Eight teams progress to Round 3

• both Slovak sides won double-headers on home court: Slovan defeated Italian side Cassa Rurale Pontinia 64:60 on aggregate, while MKS IUVENTA Michalovce enjoyed a big advantage against Bosnia’s ZRK Borac, 81:32 on aggregate
• last season's semi-finalists ATTICGO BM Elche were even more dominant against their Bulgarian opponents HC Byala, as they won 97:30 on aggregate
• in contrast, Faroese team Neistin needed a post-match shootout to eliminate Cascada HC Garliava SM from Lithuania, 50:49 on aggregate
• Türkiye's Armada Praxis Yalikavaspor lost the first leg against ADA de Sao Pedro do Sul (POR) 27:23, but took a 28:22 revenge on Sunday
• while Pontinia were eliminated, two other Italian sides went through: Jomi Salerno proved too strong for Kur (AZE), and SSD Handball Erice ARL defeated H71 (FAR)
• 14 more double-headers as well as 10 second-leg matches are scheduled for next weekend, from 29 September to 1 October  

Titleholders make big step towards progressing

Defending champions Konyaalti BSK from Turkey were seen as strong favorites in their tie against RK Hadzici, and the first-leg match in Bosnia only proved it. On Saturday, the Turkish side comfortably won 39:19, as left wing Ceylan Aydemir scored 11 goals, and goalkeeper Sevilay Imamoglu Öcal boasted a 61 per cent save rate.

So the second-leg game in Türkiye next Saturday looks like a mere formality, and hardly anything can prevent Konyaalti from reaching Round 3.