EHF Champions League

EHF Champions League
Current season, competition or edition:; 2021–22 EHF Champions League
Countries	EHF members
Confederation	EHF (Europe)
Founded	1956 (1993 in its new format)
Number of teams	16 (Group phase)
Level on pyramid	Level 1
Current champions	FC Barcelona; (10th title)
Most championships	FC Barcelona; (10 titles)
Website	ehfcl.eurohandball.com

The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's competition is the EHF Champions League Men.

The EHF coefficient rank decides which teams have access and in which stage they enter.

Eligibility and qualifying[]

Each year, the EHF publishes a ranking list of its member federations. The first 9 nations are automatically permitted to participate in the tournament with their national champion.^[1] The national federation ranked one in the EHF European League currently Germany,^[2] is awarded a second qualification berth for the domestic runner-up.^[3] The remaining 6 positions are designated through wildcards, with each national federation without 2 teams already qualified able to submit a single applicant.^[4] The wildcards are judged on five criteria: venue, TV, spectators, results in past EHF competitions and product management and digital.^[5]

Tournament format[]

Each year, the EHF publishes a ranking list of its member federations. The first nine nations are allowed to participate in the tournament with their national champion. In addition, the tenth spot is reserved for the best ranked national federation of the EHF European League Men. The national federations are allowed to request upgrades for their teams eligible to play in the EHF European League and based on the criteria list the EHF Executive Committee approves six upgrades.

The EHF Champions League is divided into four stages. All participating teams enter the competition in the group phase.

The current playing system has been introduced before the 2020/21 season.

Group phase[]

Since the 2020/21 season, the format sees two groups formed, with eight teams each in Group A and B. All the teams in each group play each other twice, in home and away matches (14 rounds in total). The first two teams in Groups A and B advance directly to the quarter-finals, while teams from positions three to six in each of these groups proceed to the play off. The season is over for the last two teams in each group after the completion of the group phase.

Play off[]

The pairings for the play off are decided by the placement of the teams at the end of the group phase (A6 vs B3, B6 vs A3, A5 vs B4 and B5 vs A4). Each pairing is decided via a home and away format, with the aggregate winners over the two legs advancing to the quarter-finals. The higher ranked teams in the group phase have the home right advantage in the second leg.

Quarter-finals

The pairings for the quarter-finals are also decided by the placement in the group phase (Winner of A5/B4 vs A1, Winner B5/A4 vs B1, Winner A6/B3 vs A2, Winner B6/A3 vs B2). The ties are decided through a home and away format, with the four winners over the two legs played in each pairing advancing to the EHF FINAL4. The higher ranked teams in the group phase have the home right advantage in the second leg.

EHF FINAL4

The official name for the men's EHF FINAL4 is the EHF FINAL4 Men. The participating EHF FINAL4 teams are paired for the semi-finals through a draw and play the last two matches of the season over a single weekend at one venue. The two semi-finals are played on a Saturday, with the third-place game and final on a Sunday.

Brand Sound[]

Much like the visual brand identity, the brand sound identity will acoustically connect the various leagues and tournaments which fit under the EHF umbrella. For the EHF Brand Sound, the authors got to the core of "The Sound of Handball" and created a handball sound DNA as the recurring element across all audio-visual applications. The jump shot was identified as the most iconic and defining handball movement.

Through video analysis and motion tracking, the jump shot was extracted into a rhythmic design pattern. There are numerous application opportunities of the brand sound, which will be developed over time. First implementations of the new EHF Brand Sound will be heard in the EHF Champions League. The premium character of this tournament was translated into a modern sound design through a new EHF Champions League sound logo and anthem. Both will come to life in the arena and will consistently complement all audio-visual communications.

The previous anthem for the EHF Champions League is "Hymn of the Champions", used until the end of the 2019/20 season and exclusively written by Austrian film composer Roman Kariolou in 2007. The recording played during the entry ceremony before every game was performed by the , conducted by David Hernando.^[6]

Winners[]

European Champions Cup (organised by IHF)

Year	Champion	Score	Second place	Third place
Year	Final			Semi-final losers
1956–57 Details	Dukla Prague	21–13	Örebro SK
1958–59 Details	Redbergslids IK	18–13	Frisch Auf Göppingen	Helsingør IF	Dinamo București
1959–60 Details	Frisch Auf Göppingen	18–13	Aarhus GF	Dinamo București
1961–62 Details	Frisch Auf Göppingen	13–11	Partizan Bjelovar	Dukla Prague	IK Skovbakken
1962–63 Details	Dukla Prague	15–13	Dinamo București	Frisch Auf Göppingen	Ajax København
1964–65 Details	Dinamo București	13–11	Medveščak Zagreb	Grasshopper	Ajax København
1965–66 Details	SC DHfK Leipzig	16–14		Dukla Prague	Aarhus GF
1966–67 Details	VfL Gummersbach	17–13	Dukla Prague		Dinamo București
1967–68 Details	Steaua București	13–11	Dukla Prague	Dynamo Berlin	Partizan Bjelovar
1969–70 Details	VfL Gummersbach	14–11	Dynamo Berlin	Steaua București	RK Crvenka
1970–71 Details	VfL Gummersbach	17–16	Steaua București	Sporting CP	Partizan Bjelovar
1971–72 Details	Partizan Bjelovar	19–14	VfL Gummersbach		Tatran Prešov
1972–73 Details	MAI Moskva	26–23	Partizan Bjelovar	SC Leipzig	SoIK Hellas
1973–74 Details	VfL Gummersbach	19–17	MAI Moskva	Oppsal IF Oslo
1974–75 Details		19–17	Borac Banja Luka	VfL Gummersbach	Steaua București
1975–76 Details	Borac Banja Luka	17–15	Fredericia KFUM	VfL Gummersbach
1976–77 Details	Steaua București	21–20	CSKA Moscow	Fredericia KFUM	VfL Gummersbach
1977–78 Details	Magdeburg	28–22	Śląsk Wrocław		Calpisa
1978–79 Details	TV Großwallstadt	30–28 (14-10 / 18-16)	Empor Rostock		Dinamo București
1979–80 Details	TV Großwallstadt	21–12	Valur	Dukla Prague	Atlético de Madrid
1980–81 Details	Magdeburg	52–43 (25-23 / 29-18)	Slovan Ljubljana	LUGI HF	CSKA Moscow
1981–82 Details		49–34 (25-16 / 18-24)	TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen	Helsingør IF	TV Großwallstadt
1982–83 Details	VfL Gummersbach	32–29 (15-19 / 13-14)	CSKA Moscow	Barcelona	Metaloplastika
1983–84 Details	Dukla Prague	38–38 (21-17 / 21-17)	Metaloplastika	VfL Gummersbach
1984–85 Details	Metaloplastika	49–32 (19-12 / 20-30)	Atlético de Madrid	FH	Dukla Prague
1985–86 Details	Metaloplastika	54–52 (29-24 / 30-23)	Wybrzeże Gdańsk	Steaua București	Atlético de Madrid
1986–87 Details	SKA Minsk	62–49 (32-24 / 25-30)	Wybrzeże Gdańsk	TUSEM Essen	Metaloplastika
1987–88 Details	CSKA Moscow	36–36 (18-15 / 21-18)	TUSEM Essen	Metaloplastika	Elgorriaga Bidasoa
1988–89 Details	SKA Minsk	61–53 (30-24 / 37-23)	Steaua București	SC Magdeburg	HK Drott
1989–90 Details	SKA Minsk	53–50 (26-21 / 29-27)	Barcelona	TUSEM Essen	US Créteil Handball
1990–91 Details	Barcelona	41–40 (23-21 / 20-17)	Proleter Zrenjanin		Dinamo Astrakhan
1991–92 Details	Zagreb	50–38 (22-20 / 18-28)	TEKA Santander	Kolding IF	Barcelona
1992–93 Details	Zagreb	40–39 (22-17 / 22-18)	SG Wallau-Massenheim		Barcelona

EHF Champions League

Year	Champion	Score	Second place	Third place
Year	Final			Semi-final losers
1993–94 Details	TEKA Santander	45–43 (22-22 / 23-21)	ABC Braga	UHK West Wien	USAM Nîmes
1994–95 Details	Elgorriaga Bidasoa	56–47 (30-20 / 27-26)	Zagreb	THW Kiel	Cantabria Santander
1995–96 Details	Barcelona	46–38 (23-15 / 23-23)	Elgorriaga Bidasoa	Pfadi Winterthur	THW Kiel
1996–97 Details	Barcelona	61–45 (31-22 / 23-30)	Zagreb	Celje	THW Kiel
1997–98 Details	Barcelona	56–40 (28-18 / 22-28)	Zagreb	TBV Lemgo	Celje
1998–99 Details	Barcelona	51–40 (22-22 / 29-18)	Zagreb	Celje	Portland San Antonio
1999–00 Details	Barcelona	54–52 (28-25 / 29-24)	THW Kiel	Celje	Zagreb
2000–01 Details	Portland San Antonio	52–49 (30-24 / 25-22)	Barcelona	Celje	THW Kiel
2001–02 Details	Magdeburg	51–48 (23-21 / 30-25)	Veszprém	Kolding IF	Portland San Antonio
2002–03 Details	Montpellier	50–46 (27-19 / 31-19)	Portland San Antonio	Prule 67	Veszprém
2003–04 Details	Celje	62–58 (34-28 / 30-28)	Flensburg-Handewitt	Ciudad Real	Magdeburg
2004–05 Details	Barcelona	56–55 (28-27 / 29-27)	Ciudad Real	Celje	Montpellier
2005–06 Details	Ciudad Real	62–47 (19-25 / 37-28)	Portland San Antonio	Flensburg-Handewitt	Veszprém
2006–07 Details	THW Kiel	57–55 (28-28 / 29-27)	Flensburg-Handewitt	Portland San Antonio	Valladolid
2007–08 Details	Ciudad Real	58–54 (27-29 / 25-31)	THW Kiel	HSV Hamburg	Barcelona
2008–09 Details	Ciudad Real	67–66 (39-34 / 33-27)	THW Kiel	HSV Hamburg	Rhein-Neckar Löwen
2009–10 Details	THW Kiel	36–34	Barcelona	Ciudad Real	Chekhovskiye Medvedi
2010–11 Details	Barcelona	27–24	Ciudad Real	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	HSV Hamburg
2011–12 Details	THW Kiel	26–21	Atlético de Madrid	AG København	Füchse Berlin
2012–13 Details	HSV Hamburg	30–29	Barcelona	Vive Targi Kielce	THW Kiel
2013–14 Details	SG Flensburg-Handewitt	30–28	THW Kiel	Barcelona	Veszprém
2014–15 Details	Barcelona	28–23	Veszprém	Vive Targi Kielce	THW Kiel
2015–16 Details	Vive Tauron Kielce	39–38 (pen.)	Veszprém	Paris Saint-Germain	THW Kiel
2016–17 Details	RK Vardar	24–23	Paris Saint-Germain	Veszprém	Barcelona
2017–18 Details	Montpellier	32–26	HBC Nantes	Paris Saint-Germain	RK Vardar
2018–19 Details	RK Vardar	27–24	Telekom Veszprém	Barcelona	PGE Vive Kielce
2019–20 Details	THW Kiel	33–28	Barcelona	Paris Saint-Germain	Telekom Veszprém
2020–21 Details	Barcelona	36–23	Aalborg Håndbold	Paris Saint-Germain	HBC Nantes

Records and statistics[]

Winning clubs[]

Redbergslids IK

Leipzig

Frankfurt

Montpellier

Celje

Hamburg

Vive Kielce

MAI Moscow

Flensburg-Handewitt

Großwallstadt

Metaloplastika

Magdeburg

Ciudad Real

Dukla Prague

THW Kiel

Gummersbach

FC Barcelona

Vardar

Locations of the IHF European Champions Cup (1956–1993) and EHF Champions League winners (from 1994)

Performance in the European Cup/EHF Champions League by club
v t Club	Winners	Runners-up	Years won	Years runner-up
Barcelona	10	5	1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2021	1990, 2001, 2010, 2013, 2020
VfL Gummersbach	5	1	1967, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1983	1972
THW Kiel	4	4	2007, 2010, 2012, 2020	2000, 2008, 2009, 2014
Dukla Prague	3	2	1957, 1963, 1984	1967, 1968
Ciudad Real	3	2	2006, 2008, 2009	2005, 2011
Magdeburg	3	0	1978, 1981, 2002	—
SKA Minsk	3	0	1987, 1989, 1990	—
Zagreb	2	4	1992, 1993	1995, 1997, 1998, 1999
Steaua Bucureşti	2	2	1968, 1977	1971, 1989
Frisch Auf Göppingen	2	1	1960, 1962	1959
Metaloplastika	2	1	1985, 1986	1984
TV Großwallstadt	2	0	1979, 1980	—
Montpellier	2	0	2003, 2018	—
RK Vardar	2	0	2017, 2019	—
Bjelovar	1	2	1972	1962, 1973
CSKA Moscow	1	2	1988	1977, 1983
Portland San Antonio	1	2	2001	2003, 2006
Flensburg-Handewitt	1	2	2014	2004, 2007
Dinamo Bucureşti	1	1	1965	1963
MAI Moscow	1	1	1973	1974
Borac Banja Luka	1	1	1976	1975
	1	1	1982	1966
CB Cantabria	1	1	1994	1992
Bidasoa Irún	1	1	1995	1996
Redbergslids IK	1	0	1959	—
DHfK Leipzig	1	0	1966	—
ASK Frankfurt/Oder	1	0	1975	—
Celje	1	0	2004	—
HSV Hamburg	1	0	2013	—
Vive Kielce	1	0	2016	—
Veszprém KC	0	4	—	2002, 2015, 2016, 2019
Wybrzeże Gdańsk	0	2	—	1986, 1987
Örebro SK	0	1	—	1957
Aarhus GF	0	1	—	1960
Medveščak Zagreb	0	1	—	1965
Dynamo Berlin	0	1	—	1970
Fredericia KFUM	0	1	—	1976
Śląsk Wrocław	0	1	—	1978
Empor Rostock	0	1	—	1979
Valur	0	1	—	1980
Slovan Ljubljana	0	1	—	1981
TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen	0	1	—	1982
Atlético Madrid	0	1	—	1985
TUSEM Essen	0	1	—	1988
Proleter Zrenjanin	0	1	—	1991
Wallau-Massenheim	0	1	—	1993
ABC Braga	0	1	—	1994
Atlético de Madrid	0	1	—	2012
Paris Saint-Germain	0	1	—	2017
HBC Nantes	0	1	—	2018
Aalborg Håndbold	0	1	—	2021

All-time top scorers[]

As of the end of the 2020/21 season

Goals	Seasons	Player	ref.
1363	20	Kiril Lazarov	^[7]
1100	15	Nikola Karabatić	^[8]
978	14	Mikkel Hansen	^[9]
969	14	Momir Ilić	^[10]
957	17	Timur Dibirov	^[11]
861	14	Marko Vujin	^[12]
838	13	Siarhei Rutenka	^[13]
806	17	László Nagy	^[14]
729	18	Zlatko Horvat	^[15]
717	17	Víctor Tomás	^[16]
715	10	Uwe Gensheimer	^[17]
697	14	Ivan Čupić	^[18]
694	17	Jonas Källman	^[19]
683	15	Vid Kavtičnik	^[20]
676	14	Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson	^[21]
633	9	Filip Jícha	^[22]
627	19	Dragan Gajić	^[23]
626	14	Domagoj Duvnjak	^[24]

Sponsorship[]

Select Sport
Hummel International^[25]

References[]

External links[]

Official website

[1] ttps://www.eurohandball.com/en/news/en/ehf-releases-place-distribution-for-2021-22-european-club-competitions/

[2] ttps://ehfcl.eurohandball.com/news/en/22-clubs-vying-for-a-place-in-the-new-season/

[3] ttps://ehfel.eurohandball.com/media/yftjtgfe/5_ehf-champions-league-men-2021_22-regulations.pdf

[4] ttps://ehfel.eurohandball.com/media/yftjtgfe/5_ehf-champions-league-men-2021_22-regulations.pdf

[5] ttps://ehfel.eurohandball.com/media/yftjtgfe/5_ehf-champions-league-men-2021_22-regulations.pdf

[6] urohandball.com Hymn of the Champions^{[permanent dead link]}

[7] Kiril Lazarov

[8] Nikola Karabatić

[9] Mikkel Hansen

[10] Momir Ilić

[11] Timur Dibirov

[12] Marko Vujin

[13] Siarhei Rutenka

[14] László Nagy

[15] Zlatko Horvat

[16] Víctor Tomás

[17] Uwe Gensheimer

[18] Ivan Čupić

[19] Jonas Källman

[20] Vid Kavtičnik

[21] Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson

[22] Filip Jícha

[23] Dragan Gajić

[24] Domagoj Duvnjak

[25] "EHF and EHF Marketing strike four-year deal with hummel". www.eurohandball.com. Retrieved 3 July 2020.

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show v t European Cup and EHF Champions League
European Cup era (1956–1993)	1956–57 1958–59 1959–60 1961–62 1962–63 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93
Champions League era (1993–present)	1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Records and statistics Top scorers Winning players