In group A, the top match will see reigning champions Benfica and group leader Göppingen try to add a second win, while Montpellier will also be on the hunt for a second straight victory, at home against Presov.
Group B, which has three of the top five attacks in the first round, will see two winning sides, Flensburg and PAUC, lock horns, while FTC and Ystads IF clash with the first win in mind.
In group C, Sporting and Nexe will try to snatch wins again, while the match between Skjern and Alpla Hard might bring one side first EHF European League Men victory.
Top match of group D is the duel of last season’s Last 16 participants Füchse Berlin and Bidasoa Irun, who both won their openers. Skanderborg-Aarhus hope to continue on the winners’ way at HC Motor while in Aguas Santas the hosts and Eurofarm Pelister aim for their first points after their opening defeats.
GROUP A
Fejer B.A.L. Veszprém (HUN) vs Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI)
Tuesday 1 November, 17:00 CET, live on EHFTV
- both teams lost their first group phase game last week: Veszprém in Göppingen, Kadetten against Montpellier
- Kadetten have not won an away game in the European League since December 2021, when they won in Athens
- European debutants Veszprém won their only previous home game in an international competition when they beat Chambéry in qualification
- Veszprém and Schaffhausen never played against each in a European competition before
- last weekend, Veszprém clearly lost the city derby against the CL team Veszprém (48:27) while Schaffhausen defeated St Gallen in the Swiss league (38:33)
SL Benfica (POR) vs Frisch Auf Göppingen (GER)
Tuesday 1 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- both teams are top of the group after round 1, as Benfica took the points in Presov (29:25) and Göppingen defeated Veszprém (46:30)
- with 46 goals scored, Göppingen delivered the best offensive performance of round 1 in the European League
- last season, Benfica played five times against a German side in the European League and won four of these confrontations, only drawing with Rhein-Neckar Löwen in the qualifying round
- Benfica and Göppingen have not met before
- last weekend, Göppingen were defeated in the Bundesliga by Stuttgart (25:24), while Benfica remained undefeated in the Portuguese league thanks to their win in Braga (36:23)
Montpellier HC (FRA) vs Tatran Presov (SVK)
Tuesday 1 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- while Montpellier came back victorious from their trip to Schaffhausen, Presov suffered a defeat at home against Benfica
- over the last 12 years, Montpellier and Presov crossed paths four times, and the French side won all confrontations
- Presov have lost their last six confrontations against French sides in European competitions. Their last win dates back to 2014, when they defeated Nantes in the EHF Cup (30:29)
- both teams came out victorious this weekend, as Montpellier defeated Nimes in the French derby (30:22) and Presov took the points against Bratislava
GROUP B
SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs PAUC Handball (FRA)
Tuesday 1 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- both sides have won their games in the first round, with Flensburg taking a 35:30 win against TM Benidorm on their home court, while PAUC beat Ystads IF, 33:29
- only four of the 24 teams in the group phase scored more than Flensburg’s 35 goals in the first round, with two of them – Valur and FTC – being in this group
- Flensburg will miss centre back Jim Gottfridsson, the MVP of the EHF EURO 2022, who is rehabbing a muscular injury
- PAUC Handball are on a three-game winning streak in all competitions, with two wins in the French league and the previous one in the EHF European League
- the French side has won only two of the games they played in the competition so far, tying their number of wins from the past season, with a meagre 18% winning efficiency
- PAUC coach Thierry Anti said: "We will have to play a very good match to bring something back from Germany, because Flensburg is a very good team and the best in our group"
FTC (HUN) vs Ystads IF HF (SWE)
Tuesday 1 November, 18:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- both teams have lost in the first match of the group phase, with FTC conceding a 39:43 loss against Valur, while Ystad were defeated by PAUC Handball, 29:33, on their home court
- in their debut in the group phase of the EHF European League Men, FTC conceded 43 goals, taking their average number of conceded goals in the competition this season to 31.2 goals per match
- centre back Mate Lekai was FTC’s top scorer in the first match, with nine goals, with his experience being one of the Hungarian side’s key advantages
- FTC have lost a single game on their home court in European competitions, 34:29 against RK Cimos Koper, in the Cup Winners’ Cup 2009/10
- after a slow start in their domestic league, Ystad bounced back admirably, running a three-game winning streak that helped them climb to the fifth place
- FTC left back Bence Nagy said: "During this period of the season, it is important that we have a long bench. Two of our players returned from injury in the previous league match and they took the opportunity. I think we're on the right track and we need to keep going."
TM Benidorm (ESP) vs Valur (ISL)
Tuesday 1 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- Valur have the second-best attack in the competition after the first round
- their 43:39 win against FTC was the game with the biggest number of goals scored by both teams in the history of the European League group phase
- however, only two teams – Fejer B.A.L.-Veszprém and FTC – have conceded more goals than the Icelandic side in the first round
- Benidorm are unbeaten in European competitions on their home court, beating Zürich 34:23 in this season’s qualification and Austrian side Fivers two years ago
- Benidorm are the second team in the competition in terms of average age of their players, with 27.1 years, almost one year older per player than Valur
- the Icelandic side has featured in a European group phase once before, in the EHF Champions League 2007/08, and lost all three away matches, by at least 10 goals each
- TM Benidorm left wing Ivan Nikcevic said: "Valur will be searching for a good result in their away debut in the European League, but despite the league loss last Friday, we feel confident we will be able to get our first victory in the group phase."
If the players comply with everything we have agreed and prepared for through video analysis, we will very quickly impose our way of playing and then there should be no problems. We are playing on our home field and, as always, we will have loud support from the stands, which will certainly be our big advantage.
