Wikipedia

2017–18 EHF Champions League

This article is about the 2017–18 EHF Men's Champions League. For the EHF Women's Champions League, see 2017–18 Women's EHF Champions League.

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.

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)

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

Competition format edit

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 edit

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

Groups A/B
  Meshkov Brest   Zagreb   Aalborg Håndbold   HBC Nantes
  Paris Saint-Germain   Flensburg-Handewitt   THW Kiel   Rhein-Neckar Löwen
  MOL-Pick Szeged   Telekom Veszprém   Vardar   PGE Vive Kielce
  Wisła Płock   Celje   Barcelona Lassa   IFK Kristianstad
Groups C/D
  Skjern Håndbold   Montpellier Handball   Metalurg Skopje   Elverum Håndball
  Dinamo București   Chekhovskiye Medvedi   RK Gorenje Velenje   CB Ademar León
  Kadetten Schaffhausen   Beşiktaş   Motor Zaporizhzhia Qualifier
Qualification tournament
  Alpla HC Hard   Riihimäki Cocks   Sporting CP   Tatran Prešov

Round and draw dates edit

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 edit

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 edit

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

Semifinals edit

2 September 2017
13:30 		Sporting CP   31–27   Riihimäki Cocks Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 420
Referees: Jurinović, Mrvica (CRO)
Carol 8 (18–14) Rönnberg 9
3×  3×  Report 3×  1× 
2 September 2017
16:00 		Tatran Prešov   25–26   Alpla HC Hard Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Herczeg, Südi (HUN)
Butorac 7 (12–13) Schmid 7
3×  1×  Report 3×  4× 

Third place game edit

3 September 2017
13:30 		Riihimäki Cocks   27–30   Tatran Prešov Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 400
Referees: Herczeg, Südi (HUN)
Rönnberg 5 (10–15) Krok 6
2×  2×  1×  Report 3×  3× 

Final edit

3 September 2017
16:05 		Sporting CP   35–34 (ET)   Alpla HC Hard Tatran Handball Arena, Prešov
Attendance: 500
Referees: Jurinović, Mrvica (CRO)
Carol 9 (17–17) Schmid 10
3×  6×  Report 3×  2× 

FT: 29–29 ET: 6–5

Group stage edit

class=notpageimage|
Location of teams of the 2016–17 EHF Champions League group stage.
  Red: Group A;   Blue: Group B;   Green: Group C;   Yellow: Group D.
Main article: 2017–18 EHF Champions League 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 edit

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VAR BAR NAN RNL SZE KRI PLO ZAG
1   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   Barcelona Lassa 14 9 2 3 408 377 +31 20[a] First knockout round 29–28 — 31–25 26–26 28–27 31–29 28–27 32–22
3   HBC Nantes 14 9 2 3 402 382 +20 20[a] 27–26 29–25 — 26–26 30–26 34–25 32–30 28–27
4   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   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   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   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   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. ^ a b Barcelona 56–54 HBC Nantes

Group B edit

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAR VES FLE THW KIE BRE CEL ALB
1   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   Telekom Veszprém 14 8 2 4 407 378 +29 18[a] First knockout round 24–29 — 28–27 26–24 31–26 34–22 29–22 30–24
3   Flensburg-Handewitt 14 7 4 3 410 391 +19 18[a] 33–29 31–31 — 30–33 32–32 37–30 33–28 30–27
4   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   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   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   Celje 14 3 1 10 398 434 −36 7 26–31 31–39 27–30 27–28 31–27 33–33 — 31–28
8   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. ^ a b Telekom Veszprém 59–58 Flensburg-Handewitt

Group C edit

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SKJ ADE GOR ELV SCH BUC
1   Skjern Håndbold 10 8 0 2 326 252 +74 16 Playoffs — 33–25 35–20 35–25 32–22 39–28
2   CB Ademar León 10 6 0 4 270 270 0 12[a] 26–31 — 29–24 26–30 29–28 32–29
3   RK Gorenje Velenje 10 6 0 4 271 271 0 12[a] 31–29 23–22 — 30–21 27–21 33–29
4   Elverum Håndball 10 5 0 5 287 304 −17 10 27–32 25–30 29–28 — 26–22 40–32
5   Kadetten Schaffhausen 10 4 0 6 263 274 −11 8 25–24 23–24 31–28 36–30 — 27–25
6   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. ^ a b CB Ademar León 50–47 RK Gorenje Velenje

Group D edit

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

Playoffs edit

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.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
CB Ademar León   43–48   Montpellier 24–28 19–20
Motor Zaporizhzhia   58–63   Skjern Håndbold 32–30 26–33

Knockout stage edit

Main article: 2017–18 EHF Champions League 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 edit

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Montpellier   56–55   Barcelona Lassa 28–25 28–30
Skjern Håndbold   61–59   Telekom Veszprém 32–25 29–34
Meshkov Brest   52–60   HBC Nantes 24–32 28–28
IFK Kristianstad   46–53   Flensburg-Handewitt 22–26 24–27
PGE Vive Kielce   77–47[B]   Rhein-Neckar Löwen 41–17 36–30
THW Kiel   56–50[A]   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 edit

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

Final four edit

Bracket edit

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

Final edit

27 May 2018
18:00 		HBC Nantes   26–32   Montpellier Lanxess Arena, Cologne
Attendance: 19,250
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Lazarov 6 (13–16) Fabregas, Simonet 6
2×  2×  Report 1×  3× 

Statistics and awards edit

Top goalscorers edit

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

Awards edit

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

Other awards

References edit

  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.

External links edit

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