EHF European Cup Women 2024

The first leg saw a narrow win for Elche, 22:20. In the second leg, Elche recorded a more convincing result of 28:22.

It was the first international title in Elche’s history, and Spain’s third in the four editions of the EHF European Cup since its launch in 2020/21. Adding the two titles won by Rocasa Gran Canaria before that, when the third-tier competition was named the Challenge Cup, Spanish clubs have now won five trophies since 2015/16.

Aside from some trouble in the first half of the opening leg, Elche led throughout the two final matches, including a half-time advantage of 15:10 in the second leg. Their left back Danila So Delgado finished as the season’s top scorer with 64 goals, adding eight to her tally in the final games.

While Elche earned a clear win in their semi-final tie against Gran Canaria, the two legs unfolded like the final — a two-goal win in the opening fixture, 26:24, then a decisive second-leg victory of 24:18 for an aggregate result of 50:42. Michalovce had a narrower semi-final win against their opponents Sport Lisboa e Benfica, at 60:58 on aggregate, following a 30:28 victory in the first leg and a 30:30 draw in the second.

In the quarter-finals, Elche, Michalovce and Sport Lisboa eliminated Macedonian team HC Gjorche Petrov-WHC Skopje, Dutch side Cabooter HandbaL Venlo and Turkish club Armada Praxis Yalikavaspor, respectively, with all three taking aggregate wins of at least 10 goals. Gran Canaria faced a challenge from another Spanish club, KH-7 BM. Granollers. The aggregate result was 52:50, but the two legs were very different, with Granollers winning the first 30:20 then Gran Canaria recording a second-leg victory of 32:20.

It was in the Last 16 that ultimate champions Elche suffered their only defeat of the season — a one-goal loss in the first leg against Portuguese side Madeira Andebol SAD. They recovered to take a 33:22 win in the second for an aggregate result of 59:49. In their Last 16 tie, Michalovce defeated Slovenian team ZRK Mlinotest Ajdovscina. Overall, the clubs in the Last 16 represented 11 countries, with teams from Slovenia, Czechia and Croatia alongside the nations that saw further progression.

In rounds 2 and 3, Elche knocked out Bulgarian team HC Byala and Greek side O.F.N. Ionias, respectively. Michalovce beat ZRK Borac from Bosnia and Herzegovina in round 2 then Kosovan team KHF Istogu in round 3.