2016–17 EHF Champions League

EHF Champions League
2016–17
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates3 September 2016–4 June 2017
Teams28 (group stage)
34 (Qualification)
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
ChampionsNorth Macedonia Vardar
Runner-upFrance Paris Saint-Germain
Tournament statistics
Matches played200
Goals scored11085 (55.43 per match)
Attendance845,087 (4,225 per match)
Top scorer(s)Germany Uwe Gensheimer
(115 goals)

The 2016–17 EHF Champions League was the 57th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 24th edition under the current EHF Champions League format. Vardar were crowned champions for the first time, defeating Paris Saint-Germain Handball[1]

Competition format

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 with 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, continued in its existing format, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.

Team allocation

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

Groups A/B
Belarus Meshkov Brest (1st) Croatia Zagreb (1st) Denmark Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (1st) France Paris Saint-Germain (1st)
Germany Flensburg-Handewitt (2nd) Germany THW Kiel (3rd) Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen (1st) Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged (2nd)
Hungary Telekom Veszprém (1st) North Macedonia Vardar (1st) Poland Vive Tauron KielceTH (1st) Poland Wisła Płock (2nd)
Slovenia Celje (1st) Spain FC Barcelona Lassa (1st) Sweden IFK Kristianstad (1st) Switzerland Kadetten Schaffhausen (1st)
Groups C/D
Denmark Team Tvis Holstebro (2nd) France Montpellier (4th) France HBC Nantes (3rd) North Macedonia Metalurg Skopje (2nd)
Norway Elverum Håndball (1st) Romania Dinamo București (1st) Russia Chekhovskiye Medvedi (1st) Spain Logroño (2nd)
Turkey Beşiktaş (1st) Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia (1st) Qualifier Group 1 Qualifier Group 2
Qualification tournaments
Austria Bregenz Handball Belgium Achilles Bocholt Finland Riihimäki Cocks Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
Luxembourg Red Boys Differdange Portugal ABC/UMinho (1st) Slovakia Tatran Prešov Slovenia RK Gorenje
  • TH = Title holders

Round and draw dates

The qualification and group stage draw was held in Glostrup, Denmark.[3]

Phase Draw date
Qualification tournaments 29 June 2016
Group stage 1 July 2016
Knockout stage
Final Four
(Cologne)
2 May 2017

Qualification stage

The draw was held on 29 June 2016 at 13:00 in Vienna, Austria. The eight teams were split in two groups and played a semifinal and final to determine the last participants. Matches were played on 3 and 4 September 2016.[4]

Qualification tournament 1

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
3 September
 
 
Slovenia RK Gorenje28
 
4 September
 
Finland Riihimäki Cocks25
 
Slovenia RK Gorenje21
 
3 September
 
Slovakia Tatran Prešov23
 
Slovakia Tatran Prešov38
 
 
Luxembourg Red Boys Differdange32
 
Third place
 
 
4 September
 
 
Finland Riihimäki Cocks30
 
 
Luxembourg Red Boys Differdange21

Qualification tournament 2

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
3 September
 
 
Portugal ABC/UMinho34
 
4 September
 
Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv27
 
Portugal ABC/UMinho33
 
3 September
 
Austria Bregenz Handball32
 
Austria Bregenz Handball39
 
 
Belgium Achilles Bocholt31
 
Third place
 
 
4 September
 
 
Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv33
 
 
Belgium Achilles Bocholt30

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 1 July 2016 at 13:00 in the Vienna city centre. 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) was drawn with one of the other two.[5]

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 knockout stage was 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 contested 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 BAR PAR VES FLE KIE BJE PLO SCH
1 Spain Barcelona Lassa 14 12 1 1 413 354 +59 25 Quarterfinals 35–32 26–23 26–23 26–25 34–19 36–28 38–25
2 France Paris Saint-Germain 14 12 0 2 451 383 +68 24 First knockout round 33–26 28–24 27–22 42–24 32–27 33–30 34–26
3 Hungary Telekom Veszprém 14 8 2 4 381 365 +16 18 22–25 28–29 34–28 21–19 30–29 31–25 32–28
4 Germany Flensburg-Handewitt 14 7 1 6 382 366 +16 15 27–28 33–34 24–24 25–26 26–24 22–20 31–26
5 Germany THW Kiel 14 5 2 7 353 376 −23 12 27–27 28–27 25–27 22–30 21–24 24–24 32–29
6 Denmark Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 14 4 0 10 364 396 −32 8[a] 23–27 30–36 24–29 19–25 25–28 33–24 37–32
7 Poland Wisła Płock 14 3 2 9 367 401 −34 8[a] 23–28 25–29 28–28 30–37 24–22 28–25 33–26
8 Switzerland Kadetten Schaffhausen 14 1 0 13 370 440 −70 2 24–31 25–35 27–28 26–29 25–30 24–25 27–25
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 58–52 Wisła Płock

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VAR KIE SZE RNL BRE ZAG CEL KRI
1 North Macedonia Vardar 14 10 0 4 412 378 +34 20 Quarterfinals 40–34 30–27 26–29 31–27 25–20 35–30 32–29
2 Poland Vive Tauron Kielce 14 9 0 5 415 390 +25 18 First knockout round 27–24 28–24 26–34 35–27 29–25 31–23 38–28
3 Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged 14 8 1 5 376 350 +26 17[a] 21–23 27–29 28–28 24–22 26–21 27–22 33–28
4 Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen 14 8 1 5 392 396 −4 17[a] 27–33 28–25 24–30 25–24 25–24 31–30 30–29
5 Belarus Meshkov Brest 14 5 4 5 383 385 −2 14 30–26 24–29 25–23 30–28 21–21 29–29 32–27
6 Croatia Zagreb 14 4 1 9 332 356 −24 9[b] 28–27 23–26 24–26 25–21 22–27 23–21 26–23
7 Slovenia Celje 14 3 3 8 399 424 −25 9[b] 26–32 34–33 25–31 37–31 36–36 30–28 27–28
8 Sweden IFK Kristianstad 14 3 2 9 381 411 −30 8 23–28 29–25 21–29 29–31 29–29 29–22 29–29
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b MOL-Pick Szeged 58–52 Rhein-Neckar Löwen
  2. ^ a b Zagreb 51–51 Celje, Zagreb advanced on away goals.

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MON LOG MET PRE ELV MED
1 France Montpellier 10 8 0 2 302 252 +50 16 Playoffs 37–27 28–18 28–23 31–24 26–22
2 Spain Logroño 10 5 1 4 294 286 +8 11 31–30 31–25 33–27 28–21 34–37
3 North Macedonia Metalurg Skopje 10 5 0 5 240 251 −11 10 24–30 24–23 26–20 18–17 31–24
4 Slovakia Tatran Prešov 10 4 1 5 259 271 −12 9 24–28 30–27 27–22 25–27 30–28
5 Norway Elverum Håndball 10 3 2 5 257 274 −17 8 32–31 27–32 26–31 24–24 28–28
6 Russia Chekhovskiye Medvedi 10 2 2 6 273 291 −18 6 27–33 28–28 25–21 28–29 26–31
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification NAN ZAP BES BUC HOL BRA
1 France HBC Nantes 10 8 1 1 312 270 +42 17 Playoffs 32–34 33–19 26–24 31–26 35–33
2 Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia 10 7 1 2 308 272 +36 15 26–26 34–28 35–27 34–28 27–23
3 Turkey Beşiktaş 10 5 1 4 275 289 −14 11 28–33 23–22 29–27 36–27 33–31
4 Romania Dinamo București 10 3 2 5 294 294 0 8 26–27 35–31 26–26 30–25 35–29
5 Denmark Team Tvis Holstebro 10 2 1 7 281 314 −33 5 25–35 28–30 29–25 32–32 34–29
6 Portugal ABC/UMinho 10 2 0 8 289 320 −31 4 29–34 22–35 27–28 34–32 32–27
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Playoffs

The top two teams from Groups C and D contest a playoff to determine the two sides advancing to the knockout phase. The winners of each group will face the runners-up of the other group in a two-legged tie. The first leg will be played on 1–5 March 2017 and the second leg on 7–12 March 2017.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Logroño Spain 56–68 France HBC Nantes 25–31 31–37
Motor Zaporizhzhia Ukraine 63–65 France Montpellier 34–36 29–29

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.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
HBC Nantes France 53–61 France Paris Saint-Germain 26–26 27–35
Montpellier France 61–54 Poland Vive Tauron Kielce 33–28 28–26
Zagreb Croatia 41–52 Hungary Telekom Veszprém 22–23 19–29
Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Denmark 48–59 Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged 24–26 24–33
Meshkov Brest Belarus 51–54 Germany Flensburg-Handewitt 25–26 26–28
THW Kiel Germany 50–49 Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen 24–25 26–24

Quarterfinals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
THW Kiel Germany 46–49 Spain Barcelona Lassa 28–26 18–23
Flensburg-Handewitt Germany 51–61 North Macedonia Vardar 24–26 27–35
MOL-Pick Szeged Hungary 57–60 France Paris Saint-Germain 27–30 30–30
Telekom Veszprém Hungary 56–48 France Montpellier 26–23 30–25

Final four

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
3 June
 
 
Hungary Telekom Veszprém26
 
4 June
 
France Paris Saint-Germain27
 
France Paris Saint-Germain23
 
3 June
 
North Macedonia Vardar24
 
North Macedonia Vardar26
 
 
Spain Barcelona Lassa25
 
Third place
 
 
4 June
 
 
Hungary Telekom Veszprém34
 
 
Spain Barcelona Lassa30

Final

4 June 2017
18:00
Paris Saint-Germain France 23–24 North Macedonia Vardar Lanxess Arena, Cologne
Attendance: 19,750
Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
Karabatić 5 (12–11) Dibirov 6
Yellow card 4×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report Yellow card 4×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.[7]

Rank Player Team Goals
1 Germany Uwe Gensheimer France Paris Saint-Germain 115
2 Denmark Mikkel Hansen France Paris Saint-Germain 99
3 Serbia Momir Ilić Hungary Telekom Veszprém 89
4 Hungary Zsolt Balogh Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged 88
Slovenia Jure Dolenec France Montpellier
6 North Macedonia Kiril Lazarov Spain Barcelona Lassa 85
7 Hungary Gábor Császár Switzerland Kadetten Schaffhausen 84
8 Spain Alex Dujshebaev North Macedonia Vardar 83
9 France Nedim Remili France Paris Saint-Germain 81
Serbia Rastko Stojković Belarus Meshkov Brest

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ "Almost 40 clubs submit registration for the VELUX EHF Champions League 2016/17". ehfcl.com. 8 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Line-up for 2016/17 season set". ehfcl.com. 24 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Season is over, what's next?". ehfcl.com. 6 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Presov and Bregenz with hosting rights in qualification". ehfcl.com. 29 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Familiar faces for Kielce, while other powerhouses collide in Group A". ehfcl.com. 1 July 2016.
  6. ^ "VELUX EHF Champions League – Season 2015/16 – Regulations" (PDF). EHF. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Men's EHF Champions League 2016/17 – Scorers". EHF Champions League 2016/17. European Handball Federation (EHF). Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Revolution in the All-star team: five debutants and none of last year's names". ehfcl.com. 1 June 2017.