2018–19 EHF Champions League

The 2018–19 EHF Champions League is the 59th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 25th edition under the current EHF Champions League format.^[1]

Competition format

Twenty-eight teams participate in the competition, divided in four groups. Groups A and B are played with eight teams each, in a round robin, home and away format. The top team in each group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals, the bottom two in each group drop out of the competition and the remaining 10 teams qualify for the first knock-out phase.

In groups C and D, six teams play in each group in a round robin format, playing both home and away. The top two teams in each group will then meet in a ‘semi-final’ play-off, with the two winners going through to the first knock-out phase. The remaining teams drop out of the competition.

Knock-out Phase 1 (Last 16)

12 teams will play 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 will join with 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

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

Groups A/B
Meshkov Brest	RK Zagreb	Skjern Håndbold	Montpellier Handball
HBC Nantes	Paris Saint-Germain	Flensburg-Handewitt	Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Pick Szeged	Telekom Veszprém	RK Vardar	Vive Targi Kielce
Barcelona Lassa	IFK Kristianstad	RK Celje	Motor Zaporozhye
Groups C/D
Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	Riihimäki Cocks	Metalurg Skopje	Elverum Håndball
Wisła Płock	Sporting CP	CS Dinamo București	Chekhovskiye Medvedi
HT Tatran Prešov	CB Ademar León	Wacker Thun	Beşiktaş

Round and draw dates

Group stage

RN Löwen

Flensburg

Barcelona

León

PSG

Montpellier

Nantes

Veszprém

Szeged

Bjerringbro

Skjern

Celje

Kielce

Płock

Vardar

Metalurg

Kristianstad

Brest

Thun

Dinamo

Zagreb

Sporting

Chekhov

Motor

Cocks

Prešov

Elverum

Beşiktaş

Location of teams of the 2018–19 EHF Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Green: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

The draw for the group stage was held on 29 June 2018 at 12:30 at the Erste Campus in Vienna, Austria. 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 was that teams from the same national association could not face each other in the same group. The only exception was HBC Nantes, who play against one of the two French rivals in the group.^[3]

In each group, teams will play 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 will be determined in the following manner:

• Groups A and B – the top team will qualify directly for the quarterfinals, and the five teams ranked 2nd–6th will advance 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAR	VAR	KIE	RNL	VES	BRE	MON	KRI
1	Barcelona Lassa	5	4	0	1	173	136	+37	8	Quarterfinals		—	14–18 Nov	3–4 Nov	27 Feb–3 Mar	31–28	28 Nov–2 Dec	35–27	13–17 Feb
2	RK Vardar	5	4	0	1	143	132	+11	8	First knockout round		10 Nov	—	1 Dec	29–27	13–17 Feb	3 Nov	27 Feb–3 Mar	33–25
3	Vive Targi Kielce	5	4	0	1	155	145	+10	8			24 Nov	31–27	—	35–32	27 Feb–3 Mar	17 Nov	13–17 Feb	33–31
4	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	5	3	0	2	163	152	+11	6			35–34	6–10 Feb	20–24 Feb	—	21 Nov	33–27	7 Nov	36–27
5	Telekom Veszprém	5	3	0	2	141	142	−1	6			20–24 Feb	24–27	29–27	3 Nov	—	6–10 Feb	2 Dec	17 Nov
6	Meshkov Brest	5	2	0	3	134	144	−10	4			21−29	24 Nov	10 Nov	13–17 Feb	28–29	—	26–23	27 Feb–3 Mar
7	Montpellier Handball	5	0	0	5	129	147	−18	0	Eliminated		6–10 Feb	24–27	26–29	14 Nov	29–30	20–24 Feb	—	25 Nov
8	IFK Kristianstad	5	0	0	5	138	178	−40	0			25–44	20–24 Feb	6–10 Feb	1 Dec	10 Nov	30–32	3 Nov	—

Updated to match(es) played on 14 October 2018. Source: EHF

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PAR	SZE	SKJ	NAN	FLE	ZAG	ZAP	CEL
1	Paris Saint-Germain	5	5	0	0	161	129	+32	10	Quarterfinals		—	4 Nov	1 Dec	35–34	10 Nov	13–17 Feb	27 Feb–3 Mar	33–21
2	Pick Szeged	5	5	0	0	149	134	+15	10	First knockout round		24 Nov	—	18 Nov	30–28	30–28	27 Feb–3 Mar	13–17 Feb	33–24
3	Skjern Håndbold	5	2	1	2	146	151	−5	5			24–26	11 Nov	—	13–17 Feb	25 Nov	31–31	37–33	27 Feb–3 Mar
4	HBC Nantes	5	2	0	3	166	153	+13	4			6–10 Feb	13–17 Feb	35–27	—	31–34	3 Nov	18 Nov	38–27
5	Flensburg-Handewitt	5	2	0	3	142	139	+3	4			14 Nov	28 Nov	4 Nov	27 Feb–3 Mar	—	29–31	31–24	13–17 Feb
6	RK Zagreb	5	1	1	3	133	151	−18	3			21–32	23–24	6–10 Feb	24 Nov	13–17 Feb	—	1 Dec	10 Nov
7	Motor Zaporozhye	5	1	0	4	152	162	−10	2	Eliminated		29–35	31–32	13–17 Feb	11 Nov	6–10 Feb	35–27	—	25 Nov
8	RK Celje	5	1	0	4	121	151	−30	2			13–17 Feb	6–10 Feb	26–27	2 Dec	23–20	18 Nov	4 Nov	—

Updated to match(es) played on 14 October 2018. Source: EHF

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BJE	SPO	PRE	MED	BES	SKO
1	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	5	4	0	1	168	135	+33	8	Playoffs		—	2 Dec	18 Nov	39–28	4 Nov	33–25
2	Sporting CP	5	4	0	1	152	137	+15	8			32–35	—	3 Nov	17 Nov	24 Nov	34–26
3	HT Tatran Prešov	5	3	0	2	137	128	+9	6	Eliminated		26–24	27–30	—	27–28	10 Nov	1 Dec
4	Chekhovskiye Medvedi	5	2	0	3	133	138	−5	4			10 Nov	22–23	24 Nov	—	22–24	33–25
5	Beşiktaş	5	2	0	3	127	142	−15	4			24–37	27–33	22–28	1 Dec	—	17 Nov
6	Metalurg Skopje	5	0	0	5	122	159	−37	0			24 Nov	11 Nov	24–29	4 Nov	22–30	—

Updated to match(es) played on 13 October 2018. Source: EHF

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BUC	LEO	PLO	ELV	RII	THU
1	CS Dinamo București	5	4	0	1	145	141	+4	8	Playoffs		—	8 Nov	24–21	26–24	21 Nov	35–34
2	CB Ademar León	5	3	1	1	128	126	+2	7			31–28	—	27–24	1 Dec	17 Nov	3 Nov
3	Wisła Płock	5	3	0	2	143	121	+22	6	Eliminated		3 Nov	25 Nov	—	10 Nov	34–18	34–24
4	Elverum Håndball	5	3	0	2	140	137	+3	6			18 Nov	30–25	28–30	—	28–27	25 Nov
5	Riihimäki Cocks	5	0	2	3	121	139	−18	2			31–32	19–19	28 Nov	3 Nov	—	11 Nov
6	Wacker Thun	5	0	1	4	138	151	−13	1			29 Nov	25–26	15 Nov	29–30	26–26	—

Updated to match(es) played on 14 October 2018. Source: EHF

Knockout stage

The first-placed team from the preliminary groups A and B advance to the quarterfinals, while the 2–6th placed teams advance to the round of 16 alongside the playoff winners.

Top goalscorers

As of 13 October 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jóhan Hansen	Skjern Håndbold	37
2	Ron Delhees	Wacker Thun	33
3	Halil Jaganjac	Metalurg	32
4	Alex Dujshebaev	Vive Kielce	29
	Andy Schmid	Rhein-Neckar Löwen
6	Anders Eggert	Skjern Håndbold	28
	Nikolaj Ø. Nielsen	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
8	Darko Ðukić	Meshkov Brest	26
	Nico Rönnberg	Riihimäki Cocks
	Nicolas Jann Suter	Wacker Thun

References

External links

• Official website