Round 1

The table below shows the results of the first round. Teams listed first played at home during the first leg and away during the second leg. Some teams agreed to play both matches in one venue (see: Notes). Highlighted teams qualified into the second round.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Sporting	53–59	Ystads IF	27–22	26–37
Borac Banja Luka	63–44	KH BESA Famiglia	31–22	32–22
Haukar Hafnarfjördur	57–31	RK Mojkovac	32–12	25–19
Winterthur	48–55	Benfica	21–28	27–27
Maribor Branik	66–52	HB Dudelange	39–24	27–28
HK Lovosice	59–56	Zamet	27–23	32–33
Medvedi Perm	80–49	PGU-Kartina TV Tiraspol	37–20	43–291
European University Cyprus	43–61	Odorheiu Secuiesc	28–30	15–31
HIT medalp Tirol	48–57	Siscia	26–25	22–32
Meshkov Brest	72–42	Conversano	38–19	34–232
Diomidis Argous	60–47	AEK Athens	30–18	30–29
Tongeren	54–66	Elverum	25–26	29–40
Balatonfüred	51–47	HC Kehra	24–22	27–223
Kristianstad	59–49	HC Sporta Hlohovec	31–24	28–21
Nilüfer Belediyespor	50–84	Stal Mielec	29–424	21–42
Kumanovo	65–46	HC Dobrudja	30–20	35–265
KRAS/Volendam	51–41	BSV Bern Muri	26–23	25–18
London GD	32–88	Kolding	16–466	16–42

Notes

• Note 1: The second leg was played in Perm, Russia, with Tiraspol being the official hosts.^[3]
• Note 2: The second leg was played in Brest, Belarus, with Conservano being the official hosts.^[4]
• Note 3: The second leg was played in Balatonfüred, Hungary, with Kehra being the official hosts.^[5]
• Note 4: The first leg was played in Mielec, Poland, with Nilüfer Belediyespor being the official hosts.^[6]
• Note 5: The second leg was played in Kumanovo, Macedonia, with Dobrudja being the official hosts.^[7]
• Note 6: The first leg was played in Kolding, Denmark, with London GD being the official hosts.^[8]

Round 2

The table below shows the results of the second round. Teams listed first played at home during the first leg and away during the second leg. Some teams agreed to play both matches in one venue (see: Notes). Highlighted teams qualified into the third round.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Odorheiu Secuiesc	69–70	Beşiktaş	40–33	29–37
Kristianstad	47–48	Eskilstuna Guif	24–22	23–26
Kumanovo	58–61	Sungul Snezhinsk	27–26	31–35
KRAS/Volendam	56–59	Koper	31–32	25–27
Stal Mielec	53–56	Tvis Holstebro	29–26	24–30
Tatabánya	46–59	Elverum	23–27	23–32
Madeira	51–62	Diomidis Argous	25–307	26–32
Medvedi Perm	66–64	Wacker Thun	38–32	28–328
Benfica	72–45	SSV Bozen Loacker	32–20	40–259
Kolding	66–48	Lovćen	34–17	31–3210
Našice	60–66	Meshkov Brest	30–31	30–35
Siscia	46–45	Dynamo Poltava	23–2411	23–21
Vardar Skopje	60–44	HK Lovosice	36–19	24–25
Kópavogs	50–77	Maribor Branik	25–4212	25–35
Vojvodina	53–52	Balatonfüred	29–25	24–27
Motor Zaporizhzhia	58–47	Haukar Hafnarfjördur	30–25	28–2213
SMD Bacău	51–46	Ystads IF	28–24	23–2214

Notes

• Note 7: The first leg was played in Argos, Greece, with Madeira being the official hosts.^[9]
• Note 8: The second leg was played in Perm, Russia, with Wacker Thun being the official hosts.^[10]
• Note 9: The second leg was played in Lisbon, Portugal, with Loacker Südtirol being the official hosts.^[11]
• Note 10: The second leg was played in Vordingborg, Denmark, with Lovćen being the official hosts.^[12]
• Note 11: The first leg was played in Poltava, Ukraine, with Siscia being the official hosts.^[13]
• Note 12: The first leg was played in Maribor, Slovenia, with Kópavogs being the official hosts.^[14]
• Note 13: The second leg was played in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, with Haukar Hafnarfjördur being the official hosts.^[15]
• Note 14: The second leg was played in Bacău, Romania, with Ystads IF being the official hosts.^[16]

Round 3

The table below shows the results of the third round. Teams listed first played at home during the first leg and away during the second leg. Some teams agreed to play both matches in one venue (see: Notes). Highlighted teams qualified into the group stage. The first legs were played on 23–25 November, and the second legs were played on 1 and 2 December 2012.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Frisch Auf Göppingen	58–41	Meshkov Brest	29–17	29–24
Borac Banja Luka	50–66	Tatran Prešov	25–36	25–30
Siscia	52–64	Maribor Branik	30–29	22–35
Diomidis Argous	44–64	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	27–27	17–37
Koper	51–50	Porto	29–23	22–27
Nantes	51–49	Benfica	29–21	22–28
Tvis Holstebro	67–54	Saint-Raphaël Var	35–19	32–35
Eskilstuna Guif	57–57 (a)	Aragón	30–26	27–31
Magdeburg	56–55	Vardar Skopje	30–27	26–28
La Rioja	50–45	Vojvodina	28–19	22–26
SMD Bacău	55–44	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	33–22	22–2215
Haslum	56–57	Beşiktaş	31–20	25–37
Wisła Płock	66–47	Sungul Snezhinsk	37–23	29–24
Elverum	71–51	Sloga Doboj	34–24	37–27
Motor Zaporizhzhia	60–48	Alpla HC Hard	27–26	33–22
Kolding	68–54	Medvedi Perm	41–24	27–30

• Note 15: The second leg was played in Bacău, Romania, with Maccabi Srugo Rishon Lezion being the official hosts.^[17]

Draw and format

The draw of the EHF Cup group phase was carried out on Thursday 6 December 2012 in Belgrade, Serbia. The teams were positioned into four pots, with the country protection rule applied: two clubs from the same country may not face each other in the same group.^[18] As is standard in EHF club competitions, the seeding is calculated on the basis of the three most recent seasons.^[19] Consequently, the results of the seasons 2011–12, 2010–11 and 2009–10 was considered to determine the seeding of the teams for the 2012–13 season.^[19] As there was the EHF Cup as well as the EHF Cup Winners' Cup parallel in these last three seasons, the results of both competitions of these seasons were added and then divided by two in order to get the points for the seeding for the 2012–13 season.^[19]

The group stage features 16 teams, which were allocated four groups of four. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays are 9–10 February, 16–17 February, 23–24 February, 9–10 March, 16–17 March, and 23–24 March 2013. The top two teams from each group qualify for the quarter-finals, which are scheduled in April 2013.^[20]

If Nantes, as the organiser of the Final 4 tournament, win their group or finish among top three second ranked teams, they will receive a direct qualification to the Final 4 tournament.^[20] In that case only four group winners and two best second ranked team will qualify for the quarter-finals.^[20] If the French side wins their group then the other three group winners and the three best second ranked team will qualify for the quarter-finals. If Nantes finish among the top three second ranked teams, the quarter-finals will consist of four group winners and two best second ranked teams. If Nantes finish as the worst second ranked team, they will have to play the quarter-final match.^[20] Should the French club rank on the third or fourth position in their group, they will be out of the competition, but they will still organize the Final 4 tournament.^[20]

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):^[21]

1. number of points in matches of all teams directly involved;
2. goal difference in matches of all teams directly involved;
3. greater number of plus goals in matches of all teams directly involved;
4. goal difference in all matches of the group;
5. greater number of plus goals in all matches of the group;

If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by drawing lots. Lots shall be drawn by the EHF, if possible in the presence of a responsible of each club.

Pot 1 Frisch Auf Göppingen Elverum Beşiktaş Tatran Prešov

Pot 2 Tvis Holstebro Koper Motor Zaporizhzhia SMD Bacău

Pot 3 Wisła Płock Rhein-Neckar Löwen Eskilstuna Guif Magdeburg

Pot 4 La Rioja Nantes KIF Kolding Maribor Branik

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		GÖP	LaR	KPR	GUI
Frisch Auf Göppingen	6	5	0	1	200	175	+25	10		—	32–31	38–32	37–26
La Rioja	6	4	0	2	171	155	+16	8		25–23	—	35–28	29–23
Koper	6	3	0	3	181	189	−8	6		36–39	25–21	—	30–27
Eskilstuna Guif	6	0	0	6	154	187	−33	0		25–31	24–30	29–30	—

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		LÖW	KOL	TAT	ZAP
Rhein-Neckar Löwen	6	5	0	1	185	150	+35	10		—	28–25	36–20	35–22
KIF Kolding	6	3	0	3	158	145	+13	6		25–23	—	37–17	25–27
Tatran Prešov	6	3	0	3	167	184	−17	6		33–34	29–22	—	36–28
HC Motor Zaporizhzhia	6	1	0	5	150	181	−31	2		25–29	21–24	27–32	—

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		HOL	MAR	WIS	ELR
Tvis Holstebro	6	3	2	1	170	157	+13	8		—	26–26	27–26	33–18
Maribor Branik	6	3	1	2	170	165	+5	7		31–27	—	26–23	34–29
Wisła Płock	6	3	0	3	164	158	+6	6		28–29	30–26	—	30–25
Elverum	6	1	1	4	155	179	−24	3		28–28	30–27	25–27	—

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		MAG	NAN	BEŞ	BAC
Magdeburg	6	5	1	0	176	135	+41	11		—	26–26	33–18	33–25
Nantes	6	4	1	1	154	143	+11	9		20–27	—	31–24	32–27
Beşiktaş	6	1	0	5	129	164	−35	2		17–27	21–24	—	25–23
SMD Bacău	6	1	0	5	148	165	−17	2		29–30	18–21	26–24	—

Ranking of the second-placed teams

The ranking of the second-placed teams was carried out on the basis of the team's results in the group stage, against the first and third placed teams. The results against teams which finished last in the group stage did not count in the ranking system.

Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
C	Maribor Branik	4	2	1	1	109	106	+3	5
D	Nantes[lower-alpha 1]	4	2	1	1	101	98	+3	5
B	Kolding	4	2	0	2	109	97	+12	4
A	La Rioja	4	2	0	2	112	107	+5	4

Quarter-finals

Draw and format

Because the hosts of the Final 4 tournament, Nantes, finished the group stage among the top three second-placed teams, they have clinched the direct ticket to the final weekend and decided that only three quarter-finals will be played for the remaining spots in the final tournament.^[22] The draw of the EHF Cup quarter-finals was carried out on Tuesday 26 March 2013 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria.^[22] Six teams were positioned into two pots with the country protection rule not applied: two clubs from the same country could face each other in the quarter-finals.^[22] However, teams from the same group of the group phase cannot face each other. The first pot contained the four group winners and the second pot contained the top two second-placed teams.^[22] In the quarter-finals, teams will play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, the team drawn first will play the first leg on the home court.^[22]

Pot 1 Frisch Auf Göppingen Rhein-Neckar Löwen Tvis Holstebro Magdeburg

Pot 2 Maribor Branik Kolding — —

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
KIF Kolding	50–51	Tvis Holstebro	24–24	26–27
Maribor Branik	56–57	Frisch Auf Göppingen	26–26	30–31
Magdeburg	51–55	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	31–28	20–27

Final four

	Semi-finals				Final
	18 May
	Tvis Holstebro	20
					19 May
	Nantes	26
					Nantes	24
	18 May
					Rhein-Neckar Löwen	26
	Frisch Auf Göppingen	22
	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	28
					Third place
					19 May
					Tvis Holstebro	28
					Frisch Auf Göppingen	27