2014–15 EHF Cup

The 2014–15 EHF Cup was the 34th edition of the EHF Cup, the second most important European handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF), and the third edition since the merger with the EHF Cup Winners' Cup.

EHF Cup
2014–15
The Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin, venue of the Final four tournament
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates5 September 2014–17 May 2015
Teams69 (Qualification stage)
16 (Group stage)
7 (Knockout stage)
Final positions
Champions Füchse Berlin (1st title)
Runner-up HSV Hamburg
Tournament statistics
Matches played58
MVP Kentin Mahé
Top scorer(s) Staš Skube (81 goals)

Overview

Team allocation

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:[1]

  • TH: Title holders
  • CW: Cup winners
  • CR: Cup runners-up
  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
  • ECL: Transferred from the EHF Champions League
    • QS: Losers from the qualification tournaments
Round 3
Füchse Berlin (CW) Huesca (4th) Tatran Prešov (ECL QS) Vojvodina (ECL QS)
HSV Hamburg (4th) Gorenje (2nd) Porto (ECL QS) Alpla HC Hard (ECL QS)
Fraikin Granollers (3rd) St. Petersburg (2nd) HCM Constanța (ECL QS) Haslum HK (ECL QS)
Round 2
MT Melsungen (6th) SønderjyskE (5th) Pfadi Winterthur (2nd) Elverum (1st)
Ademar León (5th) Maribor Branik (3rd) Nexe Našice (2nd) Portovik (2nd)
Nantes (4th) Balatonfüred (3rd) SKA Minsk (2nd) Targos Bevo HC (ECL QS)
Fenix Toulouse (5th) Tatabánya (CR) SMD Bacău (2nd) Junior Fasano (ECL QS)
Skjern (3rd) GK Permskie Medvedi (CW) Eskilstuna Guif (3rd) Initia Hasselt (ECL QS)
Tvis Holstebro (4th) Kaustik Volgograd (4th) Sporting CP (2nd)
Round 1
Orosháza (7th) Potaissa Turda (3rd) Topoľčany (2nd) Lovćen (1st)
Dinamo Astrakhan (5th) IFK Kristianstad (4th) HC Sporta Hlohovec (3rd) ÍBV (1st)
Kriens-Luzern (3rd) Železničar 1949 (CW) Bregenz (CW) Haukar (2nd)
BSV Bern Muri (4th) Diomidis Argous (1st) OCI-Lions (2nd) Dragūnas Klaipėda (1st)
GRK Varaždin 1930 (3rd) Nilüfer Belediyespor (CW) KRAS/Volendam (3rd) KH BESA Famiglia (1st)
Dubrava (4th) Handball Käerjeng (1st) Achilles Bocholt (2nd) HC Olimpus-85 USEFS (1st)
Strumica (3rd) Handball Esch (2nd) SSV Bozen Loacker (2nd) London GD (1st)
NMC Górnik Zabrze (3rd) Maccabi Tel Aviv (1st) Talent M.A.T. Plzeň(1st)
HC Gomel (3rd) Maccabi Rishon LeZion (2nd) HC Kehra (1st)

Round and draw dates

All draws were held at the European Handball Federation headquarters in Vienna, Austria.[2]

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying Qualification round 1 22 July 2014 6–7 September 2014 13–14 September 2014
Qualification round 2 11–12 October 2014 18–19 October 2014
Qualification round 3 21 October 2014 22–23 November 2014 29–30 November 2014
Group stage Matchday 1 4 December 2014 14–15 February 2015
Matchday 2 21–22 February 2015
Matchday 3 28 February–1 March 2015
Matchday 4 7–8 March 2015
Matchday 5 14–15 March 2015
Matchday 6 21–22 March 2015
Knockout stage Quarterfinal 24 March 2015 11–12 April 2015 18–19 April 2015
Final 4
(Berlin)		 Semifinal 21 April 2015 16 May 2015
Final 17 May 2015

Qualification stage

The qualification stage consisted of three rounds, which were played as two-legged ties using a home-and-away system. In the draws for each round, teams were allocated into two pots, with teams from Pot 1 facing teams from Pot 2. The winners of each pairing (highlighted in bold) qualified for the following round.

For each round, teams listed first played the first leg at home. In some cases, teams agreed to play both matches at the same venue.

Round 1

A total of 34 teams entered the draw for the first qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 22 July 2014. The first legs were played on 6–7 September and the second legs were played on 13–14 September 2014.[3]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Achilles Bocholt 59–63 Železničar 1949 31–30 28–33
Bregenz 64–50a Dragūnas Klaipėda 28–24 36–26
Diomidis Argous 36–60 IFK Kristianstad 19–30 17–30
HC Sporta Hlohovec 56–48 Nilüfer Belediyespor 35–25 21–23
Lovćen 47–67b Kriens-Luzern 22–30 25–37
KRAS/Volendam 52–55 Topoľčany 29–32 23–23
Dubrava 55–63 GRK Varaždin 1930 26–30 29–33
London GD 30–72c OCI-Lions 18–28 12–44
HC Olimpus-85 USEFS 56–62d Orosháza 28–34 28–28
Maccabi Tel Aviv 55–67e Potaissa Turda 25–32 30–35
ÍBV 50–57f Maccabi Rishon LeZion 25–30 25–27
Talent M.A.T. Plzeň 50–43g SSV Bozen Loacker 26–26 24–17
BSV Bern Muri 55–38 HC Gomel 29–15 26–23
Haukar 53–54 Dinamo Astrakhan 27–29 26–25
KH BESA Famiglia 63–55h HC Kehra 31–32 32–23
NMC Górnik Zabrze 70–52 Strumica 36–25 34–27
Handball Käerjeng 48–59 Handball Esch 23–34 25–25
Notes

Round 2

A total of 40 teams entered the draw for the second qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 22 July 2014. Among these teams were the fourth-placed teams from the 2014–15 EHF Champions League qualification tournaments (Pot 1) and the 17 winners of the previous round (Pot 2).[4] The first legs were played on 11–12 October and the second legs were played on 18–19 October 2014.[3]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Eskilstuna Guif 55–52 SønderjyskE 29–27 26–25
SKA Minsk 64–63 NMC Górnik Zabrze 34–30 30–33
SMD Bacău 62–55a OCI-Lions 34–29 28–26
KH BESA Famiglia 51–83b Nexe Našice 25–40 26–43
Balatonfüred 46–43 Dinamo Astrakhan 21–23 25–20
Bregenz 59–72 Skjern 27–36 32–36
Nantes 72–53 GRK Varaždin 1930 42–27 30–26
Topoľčany 59–49 Targos Bevo HC 32–25 27–24
Tvis Holstebro 71–59 Kriens-Luzern 35–23 36–36
Pfadi Winterthur 65–55 Železničar 1949 35–26 30–29
Kaustik Volgograd 20–0 Portovik 10–0 10–0
Sporting CP 62–57 HC Sporta Hlohovec 34–24 28–33
Maribor Branik 50–61 IFK Kristianstad 26–25 24–36
Junior Fasano 53–67 Potaissa Turda 27–28 26–39
BSV Bern Muri 51–67 Ademar León 30–38 21–29
Handball Esch 49–50c Tatabánya 24–25 25–25
Talent M.A.T. Plzeň 48–55 Permskie Medvedi 23–25 25–30
MT Melsungen 57–53 Fenix Toulouse 34–27 23–26
Initia Hasselt 46–56 Orosháza 25–26 21–30
Elverum 65–52d Maccabi Rishon LeZion 36–28 29–24
Notes

Round 3

A total of 32 teams entered the draw for the third qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 21 October 2014. Among these teams were the runners-up and third-placed teams from the 2014–15 EHF Champions League qualification tournaments (Pot 1) and the 20 winners of the previous round.[5] The first legs were played on 11–12 October and the second legs were played on 18–19 October 2014. The 16 winners qualified for the group stage.[6]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Porto 54–52 Ademar León 29–24 25–28
Tvis Holstebro 61–55 SMD Bacău 32–27 29–28
Nexe Našice 58–46 Potaissa Turda 35–20 23–26
Füchse Berlin 46–46 (a) Nantes 23–18 23–28
Kaustik Volgograd 57–64 Haslum HK 31–28 26–36
MT Melsungen 56–50 Tatran Prešov 31–24 25–26
IFK Kristianstad 55–55 (a) HSV Hamburg 27–29 28–26
Alpla HC Hard 49–52 Balatonfüred 31–26 18–26
HCM Constanța 57–50 Elverum 27–21 30–29
Tatabánya 47–54 St. Petersburg 23–22 24–32
Topoľčany 51–60 Pfadi Winterthur 26–28 25–32
Eskilstuna Guif 55–50 Huesca 32–24 23–26
Sporting CP 50–50 (a) Fraikin Granollers 27–25 23–25
Permskie Medvedi 63–76 Gorenje 34–37 29–39
Skjern 72–45 Orosháza 40–20 32–25
Vojvodina 52–50 SKA Minsk 27–22 25–28

Group stage
Location of teams of the 2014–15 EHF Cup group stage.
Red: Group A; Green: Group B; Blue: Group C; Yellow: Group D.
Main article: 2014–15 EHF Cup group stage

Draw and format

The draw of the EHF Cup group phase took place on Thursday, 4 December 2014, at 11:00 CET. The 16 teams allocated into four pots were drawn into four groups of four teams. The country protection rule was applied, i.e. two clubs from the same country could not face each other in the same group.[7]

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 14–15 February, 21–22 February, 28 February – 1 March, 7–8 March, 14–15 March, and 21–22 March 2015.

If Füchse Berlin, as the organiser of the Final 4 tournament, win their group or finish among top three second-ranked teams, they will receive a direct qualification to the Final 4 tournament. If the German side wins their group then the other three group winners and the three best second ranked team will qualify for the quarter-finals. If the Germans finish among the top three second-ranked teams, the quarter-finals will consist of four group winners and two best second-ranked teams. If Füchse Berlin finish as the worst second-ranked team, they will have to play the quarter-final match. Should the German club rank on the third or fourth position in their group, they will be out of the competition, but they will still organize the Final 4 tournament.

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):[8]

  1. number of points in matches of all teams directly involved;
  2. goal difference in matches of all teams directly involved;
  3. higher number of plus goals in matches of all teams directly involved;
  4. goal difference in all matches of the group;
  5. higher number of plus goals in all matches of the group;

If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by drawing lots. Lots shall be drawn by the EHF, if possible in the presence of a responsible of each club.[8]

Seeding

On 1 December 2014, EHF announced the composition of the group phase seeding pots.[7]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
HSV Hamburg Fraikin Granollers Füchse Berlin Nexe Našice
MT Melsungen Balatonfüred St. Petersburg Skjern
Porto Haslum HK Gorenje Tvis Holstebro
HCM Constanța Vojvodina Eskilstuna Guif Pfadi Winterthur

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HSV GOR HAS WIN
1 HSV Hamburg (A) 6 5 0 1 189 169 +20 10 Advance to knockout stage — 33–28 36–26 30–28
2 Gorenje (A) 6 4 0 2 192 160 +32 8 31–32 — 34–21 30–26
3 Haslum HK (E) 6 2 0 4 160 194 −34 4 34–32 22–34 — 23–27
4 Pfadi Winterthur (E) 6 1 0 5 160 178 −18 2 22–26 26–35 31–34 —
Updated to match(es) played on 21 March 2015. Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated.

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HOL GRA CON PET
1 Tvis Holstebro (A) 6 4 2 0 185 168 +17 10 Advance to knockout stage — 29–24 34–28 28–24
2 Fraikin Granollers (E) 6 3 1 2 159 154 +5 7 28–28 — 23–21 30–26
3 HCM Constanța (E) 6 1 2 3 163 178 −15 4 34–34 28–27 — 25–25
4 St. Petersburg (E) 6 1 1 4 162 169 −7 3 30–32 22–27 35–27 —
Updated to match(es) played on 22 March 2015. Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated.

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BER SKJ POR VOJ
1 Füchse Berlin (A) 6 5 0 1 175 143 +32 10 Advance to knockout stage — 29–24 25–20 37–22
2 Skjern (A) 6 5 0 1 164 147 +17 10 32–28 — 27–21 32–23
3 Porto (E) 6 2 0 4 142 152 −10 4 20–26 23–24 — 29–23
4 Vojvodina (E) 6 0 0 6 143 182 −39 0 25–30 23–25 27–29 —
Updated to match(es) played on 21 March 2015. Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated.

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MEL GUI NEX BAL
1 MT Melsungen (A) 6 5 0 1 177 152 +25 10 Advance to knockout stage — 31–27 34–26 29–23
2 Eskilstuna Guif (A) 6 3 2 1 165 156 +9 8 27–25 — 33–24 24–24
3 Nexe Našice (E) 6 1 1 4 161 170 −9 3 25–28 29–29 — 26–27
4 Balatonfüred (E) 6 1 1 4 140 165 −25 3 24–30 23–25 19–31 —
Updated to match(es) played on 21 March 2015. Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated.

Ranking of the second-placed teams

The ranking of the second-placed teams was carried out on the basis of the team's results in the group stage. Because the German side Füchse Berlin, the organizers of the Final 4 tournament, finished on top of their group they qualified directly to the final tournament and only the top three second-placed teams qualified to the quarter-finals.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Skjern Håndbold 6 5 0 1 164 147 +17 10
2 Gorenje 6 4 0 2 192 160 +32 8
3 Eskilstuna Guif 6 3 2 1 165 156 +9 8
4 Fraikin Granollers 6 3 1 2 159 154 +5 7
Source:

Knockout stage
Main article: 2014–15 EHF Cup knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Draw and format

Because the hosts of the Final 4 tournament, Füchse Berlin, finished the group stage among the group winners, they have clinched the direct ticket to the final weekend and decided that only three quarter-finals will be played for the remaining spots in the final tournament.[9] The draw of the EHF Cup quarter-finals took place on Tuesday 24 March 2015 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria.[9] Six teams were positioned into two pots with the country protection rule not applied: two clubs from the same country could face each other in the quarter-finals.[9] However, teams from the same group could not face each other in the quarter-finals.[9] The first pot contained the three group winners and the second pot contained the top three second-placed teams.[9]

In the quarter-finals, teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the teams from second pot playing the first leg at home.[10] The first leg matches were played over 11–12 April, and the second leg matches were played over 18–19 April.[9]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Eskilstuna Guif 51–53 HSV Hamburg 29–26 22-27
Skjern Håndbold 48–48 MT Melsungen 25–20 23-28
Gorenje 59–57 Team Tvis Holstebro 28–27 31-30

Final four

The tournament was played at the 8,700 capacity Max-Schmeling-Halle in the German capital Berlin, the home of Füchse Berlin.[11]

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
16 May
 
 
 Gorenje24
 
17 May
 
 Füchse Berlin27
 
 Füchse Berlin30
 
16 May
 
 HSV Hamburg27
 
 Skjern Håndbold23
 
 
 HSV Hamburg27
 
Third place
 
 
17 May
 
 
 Gorenje22
 
 
 Skjern Håndbold27

Top goalscorers
Rank Name Team Goals
1 Staš Skube Gorenje 81
2 Kentin Mahé HSV Hamburg 69
3 Mario Šoštarič Gorenje 58
4 Adrian Pfahl HSV Hamburg 55
5 Viktor Östlund Eskilstuna Guif 54
6 Michael Damgaard Tvis Holstebro 51
7 Patrick Wiesmach Tvis Holstebro 49
Daniel Petterson Eskilstuna Guif
Mathias Tholin Eskilstuna Guif
10 Morten Balling Skjern 48

See also

References
  1. "2014/15 EHF Cup clubs". eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation (EHF). Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  2. "2014/2015 Men's EHF Cup competition system" (PDF). eurohandball.com. EHF. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. "Draw of the Men's EHF Cup". eurohandball.com. EHF. 22 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  4. "Men's EHF Cup seedings (Round 1 & 2)" (PDF). eurohandball.com. EHF. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  5. "Big names await their EHF Cup fate". eurohandball.com. EHF. 21 October 2014. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  6. "Hamburg face Kristianstad, while Füchse meet Nantes in Round 3". eurohandball.com. EHF. 21 October 2014. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  7. "Hamburg, Melsungen, FC Porto and Constanta in Pot 1". eurohandball.com. EHF. 1 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  8. "2014/2015 Men's EHF Cup Regulations" (PDF). EHF. p. 18. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  9. "Journey to Berlin leads through Vienna". EHF official website. 22 March 2015. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  10. "Montpellier face Nantes in all-French quarter-final". EHF official website. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  11. "Official contract for EHF Cup Finals signed". European Handball Federation official website. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
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