, with the mention that the competition started with Round 2
  
  
• Nikos Sarlos and David Knezevic combined for 14 goals in HSC Suhr Aarau’s 28:28 draw in the return leg against HC Metaloplastika Elixir; both teams were nearly equal for 120 minutes, with the Swiss side advancing to the next round thanks to their 30:28 away win last weekend
  
  
• MOL Tatabanya lost the first leg against Nærbø IL 30:32 in Norway last week; on Saturday, both teams met in Hungary, and Tatabanya used their home advantage to mount a comeback; the hosts pulled away before half-time, already leading by seven goals (19:12) and letting the visitor only cut this lead to six goals (33:27); Tatabanya’s goalkeepers Márton Székely and Arián Andó combined for 14 saves (34 per cent)
  
  
• RK Budvanska Rivijera and Diomidis Argous met for their double-header in Montenegro; the hosts won the first leg 30:28, the Greek side forced a penalty shootout by winning the return leg 32:30; 15 shots were needed to decide the tie, and the hosts were able to score once more, winning 8:7 on penalties and 68:67 on aggregate
  
  
• HCB Karvina turned their two-goal deficit against Dinamo Pancevo into a five-goal advantage with a 33:25 win in their return leg at home; Denis Harabis (nine goals) and Vojtech Praviska (8 goals) combined for more than half of the Czech side’s goals; Jan Uzek, Vojtech Patzel (both Karvina), and Ilija Bogdanovic (Pancevo) received a red card during the match
  
  
• H71 (against RK Konjuh Zivinice) and FH Hafnarfjordur (against Nilüfer BSK) suffered an eight-goal deficit in their first legs; both teams managed to win the return legs, H71 by six goals and Hafnarfjordur by five goals, but the comeback was not enough to reach the next round

FIVERS end drought against Krems

It ain’t over till it’s over. That was probably the motto for HC FIVERS WAT Margareten after losing the first leg of the Austrian derby against Förthof UHK Krems by four goals last weekend. 

On Saturday, FIVERS ended their losing streak of four matches in a row against Krems, dating back to September 2023, despite losing the battle between the posts by 11:14 saves. The key to their 32:27 win was their ball security. The visitors made 13 Rule Technical Fouls, while Margareten only committed six.

Krems trailed by five goals at half-time but were able to cut the deficit to one goal after 42 minutes. However, ten minutes later, FIVERS were able to extend their lead to a match-high six goals. Krems had the opportunity to force extra-time, but their last shot attempt was saved.