2017–18 Women's EHF Champions League

Women's EHF Champions League
2017–18
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates9 September 2017–13 May 2018
Teams16 (group stage)
22 (qualification)
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
ChampionsHungary Győri Audi ETO KC
Runner-upNorth Macedonia HC Vardar
Tournament statistics
Matches played96
Goals scored5014 (52.23 per match)
Attendance281,647 (2,934 per match)
Top scorer(s)Romania Cristina Neagu
(110 goals)

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

Győri Audi ETO KC defended their title by defeating HC Vardar in the final.[1]

Competition format

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16 teams participated in the competition, divided in four groups who played in a round robin, home and away format. The top three teams in each group qualified for the main round

Main round

The 12 qualified teams were divided in four groups who played in a round robin, home and away format. The points gained against the qualified teams in the first round were carried over. The top four teams in each group qualified for the quarterfinals.

Knockout stage

After the quarterfinals, the culmination of the season, the WOMEN'S EHF FINAL4, will continue in its existing format, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.

Team allocation

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

Group stage
Denmark FC Midtjylland Denmark Nykøbing Falster Håndbold France Brest Bretagne Handball France Metz Handball
Germany SG BBM Bietigheim Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC North Macedonia HC Vardar
Montenegro ŽRK Budućnost Norway Larvik HK Poland Vistal Gdynia Romania CSM București
Russia Rostov-Don Slovenia RK Krim
Qualification tournaments
Austria Hypo Niederösterreich Belarus HC Gomel Croatia Podravka Koprivnica Germany Thüringer HC
Norway Vipers Kristiansand Spain CB Atlético Guardés Sweden H 65 Höör Turkey Kastamonu Belediyesi

Round and draw dates

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The qualification draw was held in Vienna, Austria, the group stage draw in Ljubljana, Slovenia and the final four draw in Budapest, Hungary.[3][4][5]

Phase Draw date
Qualification tournaments 29 June 2017
Group stage 30 June 2017
Knockout stage
Final Four 17 April 2018

Qualification stage

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The draw was held on 29 June 2017. The two winners of the qualification tournaments advanced to the group stage.[6]

Qualification tournament 1

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Vipers Kristiansand hosted the tournament.[7]

Bracket

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
9 September
 
 
Norway Vipers Kristiansand43
 
10 September
 
Belarus HC Gomel19
 
Norway Vipers Kristiansand42
 
9 September
 
Croatia Podravka Koprivnica14
 
Croatia Podravka Koprivnica21
 
 
Turkey Kastamonu Belediyesi17
 
Third place
 
 
10 September
 
 
Belarus HC Gomel29
 
 
Turkey Kastamonu Belediyesi28

Qualification tournament 2

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Thüringer HC hosted the tournament.[7]

Bracket

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
9 September
 
 
Germany Thüringer HC31
 
10 September
 
Spain CB Atlético Guardés21
 
Germany Thüringer HC33
 
9 September
 
Sweden H 65 Höör24
 
Sweden H 65 Höör32
 
 
Austria Hypo Niederösterreich19
 
Third place
 
 
10 September
 
 
Spain CB Atlético Guardés27
 
 
Austria Hypo Niederösterreich29

Group stage

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The draw was held on 30 June 2017.[8]

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

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BUC NYK KRI GDY
1 Romania CSM Bucureşti 6 5 0 1 192 144 +48 10 Main round 39–26 30–18 34–22
2 Denmark Nykøbing Falster 6 4 0 2 168 163 +5 8 25–22 28–26 27–21
3 Slovenia RK Krim 6 3 0 3 159 158 +1 6 30–33 27–26 29–22
4 Poland Vistal Gdynia 6 0 0 6 135 189 −54 0 EHF Cup 23–34 28–36 19–29
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GYO ROS MID BRE
1 Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC 6 5 0 1 153 126 +27 10 Main round 25–23 27–16 29–17
2 Russia Rostov-Don 6 4 0 2 149 138 +11 8 23–22 27–20 26–24
3 Denmark FC Midtjylland 6 3 0 3 134 147 −13 6 24–27 24–21 27–23
4 France Brest Bretagne Handball 6 0 0 6 132 157 −25 0 EHF Cup 23–26 23–29 22–23
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VAR FER THÜ LAR
1 North Macedonia HC Vardar 6 6 0 0 182 147 +35 12 Main round 34–31 29–21 30–27
2 Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 6 4 0 2 183 167 +16 8 28–29 28–25 37–33
3 Germany Thüringer HC 6 1 0 5 145 167 −22 2[a] 21–29 25–29 22–25
4 Norway Larvik HK 6 1 0 5 152 181 −29 2[a] EHF Cup 19–31 21–30 27–31
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Thüringer HC 53–52 Larvik HK

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MET BUD BIE KRI
1 France Metz Handball 6 5 0 1 157 137 +20 10 Main round 27–23 27–21 30–22
2 Montenegro ŽRK Budućnost 6 3 0 3 144 148 −4 6[a] 23–18 32–24 26–23
3 Germany SG BBM Bietigheim 6 3 0 3 152 158 −6 6[a] 26–30 27–21 25–24
4 Norway Vipers Kristiansand 6 1 0 5 144 154 −10 2 EHF Cup 22–25 29–19 24–29
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b ŽRK Budućnost 53–51 SG BBM Bietigheim

Main round

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The top three teams of each preliminary group advance. Points obtained against qualified teams from the same group are carried over.

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

Group 1

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GYO ROS BUC MID NYK KRI
1 Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC 10 8 0 2 281 231 +50 16 Quarterfinals 25–23 28–24 27–16 32–23 34–25
2 Russia Rostov-Don 10 7 1 2 266 232 +34 15 23–22 25–24 27–20 32–22 29–22
3 Romania CSM Bucureşti 10 6 1 3 282 246 +36 13 28–22 22–22 29–24 39–26 30–18
4 Denmark FC Midtjylland 10 2 2 6 226 251 −25 6 24–27 24–21 26–31 24–20 24–24
5 Denmark Nykøbing Falster 10 2 1 7 240 284 −44 5[a] 24–32 25–29 25–22 21–21 28–26
6 Slovenia RK Krim 10 2 1 7 243 294 −51 5[a] 21–32 26–35 30–33 24–23 27–26
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Nykøbing Falster 54–53 RK Krim

Group 2

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VAR MET FER BUD BIE THÜ
1 North Macedonia HC Vardar 10 9 0 1 301 245 +56 18 Quarterfinals 29–23 34–31 31–24 30–22 29–21
2 France Metz Handball 10 7 0 3 269 256 +13 14 24–22 28–25 27–23 27–21 35–29
3 Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 10 6 0 4 282 265 +17 12 28–39 29–27 34–26 31–22 28–25
4 Montenegro ŽRK Budućnost 10 4 0 6 251 260 −9 8 25–30 23–18 23–24 32–24 29–21
5 Germany SG BBM Bietigheim 10 2 0 8 242 294 −52 4[a] 26–38 26–30 27–23 27–21 31–24
6 Germany Thüringer HC 10 2 0 8 257 282 −25 4[a] 21–29 29–31 25–29 24–25 28–26
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b SG BBM Bietigheim 57–52 Thüringer HC

Knockout stage

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The first four placed teams from the main round qualified for the knockout stage.

Quarterfinals

[edit]
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
ŽRK Budućnost Montenegro 48–56 Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC 20–26 28–30
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria Hungary 51–63 Russia Rostov-Don 29–31 22–32
CSM București Romania 54–48 France Metz Handball 34–21 20–27
FC Midtjylland Denmark 48–56 North Macedonia HC Vardar 23–24 25–32

Final four

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Bracket

[edit]
 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
12 May
 
 
Romania CSM București20
 
13 May
 
Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC26
 
Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC (OT) 27
 
12 May
 
North Macedonia HC Vardar26
 
Russia Rostov-Don19
 
 
North Macedonia HC Vardar25
 
Third place
 
 
13 May
 
 
Romania CSM București31
 
 
Russia Rostov-Don30

Final

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13 May 2018
18:00
Győri Audi ETO KC Hungary 27–26 (ET) North Macedonia HC Vardar László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest
Attendance: 12,000
Referees: Bonaventura, Bonaventura (FRA)
Groot 9 (9–9) Lekić 6
Yellow card 6×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report Yellow card 4×number 2 in light blue rounded square

FT: 20–20 ET: 7–6

Awards and statistics

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All-Star Team

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The all-star team and awards were announced on 11 May 2018.[9]

Other awards

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Top goalscorers

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As of 13 May 2018
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Romania Cristina Neagu Romania CSM București 110
2 Czech Republic Iveta Luzumová Germany Thüringer HC 105
3 Croatia Andrea Penezić North Macedonia HC Vardar 92
4 Norway Veronica Kristiansen Denmark FC Midtjylland 91
5 Sweden Johanna Westberg Denmark Nykøbing Falster 76
6 Slovenia Ana Gros France Metz Handball 74
7 Montenegro Milena Raičević Montenegro ŽRK Budućnost 72
8 Hungary Anita Görbicz Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC 70
9 Serbia Andrea Lekić North Macedonia HC Vardar 69
10 Spain Nerea Pena Hungary FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 66
Russia Anna Vyakhireva Russia Rostov-Don
Sweden Isabelle Gulldén Romania CSM București

References

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  1. ^ "A perfect farewell for Martin: Györ become first to defend FINAL4 title". ehfcl.com. 13 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Top flight participants for 2017/18 confirmed". ehfcl.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  3. ^ "EHF receives 25 registrations for the 25th season of Women's EHF Champions League". ehfcl.com. 12 June 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Ljubljana hosts draw for the 25th season of EHF Champions League". ehfcl.com. 13 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Follow the Women's EHF FINAL4 2018 Draw live". ehfcl.com. 17 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Former champions avoid a clash in the qualification". eurohandball.com. 29 June 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Vipers Kristiansand and Thüringer HC host EHF CL Qualification Tournaments". ehfcl.com. 7 July 2017. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Defending champions in the group with the EHF Cup winners Rostov". ehfcl.com. 30 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Women's EHF Champions League All-star team revealed on the eve of EHF FINAL4". eurohandball.com. 11 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
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