Wikipedia

2023–24 Women's EHF Champions League

This article is about the women's competition. For the men's competition, see 2023–24 EHF Champions League.

The 2023–24 Women's EHF Champions League was the 31st edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 9 September 2023 to 2 June 2024.

Women's EHF Champions League
2023–24
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates9 September 2023–2 June 2024
Teams16
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
ChampionsHungary Győri Audi ETO KC
Runner-upGermany SG BBM Bietigheim
Tournament statistics
Matches played130
Goals scored7486 (57.58 per match)
Attendance387,487 (2,981 per match)
MVPNorway Stine Bredal Oftedal
Top scorer(s)Russia Anna Vyakhireva
(113 goals)

Vipers Kristiansand were the defending champions but were eliminated by Győri Audi ETO KC in the quarterfinals. Győri Audi ETO KC went on to win their sixth title with a finals win over SG BBM Bietigheim.[1]

Format

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The tournament used the same format as the previous three seasons. The competition began with a group stage featuring sixteen teams divided into two groups. Matches were played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures, fourteen in total for each team. In Groups A and B, the top two teams automatically qualified for the quarter-finals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th entered the playoff round.

The knockout stage included four rounds: the playoffs, quarter-finals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the playoffs, eight teams were paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches (third-placed in group A plays sixth-placed group B; fourth-placed group A plays fifth-placed group B, etc.). The four aggregate winners of the playoffs advanced to the quarterfinals, joining the top-two teams of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams were 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 were played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue.

Rankings

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This season, the EHF decided to make separate rankings for each club competition.[2] The rankings are based on the performances from the three most recent seasons.

  • Associations 1–9 had their league champion qualify for the Group Stage and apply up to two wildcards.
  • The Association that won the past season's Women's EHF European League had their league champion and runner up qualified for the Group Stage and applied for one wildcard.
  • Associations below the top 9 had their league champion apply for a wildcard.

Teams

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21 teams applied for a place, with nine having a fixed place.[4][5] For the first time ever, countries were allowed to apply two clubs for a wildcard. The final list was announced in June 20 2023, which included Hungary and Denmark having three participating teams for the first time.[6]

The fixed place for Russia was vacant since the country and its clubs were not admitted to participate in the EHF competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7]

Participating teams
  Team Esbjerg (1st)   Győri Audi ETO KC (1st)   Metz Handball (1st)   CSM București (1st)
  Odense Håndbold (2nd)   FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (2nd) WC   Brest Bretagne Handball (2nd) WC   CS Rapid București (2nd) WC
  Ikast Håndbold (3rd) WC   DVSC Schaeffler (3rd) WC   RK Krim Mercator (1st)   MKS Zagłębie Lubin (1st) WC
  Vipers Kristiansand (1st)   IK Sävehof (1st) WC   SG BBM Bietigheim (1st)   WHC Budućnost BEMAX (1st)
  • WC Accepted wildcards
Wildcard rejection
  RK Lokomotiva Zagreb (1st)   Neptunes de Nantes (3rd)   Storhamar HE (2nd)   Sola HK (3rd)
  Kastamonu Bld. GSK (1st)

Draw

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The draw took place on 27 June 2023.[6][8]

Group stage

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class=notpageimage|
Location of teams of the 2023–24 Women's EHF Champions League group stage.
Main article: 2023–24 Women's EHF Champions League group stage

The 16 teams were drawn into 2 groups of eight. In regards to Hungary and Denmark, who have three clubs in the Group Stage, a maximum of two clubs from those countries could be drawn into the same group.[9]

In the group stage, teams were ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking was determined as follows:

  1. Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;
  3. Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved;
  4. Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
  5. Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
  6. Drawing of Lots

This season, ten national associations were present. For the first time since the 2019–20 season, Poland had a representative, while Sweden returned after a one season absence.

Group A

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GYO ODE BRE BUC DEB BIE BUD SÄV
1   Győri Audi ETO KC 14 11 1 2 432 356 +76 23 Quarterfinals — 32–29 32–32 24–26 35–23 31–29 37–19 39–20
2   Odense Håndbold 14 10 1 3 461 359 +102 21 30–31 — 29–29 29–25 33–30 42–29 39–24 40–22
3   Brest Bretagne Handball 14 7 3 4 399 367 +32 17[a] Playoffs 23–24 25–26 — 24–21 38–28 37–30 20–20 28–23
4   CSM București 14 8 1 5 414 366 +48 17[a] 23–27 28–24 28–30 — 29–29 31–28 44–26 35–26
5   DVSC Schaeffler 14 7 1 6 394 414 −20 15 29–28 22–35 31–24 23–30 — 26–36 27–22 32–29
6   SG BBM Bietigheim 14 7 0 7 414 402 +12 14 26–34 25–28 34–30 26–24 27–31 — 34–16 30–21
7   WHC Budućnost BEMAX 14 2 1 11 311 433 −122 5 21–29 17–33 21–34 24–29 21–27 22–27 — 31–30
8   IK Sävehof 14 0 0 14 342 470 −128 0 26–29 20–22 20–25 26–41 27–36 29–33 23–27 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Brest 54–49 București

Group B

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Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MET ESB IKA VIP KRI FER BUC LUB
1   Metz Handball 14 11 0 3 470 402 +68 22[a] Quarterfinals — 36–31 36–39 31–29 40–31 25–24 33–22 42–26
2   Team Esbjerg 14 11 0 3 449 412 +37 22[a] 29–27 — 37–34 32–37 29–21 27–23 30–28 32–26
3   Ikast Håndbold 14 10 1 3 476 435 +41 21 Playoffs 35–34 34–35 — 30–26 33–32 28–28 30–29 41–29
4   Vipers Kristiansand 14 7 1 6 445 403 +42 15 34–36 37–38 31–32 — 29–23 37–26 35–30 28–24
5   RK Krim Mercator 14 6 1 7 389 384 +5 13 22–28 33–27 28–34 24–24 — 32–26 25–24 32–19
6   FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 14 4 2 8 387 408 −21 10 25–38 28–33 37–36 27–35 26–28 — 24–24 35–22
7   CS Rapid București 14 4 1 9 366 399 −33 9 31–34 24–33 27–35 30–29 27–22 20–23 — 26–25
8   MKS Zagłębie Lubin 14 0 0 14 327 466 −139 0 24–30 24–36 26–35 20–34 18–36 23–35 21–24 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Metz 63–60 Esbjerg

Knockout stage

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Main article: 2023–24 Women's EHF Champions League knockout stage

Playoffs

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria   59–56   Brest Bretagne Handball 28–30 31–26
SG BBM Bietigheim   60–58   Ikast Håndbold 29–27 31–31
RK Krim Mercator   48–60   CSM București 24–30 24–30
DVSC Schaeffler   55–56   Vipers Kristiansand 28–29 27–27

Quarterfinals

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Vipers Kristiansand   49–54   Győri Audi ETO KC 23–30 26–24
CSM București   47–56   Metz Handball 24–27 23–29
SG BBM Bietigheim   60–58   Odense Håndbold 30–26 30–32
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria   49–55   Team Esbjerg 25–26 24–29

Final four

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The final four was held at the MVM Dome in Budapest, Hungary on 1 and 2 June 2024.

Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
1 June
 
 
  Team Esbjerg23
 
2 June
 
  Győri Audi ETO KC24
 
  Győri Audi ETO KC30
 
1 June
 
  SG BBM Bietigheim24
 
  Metz Handball29
 
 
  SG BBM Bietigheim36
 
Third place
 
 
2 June
 
 
  Team Esbjerg37
 
 
  Metz Handball33

Final

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2 June 2024
18:00 		Győri Audi ETO KC   30–24   SG BBM Bietigheim MVM Dome, Budapest
Attendance: 18,500
Referees: Lovin, Stancu (ROU)
Brattset Dale, Gros 6 (17–12) Hvenfelt 5
2×  5×  Report 2×  2× 

Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Club Goals[10]
1   Anna Vyakhireva   Vipers Kristiansand 113
2   Nora Mørk   Team Esbjerg 110
3   Sarah Bouktit   Metz Handball 107
  Henny Reistad   Team Esbjerg
5   Cristina Neagu   CSM București 103
6   Valeriia Maslova   Brest Bretagne Handball 101
7   Markéta Jeřábková   Ikast Håndbold 100
  Kristina Jørgensen   Metz Handball
  Katrin Klujber   FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria
10   Chloé Valentini   Metz Handball 97

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Györ seal sixth title in emphatic fashion". eurohandball.com. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  2. ^ "EHF improves club competitions ranking system". eurohandball.com. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  3. ^ https://www.eurohandball.com/media/dq1axkil/new_placedistribution_final_women_23_24.pdf
  4. ^ "21 clubs registered for EHF Champions League 2023/24". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  5. ^ "European Handball Federation Announced: 21 Clubs Registered for the Champions League Women 2023/24". handball-world.news. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Teams set for EHF Champions League season 2023/24". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  7. ^ "EHF Court of Handball rejects Russia appeal against ban". insidethegames.biz. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Fascinating ties thrown-up by EHF CL Women group phase draw". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Draw procedure for the EHF Champions League Women 2023/24 announced". eurohandball.com. 23 June 2023.
  10. ^ Goalscorers
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