The second-tier European competition, the EHF European League Men, produced highly entertaining quarter-finals, with three German teams and one Romanian side qualifying for the EHF Finals Men, which are scheduled in Hamburg, Germany, on 25 and 26 May.

Germany have won 26 of the 42 editions of the competition, formerly known as the Men’s EHF Cup, and are on track to secure another title, with three powerhouses – reigning champions Füchse Berlin, Rhein-Neckar Löwen and SG Flensburg-Handewitt – securing their berths in the quarter-finals.

The odd one out, an outsider, but with big ambitions, is Romanian side Dinamo București, who have lost four matches so far in the competition, but found their form in the knockout phase to clinch a place in the EHF Finals Men, one of the biggest performances in history for the team coached by Xavi Pascual.

This season, the format of the competition has been overhauled, with 32 teams entering the group phase, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the next phase of the competition, the main round.

There, four groups of four teams were formed, with the winner of each group progressing directly to the quarter-finals and the second and third placed sides in each group going into the play-offs.

Eventually, only one of the main round group winners – SG Flensburg-Handewitt – made it to the EHF Finals Men, as the German side avenged their incredible loss in the quarter-finals last season, when they conceded an eight-goal home loss against Fraikin Granollers on their home court and were eliminated.

This time around, Flensburg, one of the best attacking team in the competition, who scored at least 40 goals in six matches, delivered a clear 41:30 win against IK Sävehof in the first leg of the quarter-finals, with their first home loss of the season, 28:29, in the second leg failing to impact the final result, as the German side went on to secure a 69:59 aggregate win.

The most balanced quarter-final was the one between Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Sporting CP, as the Portuguese side entered as favourites, after winning their group and, especially, after delivering two losses to reigning champions Füchse Berlin.

However, Rhein-Neckar Löwen, who had world champion Niclas Kirkeløkke and Juri Knorr in superb form, scoring 22 goals in the double-header against Sporting CP, secured a 32:29 win on their home court and became favourites before the second leg.

Teenager Francisco Costa, who scored 20 goals in the two matches, had 11 goals in the second leg, as Sporting constantly flirted with a four-goal lead, but eventually the German side were the ones securing their ticket to Hamburg, after a 60:58 aggregate win, with a 28:29 loss in Portugal.

The third German team to progress to the EHF Finals Men this season were reigning champions Füchse Berlin. Füchse, who finished second in the 2023 IHF Men’s Super Globe last November, had a 33:33 draw on their home court against Nantes, only to dominate the second leg in fashion and take a clear 37:30 win, as Danish pair Lasse Andersson and Hans Lindberg, as well as Swedish line player Max Darj combined for 25 goals.

Füchse made it to the EHF Finals Men for the third time in the past four seasons and will aim to clinch back-to-back titles, as another trophy would see them tie the three teams with the largest number of wins in the EHF European League Men – SC Magdeburg, THW Kiel and Frisch Auf Göppingen.

The odd one out will be Dinamo București, the Romanian champions, who did not make it to the EHF Champions League Men, but had an excellent season here, despite losing four matches, two against Sporting CP and Füchse Berlin each.

In the knock-out phases, Dinamo eliminated two Danish sides. First, it was Bjerringbro/Silkeborg, 64:58 on aggregate, while the second one was Skjern, with two wins, 28:27 on their home court and 38:34 in Denmark.

Xavi Pascual’s side will be the underdogs in Hamburg, with the draw for the semi-finals taking place on 3 May, while the competition proper is due to take place on 25 and 26 May in the Barclays Arena, in Hamburg.

Photo credit: CS Dinamo București