EHF Champions League
2017–18
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates2 September 2017–27 May 2018
Teams28 (group stage)
31 (qualification)
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
ChampionsFrance Montpellier
Runner-upFrance HBC Nantes
Tournament statistics
Matches played200
Goals scored11263 (56.32 per match)
Attendance857,713 (4,289 per match)
Top scorer(s)Germany Uwe Gensheimer
(92 goals)

The 2017–18 EHF Champions League was the 58th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 25th edition under the current EHF Champions League format.

Montpellier defeated HBC Nantes in the final to win their second title.[1]

Competition format

Group Stage

Twenty-eight teams participated in the competition, divided in four groups. Groups A and B were played with eight teams each, in a round robin, home and away format. The top team in each group qualified directly for the quarter-finals, the bottom two in each group dropped out of the competition and the remaining 10 teams qualified for the first knock-out phase.

In groups C and D, six teams played in each group in a round robin format, playing both home and away. The top two teams in each group then met in a ‘semi-final’ play-off, with the two winners going through to the first knock-out phase. The remaining teams dropped out of the competition.

Knock-out Phase 1 (Last 16)

12 teams played home and away in the first knock-out phase, with the 10 teams qualified from groups A and B and the two teams qualified from groups C and D.

Knock-out Phase 2 (Quarterfinals)

The six winners of the matches in the first knock-out phase joined the winners of groups A and B to play home and away for the right to play in the VELUX EHF FINAL4.

Final four

The culmination of the season, the VELUX EHF FINAL4, will continue in its existing format, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.

Team allocation

28 teams were directly qualified for the group stage.[2]

Groups A/B
Belarus Meshkov Brest Croatia Zagreb Denmark Aalborg Håndbold France HBC Nantes
France Paris Saint-Germain Germany Flensburg-Handewitt Germany THW Kiel Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged Hungary Telekom Veszprém North Macedonia Vardar Poland PGE Vive Kielce
Poland Wisła Płock Slovenia Celje Spain Barcelona Lassa Sweden IFK Kristianstad
Groups C/D
Denmark Skjern Håndbold France Montpellier Handball North Macedonia Metalurg Skopje Norway Elverum Håndball
Romania Dinamo București Russia Chekhovskiye Medvedi Slovenia RK Gorenje Velenje Spain CB Ademar León
Switzerland Kadetten Schaffhausen Turkey Beşiktaş Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia Qualifier
Qualification tournament
Austria Alpla HC Hard Finland Riihimäki Cocks Portugal Sporting CP Slovakia Tatran Prešov

Round and draw dates

The qualification draw was held in Vienna, Austria and the group stage draw in Ljubljana, Slovenia.[3][4]

Phase Draw date
Qualification tournaments 29 June 2017
Group stage 30 June 2017
Knockout stage
Final Four
(Cologne)		 2 May 2018

Qualification stage

The four teams played a semifinal and final to determine the last participant. Matches were played on 2 and 3 September 2017.[5][6]

Tatran Prešov hosted the tournament.[7]

Bracket

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
2 September
 
 
Portugal Sporting CP31
 
3 September
 
Finland Riihimäki Cocks27
 
Portugal Sporting CP (OT)35
 
2 September
 
Austria Alpla HC Hard34
 
Slovakia Tatran Prešov25
 
 
Austria Alpla HC Hard26
 
Third place
 
 
3 September
 
 
Finland Riihimäki Cocks27
 
 
Slovakia Tatran Prešov30

Semifinals

2 September 2017
13:30		 Sporting CP Portugal 31–27 Finland Riihimäki Cocks Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 420
Referees: Jurinović, Mrvica (CRO)
Carol 8 (18–14) Rönnberg 9
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2 September 2017
16:00		 Tatran Prešov Slovakia 25–26 Austria Alpla HC Hard Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Herczeg, Südi (HUN)
Butorac 7 (12–13) Schmid 7
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Third place game

3 September 2017
13:30		 Riihimäki Cocks Finland 27–30 Slovakia Tatran Prešov Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 400
Referees: Herczeg, Südi (HUN)
Rönnberg 5 (10–15) Krok 6
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Final

3 September 2017
16:05		 Sporting CP Portugal 35–34 (ET) Austria Alpla HC Hard Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 500
Referees: Jurinović, Mrvica (CRO)
Carol 9 (17–17) Schmid 10
3×Yellow card 6×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 3×Yellow card 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square

FT: 29–29 ET: 6–5

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 30 June 2017 at 21:00 in the Ljubljana castle. The 28 teams were drawn into four groups, two containing eight teams (Groups A and B) and two containing six teams (Groups C and D). The only restriction is that teams from the same national association could not face each other in the same group. Since Germany qualified three teams, the lowest seeded side (Kiel) were drawn with one of the other two.[8]

In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches.

After completion of the group stage matches, the teams advancing to the knockout stage were determined in the following manner:

  • Groups A and B – the top team qualified directly for the quarterfinals, and the five teams ranked 2nd–6th advanced to the first knockout round.
  • Groups C and D – the top two teams from both groups contest a playoff to determine the last two sides joining the 10 teams from Groups A and B in the first knockout round.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VAR BAR NAN RNL SZE KRI PLO ZAG
1 North Macedonia Vardar 14 9 3 2 390 341 +49 21 Quarterfinals — 27–24 27–23 30–26 34–30 31–15 31–31 28–21
2 Spain Barcelona Lassa 14 9 2 3 408 377 +31 20[lower-alpha 1] First knockout round 29–28 — 31–25 26–26 28–27 31–29 28–27 32–22
3 France HBC Nantes 14 9 2 3 402 382 +20 20[lower-alpha 1] 27–26 29–25 — 26–26 30–26 34–25 32–30 28–27
4 Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen 14 6 5 3 416 391 +25 17 21–21 31–31 30–30 — 35–37 32–29 31–27 31–24
5 Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged 14 6 1 7 421 411 +10 13 26–26 31–28 29–33 31–34 — 36–27 24–25 30–28
6 Sweden IFK Kristianstad 14 3 2 9 355 415 −60 8 23–26 21–26 26–31 22–35 33–32 — 25–24 28–28
7 Poland Wisła Płock 14 2 3 9 380 408 −28 7 22–26 30–37 30–32 27–32 27–33 25–25 — 27–24
8 Croatia Zagreb 14 2 2 10 349 396 −47 6 23–29 24–32 23–22 30–26 23–28 24–27 28–28 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Barcelona 56–54 HBC Nantes

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAR VES FLE THW KIE BRE CEL ALB
1 France Paris Saint-Germain 14 11 1 2 424 378 +46 23 Quarterfinals — 33–27 29–21 29–29 33–28 32–28 32–27 31–28
2 Hungary Telekom Veszprém 14 8 2 4 407 378 +29 18[lower-alpha 1] First knockout round 24–29 — 28–27 26–24 31–26 34–22 29–22 30–24
3 Germany Flensburg-Handewitt 14 7 4 3 410 391 +19 18[lower-alpha 1] 33–29 31–31 — 30–33 32–32 37–30 33–28 30–27
4 Germany THW Kiel 14 7 2 5 366 361 +5 16 22–25 22–20 20–20 — 29–30 33–23 26–29 27–26
5 Poland PGE Vive Kielce 14 6 3 5 418 408 +10 15 29–30 32–32 25–25 32–21 — 33–28 37–31 28–27
6 Belarus Meshkov Brest 14 4 2 8 374 406 −32 10 29–28 26–29 28–30 24–25 28–25 — 29–24 23–23
7 Slovenia Celje 14 3 1 10 398 434 −36 7 26–31 31–39 27–30 27–28 31–27 33–33 — 31–28
8 Denmark Aalborg Håndbold 14 2 1 11 364 405 −41 5 26–33 29–26 24–31 20–27 30–34 20–23 32–30 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Telekom Veszprém 59–58 Flensburg-Handewitt

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SKJ ADE GOR ELV SCH BUC
1 Denmark Skjern Håndbold 10 8 0 2 326 252 +74 16 Playoffs — 33–25 35–20 35–25 32–22 39–28
2 Spain CB Ademar León 10 6 0 4 270 270 0 12[lower-alpha 1] 26–31 — 29–24 26–30 29–28 32–29
3 Slovenia RK Gorenje Velenje 10 6 0 4 271 271 0 12[lower-alpha 1] 31–29 23–22 — 30–21 27–21 33–29
4 Norway Elverum Håndball 10 5 0 5 287 304 −17 10 27–32 25–30 29–28 — 26–22 40–32
5 Switzerland Kadetten Schaffhausen 10 4 0 6 263 274 −11 8 25–24 23–24 31–28 36–30 — 27–25
6 Romania Dinamo București 10 1 0 9 278 324 −46 2 23–36 24–28 26–27 33–34 29–28 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 CB Ademar León 50–47 RK Gorenje Velenje

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MON ZAP BES SPO SKO MED
1 France Montpellier 10 8 0 2 309 267 +42 16 Playoffs — 28–20 28–33 33–32 32–22 34–23
2 Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia 10 6 3 1 294 263 +31 15 31–30 — 28–22 32–29 28–28 36–23
3 Turkey Beşiktaş 10 5 1 4 293 296 −3 11 32–36 28–28 — 26–30 32–29 33–29
4 Portugal Sporting CP 10 4 0 6 293 297 −4 8 29–33 23–31 34–27 — 31–27 31–30
5 North Macedonia Metalurg Skopje 10 2 1 7 262 293 −31 5[lower-alpha 1] 21–27 22–30 27–31 28–27 — 25–29
6 Russia Chekhovskiye Medvedi 10 2 1 7 271 306 −35 5[lower-alpha 1] 24–28 30–30 27–29 30–27 26–32 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Metalurg 57–55 Chekhovskiye Medvedi

Playoffs

The top two teams from Groups C and D contested a playoff to determine the two sides advancing to the knockout phase. The winners of each group faced the runners-up of the other group in a two-legged tie. The first leg was played on 24 February 2018 and the second leg on 4 March 2018.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
CB Ademar León Spain 43–48 France Montpellier 24–28 19–20
Motor Zaporizhzhia Ukraine 58–63 Denmark Skjern Håndbold 32–30 26–33

Knockout stage

The first-placed team from the preliminary groups A and B advanced to the quarterfinals, while the 2–6th placed teams advanced to the round of 16 alongside the playoff winners.

Round of 16

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Montpellier France 56–55 Spain Barcelona Lassa 28–25 28–30
Skjern Håndbold Denmark 61–59 Hungary Telekom Veszprém 32–25 29–34
Meshkov Brest Belarus 52–60 France HBC Nantes 24–32 28–28
IFK Kristianstad Sweden 46–53 Germany Flensburg-Handewitt 22–26 24–27
PGE Vive Kielce Poland 77–47[B] Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen 41–17 36–30
THW Kiel Germany 56–50[A] Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged 29–22 27–28
Notes
  1. ^
    Order of legs reversed after original draw.
  2. ^
    A scheduling conflict for the first leg resulted in the Rhein-Neckar Löwen only fielding their reserve team against Kielce while the first team played a Handball-Bundesliga match against THW Kiel on the same day.[9]

Quarterfinals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
THW Kiel Germany 56–56 North Macedonia Vardar 28–29 28–27
PGE Vive Kielce Poland 60–69 France Paris Saint-Germain 28–34 32–35
Flensburg-Handewitt Germany 45–57 France Montpellier 28–28 17–29
HBC Nantes France 60–54 Denmark Skjern Håndbold 33–27 27–27

Final four

Bracket

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
26 May
 
 
France HBC Nantes32
 
27 May
 
France Paris Saint-Germain28
 
France HBC Nantes26
 
26 May
 
France Montpellier32
 
North Macedonia Vardar27
 
 
France Montpellier28
 
Third place
 
 
27 May
 
 
France Paris Saint-Germain29
 
 
North Macedonia Vardar28

Final

27 May 2018
18:00		 HBC Nantes France 26–32 France Montpellier Lanxess Arena, Cologne
Attendance: 19,250
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Lazarov 6 (13–16) Fabregas, Simonet 6
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Statistics and awards

Top goalscorers

As of 27 May 2018
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Germany Uwe Gensheimer France Paris Saint-Germain 92
2 Sweden Markus Olsson Denmark Skjern Håndbold 88
3 Switzerland Andy Schmid Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen 83
4 France Nedim Remili France Paris Saint-Germain 80
5 Spain Alex Dujshebaev Poland PGE Vive Kielce 79
Spain Eduardo Gurbindo France HBC Nantes
7 France Nicolas Tournat France HBC Nantes 76
8 Hungary Máté Lékai Hungary Telekom Veszprém 75
9 Montenegro Vuko Borozan North Macedonia Vardar 74
Poland Michał Jurecki Poland PGE Vive Kielce
Norway Bjarte Myrhol Denmark Skjern Håndbold

Awards

The all-star team was announced on 25 May 2018.[10]

Other awards

References

  1. ↑ "After 15 years, Montpellier top the podium again". ehfcl.com. 27 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "EXEC confirms the 2017/18 starting grid". ehfcl.com. 24 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Record high demand for the jubilee season". ehfcl.com. 12 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  4. ↑ "Ljubljana hosts draw for the 25th season of EHF Champions League". ehfcl.com. 13 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Seeding for the group phase draw released". ehfcl.com. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  6. ↑ "Draw grants first right to organise a group to Hard". ehfcl.com. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  7. ↑ "Tatran Presov set to welcome qualification hopefuls to Slovakia". ehfcl.com. 19 July 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  8. ↑ "Vardar to start the title defence in a group with record champions". ehfcl.com. 30 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Machtkampf der Verbände im Terminchaos eskaliert". rhein-neckar-loewen.de. 8 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "Seven new names blow fresh wind in VELUX EHF Champions League 2017/18 All-star Team". ehfcl.com. 25 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "Diego Simonet – a proud Argentinian with two trophies". ehfcl.com. 27 May 2018.
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