2019–20 EHF Champions League

The 2019–20 EHF Champions League was the 60th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 27th edition under the current EHF Champions League format.[1]

This article is about the men's competition. For the women's competition, see 2019–20 Women's EHF Champions League.
EHF Champions League
2019–20
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates11 September 2019–29 December 2020
Teams28 (group stage)
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
Champions THW Kiel
Runner-up Barça
Tournament statistics
Matches played180
Goals scored10715 (59.53 per match)
Attendance553,901 (3,077 per match)
MVP Hendrik Pekeler
Top scorer(s) Niclas Ekberg
(85 goals)

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the knockout stage matches were postponed and later cancelled. The Final Four, which took place at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, was moved from May to December and was contested by the top two teams from Groups A and B – Barça, Paris Saint-Germain, THW Kiel and Telekom Veszprém.[2][3] As a result, reigning champions Vardar were not able to defend their title.

Format

The competition begins with a group stage featuring twenty-eight teams divided in four groups: Groups A and B contain eight teams, while Groups C and D contain six teams. Matches are played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures. In Groups A and B, the top six teams qualify for the knockout stage, with teams ranked 2nd–6th entering the round of 16 and the group winners advancing directly to the quarter-finals. In Groups C and D, only the top two teams advance to a compete in a two-legged play-off round, with the two winners going through to the knockout stage round of 16.

The knockout stage includes four rounds: the round of 16, quarterfinals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the round of 16, twelve teams (ten from Groups A and B, and the two play-off winners from Groups C and D) are paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches. The six aggregate winners of the round of 16 advance to the quarterfinals, joining the winners of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams are paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches, with the four aggregate winners qualifying to the final-four tournament.

In the final four tournament, the semifinals and the final are played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue.

Team allocation

A total of 35 teams from 21 countries submitted their application for a place in the competition's group stage before the deadline of 12 June.[4] The final list of 28 participants was revealed by the EHF Executive Committee on 21 June.[5]

Groups A/B
Meshkov Brest PPD Zagreb Aalborg Handbold SG Flensburg-Handewitt
Barça Paris Saint-Germain Telekom Veszprém Vardar
Elverum Håndball PGE Vive Kielce Porto Sofarma Celje Pivovarna Laško
Motor Zaporozhye THW Kiel Montpellier Handball MOL-Pick Szeged
Groups C/D
Riihimäki Cocks Dinamo București Chekhovskiye Medvedi IK Sävehof
Kadetten Schaffhausen Tatran Prešov GOG Håndbold Bidasoa Irun
Eurofarm Rabotnik Orlen Wisła Płock Sporting CP IFK Kristianstad

Round and draw dates

The draw was held on 27 June 2019 in Vienna, Austria.[6]

Phase Draw date
Group stage 27 June 2019
Knockout stage
Final Four
(Cologne)		 5 May 2020

Group stage
Location of teams of the 2019–20 EHF Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Green: Group C; Yellow: Group D.
Main article: 2019–20 EHF Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 27 June 2019 in Vienna, Austria. The 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 was that teams from the same national association could not face each other in the same group.

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 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 SZE ALB FLE CEL ZAG ELV
1 Barça 14 13 0 1 485 380 +105 26 Quarterfinals — 36–32 30–28 44–35 31–27 45–21 32–23 33–24
2 Paris Saint-Germain 14 11 0 3 444 389 +55 22 First knockout round 32–35 — 30–25 37–24 32–30 27–18 37–26 31–25
3 MOL-Pick Szeged 14 9 2 3 409 370 +39 20 31–28 32–29 — 26–26 24–24 31–24 33–23 32–25
4 Aalborg Håndbold 14 7 1 6 416 420 −4 15[lower-alpha 1] 30–34 29–32 28–35 — 31–28 28–24 30–20 30–28
5 SG Flensburg-Handewitt 14 7 1 6 388 379 +9 15[lower-alpha 1] 27–34 29–30 34–26 29–32 — 29–26 20–17 26–19
6 Celje Pivovarna Laško 14 3 0 11 355 429 −74 6 25–37 29–33 23–34 28–29 24–25 — 24–22 32–25
7 PPD Zagreb 14 2 1 11 343 419 −76 5 19–36 29–37 21–26 31–30 25–26 27–31 — 30–27
8 Elverum Håndball 14 1 1 12 365 419 −54 3 26–30 22–25 25–26 24–34 28–34 37–26 30–30 —
Source: EHF
Notes:
  1. Aalborg Håndbold 63–57 SG Flensburg-Handewitt

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification THW VES KIE MON POR VAR BRE ZAP
1 THW Kiel 14 9 2 3 437 398 +39 20[lower-alpha 1] Quarterfinals — 29–28 30–30 33–32 27–28 34–23 31–23 32–32
2 Telekom Veszprém 14 10 0 4 448 386 +62 20[lower-alpha 1] First knockout round 31–37 — 28–24 24–23 38–28 39–30 31–25 40–28
3 PGE Vive Kielce 14 8 2 4 421 389 +32 18 32–30 34–33 — 27–29 30–25 35–25 30–24 33–26
4 Montpellier Handball 14 8 1 5 386 375 +11 17 30–33 23–18 25–24 — 22–27 31–33 30–26 34–30
5 Porto Sofarma 14 6 2 6 400 410 −10 14 29–30 24–31 33–30 23–23 — 30–22 27–25 35–35
6 Vardar 14 5 1 8 396 444 −48 11 20–30 29–38 28–28 27–31 32–27 — 36–31 38–28
7 Meshkov Brest 14 4 0 10 401 431 −30 8 33–30 30–37 27–31 25–27 32–35 31–22 — 33–31
8 Motor Zaporozhye 14 1 2 11 406 462 −56 4 27–30 22–32 26–33 25–26 33–29 30–31 33–36 —
Source: EHF
Notes:
  1. Kiel 66–59 Veszprém

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BID SPO SÄV PRE RII RAB
1 Bidasoa Irun 10 6 3 1 297 246 +51 15 Playoffs — 30–30 39–23 27–27 34–19 26–25
2 Sporting CP 10 6 2 2 309 266 +43 14 32–32 — 27–20 32–24 39–29 36–26
3 IK Sävehof 10 6 0 4 268 278 −10 12 24–33 29–24 — 30–29 28–22 25–24
4 Tatran Prešov 10 3 1 6 260 279 −19 7 23–25 22–37 23–28 — 30–19 31–29
5 Riihimäki Cocks 10 3 0 7 239 290 −51 6[lower-alpha 1] 18–28 25–23 25–30 29–27 — 23–21
6 Eurofarm Rabotnik 10 3 0 7 265 279 −14 6[lower-alpha 1] 25–23 28–29 32–31 23–24 31–30 —
Source: EHF
Notes:
  1. Riihimäki Cocks 53–52 Eurofarm Rabotnik

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BUC PLO GOG KRI MED SCH
1 Dinamo București 10 7 3 0 298 256 +42 17 Playoffs — 29–20 35–28 28–25 34–23 27–26
2 Orlen Wisła Płock 10 5 1 4 267 260 +7 11 26–26 — 27–24 36–29 34–28 27–23
3 GOG Håndbold 10 4 1 5 310 319 −9 9[lower-alpha 1] 31–32 28–27 — 37–37 38–31 35–30
4 IFK Kristianstad 10 3 3 4 283 298 −15 9[lower-alpha 1] 29–29 24–20 24–33 — 36–28 24–24
5 Chekhovskiye Medvedi 10 4 0 6 280 308 −28 8 20–30 25–23 36–28 37–26 — 29–27
6 Kadetten Schaffhausen 10 2 2 6 280 277 +3 6 28–28 24–27 40–28 26–29 32–23 —
Source: EHF
Notes:
  1. GOG Håndbold 70–61 IFK Kristianstad

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.

Overview
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Sporting CP 49–52 Dinamo București 25–26 24–26
Orlen Wisła Płock 51–49 Bidasoa Irun 32–25 19–24

Knockout stage
Main article: 2019–20 EHF Champions League knockout stage

The winners of Groups A and B would have advanced directly to the quarterfinals, while the teams ranked 2nd–6th to the round of 16 alongside the playoff winners. After the cancellation of the last 16 and quarterfinals on 24 April 2020, the top-two placed teams from each group played the final four.[3]

Round of 16
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Dinamo București M1 Paris Saint-Germain Cancelled Cancelled
Orlen Wisła Płock M2 Telekom Veszprém Cancelled Cancelled
Vardar M3 MOL-Pick Szeged Cancelled Cancelled
Celje Pivovarna Laško M4 PGE Vive Kielce Cancelled Cancelled
Porto Sofarma M5 Aalborg Håndbold Cancelled Cancelled
SG Flensburg-Handewitt M6 Montpellier Handball Cancelled Cancelled

Quarterfinals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
M6 – Barça Cancelled Cancelled
M5 – THW Kiel Cancelled Cancelled
M4 – M1 Cancelled Cancelled
M3 – M2 Cancelled Cancelled

Final four

The final four was scheduled to be held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on 30 and 31 May but was rescheduled to 22 and 23 August 2020,[7][2][8] and later to 28 and 29 December 2020. Because of the canellation of the last 16 and quarterfinals, the first two-placed teams from the group stage groups will play in the final four.[3] The draw was held on 10 November 2020.[9][10]

Bracket
 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
28 December
 
 
 THW Kiel36
 
29 December
 
 Telekom Veszprém35
 
 THW Kiel33
 
28 December
 
 Barça28
 
 Barça37
 
 
 Paris Saint-Germain32
 
Third place
 
 
29 December
 
 
 Telekom Veszprém26
 
 
 Paris Saint-Germain31

Final
29 December 2020
20:30		 THW Kiel 33–28 Barça Lanxess Arena, Cologne
Attendance: 0[note 1]
Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
Ekberg 8 (19–16) Gómez 10
1× 5× Report  4×

Statistics and awards

Top goalscorers
As of 29 December 2020
Rank Player Club Goals[11]
1 Niclas Ekberg THW Kiel 85
2 Sander Sagosen Paris SG/ THW Kiel 76[12]
3 Hugo Descat Montpellier Handball 75
4 Aleix Gómez Barça 74
Barys Pukhouski Motor Zaporozhye
6 Timur Dibirov Vardar 69
7 Petar Nenadić Telekom Veszprém 67
8 Sebastian Barthold Aalborg Håndbold 65
Alex Dujshebaev PGE Vive Kielce
Vladislav Ostroushko Eurofarm Rabotnik
Hendrik Pekeler THW Kiel

Awards

The all-star team was announced on 12 June 2020.[13]

Other awards

Notes
  1. The match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. "A magnificent season is over, on to the next one". ehfcl.com. 4 June 2019.
  2. "EHF presents feasibility study for potential re-start of European handball". eurohandball.com. 25 March 2020.
  3. "Information on the future of the European handball season 2019/20". eurohandball.com. 24 April 2020.
  4. "35 clubs eye a place in the new season". ehfcl.com. 13 June 2019.
  5. "Starting grid for the 2019/20 season confirmed". ehfcl.com. 21 June 2019.
  6. "Last season's finalists draw same group again". ehfcl.com. 27 June 2019.
  7. "A magnificent season is over, on to the next one". ehfcl.com. 4 June 2019.
  8. "VELUX EHF FINAL4 2020 takes place, will be organised in December". ehfcl.com. 21 April 2020.
  9. "VELUX EHF FINAL4 2020 teams to learn semi-final opponents". eurohandball.com. 9 November 2020.
  10. "Kiel face Veszprém and Barça take on PSG in VELUX EHF FINAL4 semi-finals". eurohandball.com. 10 November 2020.
  11. Goalscorers
  12. 64 goals for Paris Saint-Germain and 12 goals for THW Kiel.
  13. "Massive fan's vote makes for fresh-look All-Star Team". eurohandball.com. 12 June 2020.
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