The German handball trio around record champion THW Kiel has been assigned feasible tasks for the group phase of the European EHF Cup on Thursday in Vienna. In Group D, the Kielers with their strong form will play Fraikin Granollers from Spain, KS Azoty-Pulawy from Poland and the Danish team from GOG Gudme.
“We are satisfied with the draw,” said Kiel’s Sports Director Viktor Szilagyi: “It is a difficult group with interesting opponents. That’s exactly what we wanted.”
The defending champion Füchse Berlin, plagued by injury bad luck, will face BM Logrono La Rioja from Spain, last year’s finalist St. Raphael from France and the Hungarian club Balatonfüredi KSE.
“We’ve caught a highly attractive group. In the EHF Cup we compete with the strongest leagues in the world,” said Füchse Managing Director Bob Hanning.
European Cup newcomer TSV Hannover-Burgdorf plays against Grundfos Tatabanya HC from Hungary, HC Eurofarm Rabotnik from Macedonia and the Croats of RK Nexe. “The draw could have gone better, but also worse. The names are probably unknown in Germany, but they are well known in the handball world,” says Hanover coach Carlos Ortega.
The group stage with the last 16 teams will take place from 9 February to 31 March 2019. The first two teams in each group make it to the quarter-finals (April 20-28), the Final Four will take place on May 18-19.