Twelve of the 16 sides who are set to compete in the ABN AMRO EHL FINAL8 will be in action this weekend across Europe as club hockey closes in on full throttle.
The Spanish league returns from its winter break with Atlètic Terrassa facing a big challenge as they make the trip to Real Club de Polo, Xero Gasol’s team are currently in third place in the MGS Hockey League on 23 points, two points behind Polo with both sides pursuing Club de Campo.
The two clubs will also meet in two weeks time in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey and has the potential to be a shoot-out between Polo’s Marc Miralles – the league’s current top scorer – and the Cunill brothers Pau and Pep.
Atlètic will need to keep an eye on Marc Reyné who is Spain’s FIH Pro League’s top scorer.
On the women’s side, Madrid clubs Sanse Complutense and Club de Campo are both in action. Sanse’s much changed, youthful team has had a tricky campaign, sitting in eighth place, and so they will hope they can start the new year on the winning trail when they host Polo.
Campo are in second place, four points off leaders UD Taburiente, and they will hope for no slip-ups when they go to struggling Sardinero HC.
In Belgium, Gantoise’s women’s match against Orée on Sunday at 12.30pm (CET) will be covered by the BX1 channel. The same two clubs will meet in the men’s competition at 3pm (CET) while Racing Club de Bruxelles go to Herakles.
In the Netherlands, there are home comforts in the Hoofdklasse with SCHC meeting Tilburg on Saturday evening (6.30pm) as they look to retain their place at the head of the table. This game will be shown on Viaplay live.
The two main chasers meet at Oosterplas where Den Bosch are up against AH&BC Amsterdam at 12.45pm on Sunday in the undoubted topper of the weekend.
In the men’s competition, Pinoké will look to get their first win of 2023 when they welcome Rotterdam while Bloemendaal are up against Klein Zwitserland.
England’s Vitality Hockey League is now on to its third phase of the season. In Pool A, Surbiton, who won Phase 2, will host the University of Birmingham at Sugden Road. Surbiton will aim to keep their perfect home record intact, while Birmingham will look to cause an upset and start their finals with a win.
Finally, in Ireland, Pembroke face Dublin rivals Monkstown in a game that will be live streamed on the Hockey Ireland Youtube channel.