In group F, IFK Kristianstad clinched the second place in the next stage after HC Vardar 1961 secured the first berth in the previous round. It was a one-goal win in a thriller against MRK Sesvete Triglav osiguranje that took Kristianstad through from what has been one of the tightest groups in the competition.
The second spot from group C, after SAH - Aarhus, and both berths from group H were also decided in the final round. In group C, Fraikin BM. Granollers beat CS Minaur Baia Mare to clinch the group C ticket. In group H, Kadetten Schaffhausen took a decisive win over RK Partizan AdmiralBet and RK Nexe defeated Abanca Ademar Leon with a last-gasp goal from Ognjen Cenic. With that, Kadetten and Nexe booked the main round.
SG Flensburg-Handewitt, IRUDEK Bidasoa Irun, THW Kiel, Montpellier Handball, MT Melsungen, Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Recken - TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, and Fredericia Håndboldklub were the other teams already qualified for the main round ahead of the last group matches.
HIGHLIGHT MATCHES
GROUP D
The two points were all but locked up at half-time, with 13 goals in Porto’s advantage, but the Portuguese side did not stop there and finished with their biggest win of the phase. The goal onslaught started three minutes in, when Kriens-Luzern’s attacking troubles started. Six Porto goals in a row, several of them fast breaks, turned a 1:0 game for the home side into a 6:1 lead for the visitors — and the same continued.
The Swiss side finished the first half with 11 turnovers and an attacking efficiency that was incomparable with their visitors, being far below, while Porto goalkeeper Diogo Rêma saved at 41 per cent. Porto hit a double-digit advantage six minutes before half-time, 18:8. On the restart, any hope of what would have had to be a comeback for the ages was dashed. With the goalkeeper saves now coming from Sebastian Abrahamsson at a rate of over 46 per cent, Porto had no trouble stretching their commanding advantage to the buzzer.
