Hard-fought battles decide line-up for EHF European Cup Women Last 16

• Madeira Andebol SAD turned their one-goal deficit from the first leg against SSV Brixen Südtirol (25:26) into a six-goal advantage to progress to the next round; the Portuguese side held their Italian opponents at only 40 per cent shooting and produced 21 turnovers in their 26:19 win at home; goalkeeper Mariana Ferreira Silva stood out with 21 saves at 58 per cent efficiency

• LK Zug and YALIKAVAKSPOR advance with comfortable wins in their double-headers; Zug beat Neistin in the Faroe Islands, 74:45 on aggregate (29:22 and 45:23), with Ewa Pietrasik scoring 18 goals in the tie; YALIKAVAKSPOR beat HC Byala 69:39 on aggregate at home (38:21 and 31:18), as Ceylan Aydemir netted 14 times in total

• HC Galychanka and Handball Erice SSD ARL also advanced with dominant displays in double-headers; Galychanka beat H71 69:46 on aggregate (37:22 and 32:24), with goalkeeper Mariia Poliak collecting 22 saves; Italian side Handball Erice SSD ARL beat CASCADA – HC Garliava SC 75:29 on aggregate at home (40:13 and 35:16), as Alexandra do Nascimento Martinez was the top scorer with 14 goals overall

• WHC Cair Skopje and Kur met for a double-header in Azerbaijan; the Macedonian side came out victorious, beating the hosts 59:45 on aggregate; Skopje won a close first leg by three goals (27:24), but were much more efficient in the reverse fixture, pulling away right before half-time to take a controlled 32:21 win

• former two-time finalists MSK IUVENTA Michalovce comfortably beat Bnot-Herzliya H.C 72:48 on aggregate (37:21 and 35:27); the home side enjoyed a stunning goalkeeping performance from Iryna Yablonska, who saved 16 shots at 55 per cent efficiency in Saturday’s win; in the reverse fixture on Sunday, Barbora Sabovová stood out with seven goals, making her the top scorer with 11 goals across both matches

• HC DAC Dunajská Streda confirmed their decisive first-leg performance against JuRo Unirek VZV (35:26) by also winning the reverse fixture at home; Streda’s back-court trio of Júlia Ágnes Farkas, Polett Rédecsi and Beatrix Élö combined for 25 goals to steer their side to a 42:32 victory

Hanna Storozhuk shines in thrilling double-header in the Netherlands

Maccabi Haarazim Ramat Gan and Westfriesland SEW met in the Netherlands for their double-header and delivered excitement until the very last minute. The visitors won an intense first leg on Saturday, 28:26, in a match with an early red card against the Dutch side and a four-goal lead going into crunch time. Kehinde Titilope Babatunde saved 15 shots at 36 per cent efficiency, while Hanna Storozhuk added 13 goals for Maccabi.

In the reverse fixture on Sunday, Westfriesland were pushed by the performances of Ashley Jacobs and Indy van Zijl, who combined for 17 goals. Hanna Storozhuk countered once more with 11 goals for Maccabi. Going into the last quarter of the match, the Dutch hosts had built a four-goal gap (26:22), but the visitors reduced it to one in crunch time. Maccabi turned the ball over with 10 seconds to go, but Westfriesland could not send the duel into a penalty shoot-out and lost 57:58 on aggregate, despite winning the second leg 31:30.

Photos © Handball Erice SSD ARL/Joe Pappalardo (main), Neistin (in-text)