VELUX EHF Champions League begins September 2018 through to June 2019

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28 teams from across the continent will battle for the coveted title from September through to June 2019, beginning with the first group phase matches on September 12 and culminating in the hugely popular event, the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne, Germany. 

At the end of last season, it was French club Montpellier HB who raised the trophy – an occurrence that could not have been predicted. Montpellier made their way to the first elimination matches, the Last 16, from the lower-tier Groups C/D, reaching the FINAL4 after victories over record Champions League title holders FC Barcelona and 2014 winners Flensburg. 

The FINAL4 was contested between three French clubs – Montpellier, HBC Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain – and 2017 champions HC Vardar from FYR Macedonia. It was the first time any nation had been represented by three clubs at the pinnacle event – a further confirmation of the increasing power of French handball. Argentina’s biggest handball star Diego Simonet was the first non-European selected as MVP of the FINAL4, and Montpellier’s squad was the only one of the finalists that boasted players from three continents (Europe, Africa and Pan America). 

This year, Montpellier will begin their title defence in competitive Group A, taking on the winners from the three seasons prior to their triumph: Macedonian team HC Vardar (2017), Polish side PGE Vive Kielce (2016) and Spanish powerhouse Barcelona (2015). They will also meet four-time semi-finalists Telekom Veszprém from Hungary, as well as Belarusian side HC Meshkov Brest, Swedish club IFK Kristianstad and German Cup champions Rhein-Neckar Löwen. 

“Winning the trophy is so hard for a team that has been ranked among the favourites. But we are ready to take on the task with all the humility required. But, for a club like Montpellier, to qualify for the quarter-finals would already be a good performance,” says Montpellier coach Patrice Canayer, who has led the team since 1994 and won the Champions League title twice with the club famous for developing French stars.

Montpellier’s 2017/18 final opponents HBC Nantes will play from Group B, taking on PSG, Hungarian champions MOL-Pick Szeged, German champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt, Danish club Skjern Handbold, 27-time Croatian champions HC PPD Zagreb, Ukrainian team HC Motor Zaporozhye and Slovenian title holders RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko. 

After 14 rounds of group phase matches, ending in March next year, the winners of Groups A and B will qualify directly for the quarter-finals, skipping the Last 16 stage. The next five teams on each group’s ranking will play the Last 16, alongside the winners of the Group C/D play-offs. All Champions League elimination matches are played in a two-leg home-and-away format, with the scores of both games forming the cumulative result of each clash. 

Groups C and D see six teams vying for the top two places and with those, the tickets to the play-offs for Last 16 berths. Group C will be contested by HC Metalurg (MKD), Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (DEN), Sporting CP (POR), Besiktas Mogaz (TUR), Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS) and TATRAN Presov. In Group D, Orlen Wisla Plock (POL), Abanca Ademar Leon (ESP), Elverum Handball (NOR), Wacker Thun (SUI), Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) and Riihimäen Cocks will battle for the top places. 

All VELUX EHF Champions League matches are streamed live and free on ehfTV.com. More information on the Champions League can be found on the official website ehfcl.com. 

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