Women's EHF Champions League

DELO EHF Champions League

Current season, competition or edition: 2021–22 Women's EHF Champions League
Sport	Handball
Founded	1961
No. of teams	16
Country	EHF members
Continent	Europe
Most recent champion(s)	Vipers Kristiansand (1st title)
Most titles	Spartak Kyiv (13 titles)
Related competitions	EHF European League
Official website	ehfcl.eurohandball.com

The Women's EHF Champions League is the competition for the top women's handball clubs in Europe, organised annually by the European Handball Federation (EHF). For sponsorship purposes, the competition officially named the DELO EHF Champions League. It is the most prestigious tournament for clubs, with the champions of Europe's top national leagues participating.

Tournament structure[]

Each year, the EHF publishes a ranking list of its member federations. The first 27 nations are allowed to participate in the tournament with their national champion. The national federations are allowed to request extra places or upgrades from the EHF Cup.

The EHF Champions League is divided into five stages. Depending on the ranking of their national federation and of the criteria list, teams can enter the competition in either qualification or the group phase.

The current playing system changed for the 2020–21 season.

Qualification tournament[]

Groups of four teams are formed. The number of groups can vary each season. Teams from each group play semi-finals and finals, in a single venue over a weekend. The winning team from each group advance to the group phase, while teams from lower ranks continue in the EHF Cup.

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 DELO EHF European League. 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.

DELO EHF FINAL4

The official name for the event is the DELO EHF FINAL4. 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.

Summary[]

European Champions Cup[]

Year		Final				Semi-finals losers
		Champion	Score	Runner-up
1961 Details		Știința București	13–5 (8–1 / 5–4)	Dynamo Prague		Žalgiris Kaunas
1961–62 Details			11–7 (2–3 / 9–4)				Știința București
1962–63 Details		Trud Moscow	11–8	Frederiksberg IF		Fortschritt Weissenfels	Rapid București
1963–64 Details		Rapid București	14–13	Helsingør IF		Spartacus Budapest	Eimsbütteler TV
1964–65 Details			21–16 (14–6 / 7–10)	Spartacus Budapest		Swift Roermond	Lokomotiva Zagreb
1965–66 Details		SC Leipzig	17–11 (10–5 / 7–6)			Spartacus Budapest
1966–67 Details		Žalgiris Kaunas	8–7	SC Leipzig		Universitatea Timișoara
1967–68		Žalgiris Kaunas	13–11	Empor Rostock		KS Cracovia	Rapid București
1969–70		Spartak Kyiv	9–7	SC Leipzig		Žalgiris Kaunas
1970–71		Spartak Kyiv	11–9	Ferencvárosi TC
1971–72		Spartak Kyiv	12–8	SC Leipzig		Bakony Veszprém	Universitatea București
1972–73		Spartak Kyiv	17–8	Universitatea Timișoara		NILOC Amsterdam	SC Leipzig
1973–74		SC Leipzig	12–10	Spartak Kyiv			Radnički Belgrade
1974–75		Spartak Kyiv	14–10	Lokomotiva Zagreb		IEFS București	Vasas Budapest
1975–76		Radnicki Belgrade	22–12	Swift Roermond			Stockholmspolisens IF
1976–77		Spartak Kyiv	15–7	SC Leipzig		Radnicki Belgrade	IL Vestar
1977–78		TSC Berlin	19–14	Vasas Budapest		IL Vestar
1978–79		Spartak Kyiv	27–26 (13–17 / 14–9)	Vasas Budapest			SC Leipzig
1979–80		RK Radnicki Belgrade	45–29 (22–19 / 23–10 )			Stockholmspolisens IF
1980–81		Spartak Kyiv	39–26 (17–13 / 22–13)	Radnicki Belgrade
1981–82		Vasas Budapest	50–43 (29–19 / 21–24)	Radnicki Belgrade		Spartak Kyiv	Rulmentul Braşov
1982–83		Spartak Kyiv	48–36 (23–19 / 25–17)	Radnicki Belgrade		Bayer Leverkusen	Vasas Budapest
1983–84		Radnicki Belgrade	42–35 (22–16 / 20–19)	Bayer Leverkusen		Hypo Niederösterreich	Vasas Budapest
1984–85 Details		Spartak Kyiv	41–31 (23–16 / 18–15)	Radnicki Belgrade		SC Leipzig	Hypo Niederösterreich
1985–86 Details		Spartak Kyiv	52–45 (29–23 / 23–22)	Ştiinţa Bacău		Vasas Budapest	Budućnost Titograd
1986–87		Spartak Kyiv	50–37 (25–17 / 25–20)	Hypo Niederösterreich		Ştiinţa Bacău
1987–88		Spartak Kyiv	33–31 (16–14 / 17–17)	Hypo Niederösterreich		Spartacus Budapest	Radnicki Belgrade
1988–89		Hypo Niederösterreich	37–33 (16–14 / 21–19)	Spartak Kyiv		Debreceni VSC	CS Mureșul
1989–90 Details		Hypo Niederösterreich	59–50 (29–24 / 30–26)	Kuban Krasnodar		Chimistul Râmnicu Vâlcea
1990–91 Details		TV Giessen-Lützellinden	43–40 (21–15 / 22–25)	Hypo Niederösterreich		Rostselmash
1991–92 Details		Hypo Niederösterreich	34–32 (15–14 / 19–18)	TV Giessen-Lützellinden		Chimistul Râmnicu Vâlcea
1992–93 Details		Hypo Niederösterreich	40–25 (17–14 / 23–11)	Vasas Budapest		Mar Valencia

EHF Women's Champions League (knockout system)[]

Year		Final				Semi-finals losers
		Champion	Score	Runner-up
1993–94 Details		Hypo Niederösterreich	45–39 (18–20 / 25–21)	Vasas Budapest		Mar Valencia	TV Giessen-Lützellinden
1994–95 Details		Hypo Niederösterreich	40–36 (17–14 / 26–19)	Podravka Koprivnica		Mar Valencia
1995–96 Details		Podravka Koprivnica	38–37 (17–13 / 25–20)	Hypo Niederösterreich		Mar Valencia	Ferencvárosi TC
1996–97 Details		Mar Valencia	58–50 (35–26 / 24–23)	Viborg HK		Hypo Niederösterreich	Ferencvárosi TC
1997–98 Details		Hypo Niederösterreich	56–47 (28–21 / 26–28)	Mar Valencia		Podravka Koprivnica	Budućnost Podgorica
1998–99 Details		Dunaújvárosi NKS	51–49 (25–23 / 26–26)	Krim Ljubljana		Hypo Niederösterreich	Budućnost Podgorica
1999–00 Details		Hypo Niederösterreich	52–45 (32–23 / 22–20)	Kometal Gjorče Petrov		Buducnost Podgorica	Volgograd Akva
2000–01 Details		Krim Ljubljana	47–41 (22–22 / 25–19)	Viborg HK		Budućnost Podgorica	Ferencvárosi TC
2001–02		Kometal Gjorče Petrov	51–49 (27–25 / 26–22)	Ferencvárosi TC		Larvik HK	Budućnost Podgorica
2002–03		Krim Ljubljana	63–58 (30–27 / 36–28)	Mar Valencia		Ikast EH	Viborg HK
2003–04		Slagelse FH	61–56 (25–24 / 32–36)	Krim Ljubljana		Dunaújvárosi NKS	Larvik HK
2004–05		Slagelse FH	54–43 (27–23 / 20–27)	Kometal Gjorče Petrov		Dunaújvárosi NKS	Hypo Niederösterreich
2005–06		Viborg HK	44–43 (22–24 / 20–21)	Krim Ljubljana		BM Sagunto	Aalborg DH
2006–07		Slagelse FH	61–53 (29–29 / 32–24)	Lada Togliatti		Győri ETO	Hypo Niederösterreich
2007–08		Zvezda Zvenigorod	56–53 (25–24 / 29–31)	Hypo Niederösterreich		Győri ETO	Lada Togliatti
2008–09 Details		Viborg HK	50–49 (24–26 / 23–26)	Győri ETO		Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea	Hypo Niederösterreich
2009–10 Details		Viborg HK	60–52 (28–21 / 32–31)	Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea		Győri ETO	Larvik HK
2010–11 Details		Larvik HK	47–46 (23–21 / 25–24)	SD Itxako		ŽRK Budućnost	Győri ETO
2011–12 Details		ŽRK Budućnost	54–54 (29–27 / 27–25)	Győri Audi ETO KC		Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea	Larvik HK
2012–13 Details		Győri Audi ETO KC	47–43 (21–24 / 23–22)	Larvik HK		Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea	Krim Ljubljana

EHF Women's Champions League (EHF FINAL4 system)[]

Year		Final				Semi-finals losers
		Champion	Score	Runner-up		Third place	Fourth place
2013–14 Details		Győri Audi ETO KC	27–21	ŽRK Budućnost		HC Vardar	FC Midtjylland
2014–15 Details		ŽRK Budućnost	26–22	Larvik HK		HC Vardar	Dinamo Volgograd
2015–16 Details		CSM București	29–26 (Pen)	Győri Audi ETO KC		HC Vardar	ŽRK Budućnost
2016–17 Details		Győri Audi ETO KC	31–30 (OT)	HC Vardar		CSM București	ŽRK Budućnost
2017–18 Details		Győri Audi ETO KC	27–26 (OT)	HC Vardar		CSM București	Rostov-Don
2018–19 Details		Győri Audi ETO KC	25–24	Rostov-Don		Vipers Kristiansand	Metz Handball
2019–20 Details		Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]				Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
2020–21 Details		Vipers Kristiansand	34–28	Brest Bretagne Handball		Győri Audi ETO KC	CSKA Moscow

Records and statistics[]

Performance by club[]

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up
Spartak Kyiv	13	2	, , , , , , , , , 1985, 1986, ,	,
Hypo Niederösterreich	8	5	, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000	, , 1991, 1996,
Győri Audi ETO KC	5	3	2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019	2009, 2012, 2016
Radnički Belgrade	3	4	, ,	, , , 1985
Viborg HK	3	2	, 2009, 2010	1997, 2001
Slagelse DT	3	0	, ,
SC Leipzig	2	4	1966,	1967, , ,
Krim Ljubljana	2	3	2001,	1999, ,
ŽRK Budućnost	2	1	2012, 2015	2014
Žalgiris Kaunas	2	0	1967,
Vasas Budapest	1	4		, , 1993, 1994
Sagunto	1	2	1997	1998,
Kometal Skopje	1	2		2000,
Larvik HK	1	2	2011	2013, 2015
	1	1	1965	1966
TV Giessen-Lützellinden	1	1	1991	1992
Podravka Koprivnica	1	1	1996	1995
Știința București	1	0	1961
	1	0	1962
Trud Moscow	1	0	1963
Rapid București	1	0	1964
TSC Berlin	1	0
Dunaferr NK	1	0	1999
Zvezda Zvenigorod	1	0
CSM București	1	0	2016
Vipers Kristiansand	1	0	2021
Brest Bretagne Handball	0	1		2021

Performance by country[]

#	Country	Winners	Runners-up	Total finals
1	Soviet Union	16	3	19
2	Austria	8	5	13
3	Hungary	7	10	17
4	Denmark	7	5	12
5	Yugoslavia	3	6	9
6	East Germany	3	5	8
7	Romania	3	3	6
8	Slovenia	2	3	5
9	Norway	2	2	4
10	Montenegro	2	1	3
11	North Macedonia	1	4	5
12	Spain	1	3	4
13	Czech Republic	1	2	3
	Germany	1	2	3
	Russia	1	2	3
16	Croatia	1	1	2
17	France	0	1	1
18	Netherlands	0	1	1
Total		59	59	118

Goals scored in the Final Four by nations[]

Goals scored in the Final Four by the nationality of the players.

Last updated after the 2020/21 season.

Players with the most Champions League titles[]

Rank	Players	Titles	Winning years
1	/ Zinaida Turchyna	13	1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
2	/ Nataliya Rusnachenko	10	1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000
3	/ Marianna Racz	7	1982, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
4	/ Ausra Fridrikas	6	1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005
	Bojana Popović	6	2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012
6	Eduarda Amorim	5	2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019
	Anita Görbicz	5	2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019
	Heidi Løke	5	2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2021
	Katrine Lunde	5	2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2021
	Nora Mørk	5	2011, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021

See also[]

• EHF Champions League
• Women's EHF European League

References[]

External links[]

• Official website