National team stalwarts face former clubs in EHF European League Men round 2

Providing a taste of the action to come, the picks of the week examined here focus on two clashes featuring national team players who made transfers over the summer facing their old clubs — one of them taking on the club they just left; the other a club formative in their early career. Both matches also feature teams that won playing away versus sides that lost on their home courts in round 1.

Picks of the week

GROUP F

TTH Holstebro (DEN) vs Sport Lisboa e Benfica (POR)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Benfica are the only non-German side and one of five teams to have won the EHF European League Men, raising the trophy in 2022; Holstebro are contesting the group phase for the first time, having played the qualification rounds twice before

• playing away, Holstebro defeated HCB Karvina 33:23 in the first round; Benfica lost 24:31 to Torrelavega at home in Portugal

• after spending most of his career in Lisbon, Portuguese international Gustavo Capdeville transferred from Benfica to Holstebro in the off-season; Capdeville had a stellar opening to the European League with TTH, saving 16 shots in their round 1 win

• over the summer, Benfica welcomed new coach Anders Hallberg, who arrived fresh from winning both the Swedish league and Cup with IFK Kristianstad in 2025/26; another Swedish arrival was national team keeper Tobias Thulin, coming from Szeged

• as with all group F matches in the opening rounds, this clash marks the first official game between the clubs

GROUP G

Dicorpebal Logroño La Rioja (ESP) vs VfL Gummersbach (GER)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

• La Rioja enter round 2 with two points following a 31:24 win over Eurofarm Pelister; Gummersbach are on the hunt for their first win after a 34:38 loss to PGE Wybrzeze Gdansk

• over the summer, Spanish right back Alex Dujshebaev joined Gummersbach after nine years with Kielce, bringing 13 years of EHF Champions League experience, including one title and one top scorer crown; Dujshebaev spent two seasons with La Rioja early in his career

• Dujshebaev was one of three national team players to join Gummersbach in the off-season, the others being his compatriot Ignacio Biosca (goalkeeper) and Swedish rising star Nikola Roganović (left back); Roganović scored nine goals in Gummersbach’s round 1 game

• La Rioja enjoyed their most successful domestic season in almost a decade in 2025/26, finishing as runners-up behind Barça, but they saw a number of departures over the summer and are integrating six new players

• the teams have never met in an official match; 2026/27 marks Gummersbach’s second season in the EHF European League group stage, after they reached the play-offs in 2024/25, while La Rioja have played this phase twice before

GROUP A

Hammarby Handboll (SWE) vs RK Nexe (CRO)

Tuesday 6 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

Saint Raphael Var Handball (FRA) vs Elverum Håndball (NOR)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

GROUP B

Maritimo de Madeira Andebol/SAD (POR) vs IRUDEK Bidasoa Irun (ESP)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

FH Hafnarfjordur (ISL) vs Limoges Handball (FRA)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

GROUP C

Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) vs HC Izvidac (BIH)

Tuesday 6 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

CSM Bucuresti (ROU) vs Chambery Savoie Mont Blanc Handball (FRA)

Tuesday 6 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

GROUP D

Bergischer HC (GER) vs IK Sävehof (SWE)

Tuesday 6 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

MRK Sesvete Triglav osiguranje (CRO) vs TATRAN Presov (SVK)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

GROUP E

Águas Santas Milaneza (POR) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

Fraikin BM. Granollers (ESP) vs ACS HC Buzau 2012 (ROU)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

GROUP F

Bathco Bm. Torrelavega (ESP) vs HCB Karvina (CZE)

Tuesday 6 October, 20:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

GROUP G

PGE Wybrzeze Gdansk (POL) vs HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)

Tuesday 6 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

GROUP H

Mors-Thy Håndbold (DEN) vs MOL Tatabanya KC (HUN)

Tuesday 6 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

RD LL Grosist Slovan (SLO) vs Valur (ISL)

Tuesday 6 October, 18:45 CEST, live on EHFTV

Photos © Philipp Ising (main), Aleksandar Kotevski, SL Benfica, Kata Székely-Marosi (in order, in-text)