The action starts on Friday, when Black Devils Meran meet former EHF Challenge Cup winners Diomidis Argous and HB Dudelange play against Raimond Sassari in their first leg encounters. The remaining first leg match will be played between Spor Toto SK and RK Porec on Saturday.
- after reaching the Last 16 in the 2023/24 season, RK Sloboda have to overcome a one-goal defeat against KH Kastrioti, playing their return leg at home
- Drammen HK and CSM Bucuresti secured the most comfortable advantages last weekend, beating their opponents Pallamano Conversano (43:31) and Viljandi HC (35:24) by double-digits, and they will also enjoy home court advantage in the return leg
- Raimond Sassari (against HB Dudelange), Diomidis Argous (against Black Devils Meran) and RK Porec (against Spor Toto SK) have the advantage of playing both legs on home soil this weekend
- Spor Toto SK have an interesting streak going — in their last three participations, the Turkish side always progressed one round further than in the previous season; extending this streak would culminate in a run to the Last 16 this season
- GRK Tikves 2014 lost the first leg 31:27 against Bianco Monte Drama 1986, but they could rely on their goalkeepers Igor Arsic and Marjan Velkov, who combined for 16 saves; the North Macedonian side hopes for a similar performance from their duo between the posts to overcome the deficit in their return leg at home
- Granitas-Karys want to avoid a first-round exit in consecutive years against RK Jeruzalem Ormoz (32:26); last season’s champions Valur brought their European journey to an early end in the previous year
Prantner dynasty in Meran
The Black Devils Meran are back in the EHF European Cup round 1 after narrowly missing out on round 2 of the competition last season (60:58 on aggregate). The head coach of the Italian squad is Jürgen Prantner. As a player, Prantner reached the quarter-finals of the EHF Cup with the South Tyrol-based club in 1995/96. His sons Max and Leo followed suit, also playing for Meran to start their careers. Max left the club for the Swiss side Pfadi Winterthur, while Leo has been playing in Germany for HBW Balingen-Weilstetten since 2023, after moving to Spain in 2021. Last year’s participation was the team’s first appearance in a European club competition since their 2005/06 season runs in the EHF Champions League and the Cup Winners’ Cup.
