2024-07-17 20:11:18
In the 2024-2025 season, six Lithuanian handball clubs will compete in European handball tournaments. The men of Vilnius “Šviesos”, Klaipėda “Dragūnas”, Kaunas “Granit” and Vilnius “Amber” and the women of “Garliava” and Kaunas “Žalgiris” will compete with foreign teams.
All Lithuanian teams will participate in the third-ranked European Cup tournament. Due to the low ranking, our country cannot register teams in either the Champions League or the second-ranked Europa League tournament.
On Tuesday, at the headquarters of the European Handball Federation (EHF) in Vienna, the draws for the European tournaments were drawn, during which Lithuanian teams also learned about their opponents.
Men
Two Lithuanian teams will start the European Cup competition in the first round, the other two teams immediately entered the second round.
In the first round, the opponent of Kaunas “Granit” will be the middle-class team of the Slovenian league Ormož “Jerusalem” from Slovenia, Vilnius “Amber” will be the multiple Austrian champion Vienna “Fivers”, who lost their positions. “Amber” will play its first match at home, “Granitas” – away. The first match is scheduled for September 14-15, and the return match is scheduled for September 21-22.
In the second round, the winner of the Lithuanian Cup “Dragūnas” from Klaipėda will meet the winner of the North Macedonia Cup “Alkaloid” from Skopje, the Lithuanian champion Vilnius “Šviesa” will meet the vice-champion Rasik “Mistra” from Estonia. “Šviesa” will play the first match at home, “Dragūnas” will play away. The first match will be held on October 19-20, the second leg on October 26-27.
If they beat their opponents in the first round, “Granitas” will play in the second round against “Borac” of Bania Luka from Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Amber” against “Olympiakos” of Piraeus from Greece.
Rivals
Lithuanians are most familiar with the “Mistra” team, with whom Lithuanians regularly meet in the Baltic League. Last season, Rasiku handball players took fourth place in the regular season of the Baltic League, but lost to “Dragūns” in the quarterfinals. “Šviesa” was only seventh in the regional tournament and did not enter the playoffs.
“Mistra” made up for it in the spring in the Estonian League, where in the semi-finals they quite unexpectedly beat the “Viljandi” club. However, in the final “Mistra” lost to the favorite Pylva “Serviti” team 1:3.
Alkaloid, founded just three years ago and coached by Macedonian handball legend Kiril Lazarov, won its first title last season, winning the North Macedonia Cup. However, in the national championships, Alkaloid, significantly behind Bitola’s “Pelister” and Skopje’s “Vardar”, took only third place.
The team from the town of Ormož, which has a population of just two thousand, is a solid middling team in the Slovenian league. “Jerusalem” has never won the national championship, only once played in the final of the Slovenian Cup, but they are not far behind the leaders. Last season, Ormož handball players took fifth place in the Slovenian championship.
In the national competitions, “Fivers” stood out much more, to whose victories Vytautas Žiura contributed especially a lot in the last decade. Just at that time, “Fivers” became the champion of Austria three times. This decade, the results of the Vienna team are worse. In the regular season of the last Austrian Championship, the Fivers took only sixth place and were eliminated from the playoffs in the semifinals.
Women
In the first round of the Women’s European Cup, the Lithuanian champion “Garliava” will meet the Italian vice-champion “Erice”, the winner of the Lithuanian Cup “Žalgiris” from Kaunas will meet the Icelandic champion “Valur” from Reykjavik.
The first match is scheduled for October 5-6, and the return match is scheduled for October 12-13. Both Lithuanian teams should play their first matches at home.
Valur clearly dominated the Icelandic competition last season. Reykjavík handball players confidently became the winners of the regular season (40 points in 21 matches), and in the final series they beat Hafnarfjordur’s “Haukar” team 3:0. Valur also won the Icelandic Cup.
Handball players from the city of Erice in Sicily lost 1:2 to Brixen in the final of the Italian League last season. Erice finished second only to Salerno in the regular season. Although the favorite “Salerno” unexpectedly stumbled in the semi-finals, “Erice” did not take advantage of this and was not able to win the first Italian championship title. However, Erice’s team won the Italian Cup for the second time in a row earlier this year.
2024-07-17 20:11:18