2016–17 EHF Champions League

The 2016–17 EHF Champions League was the 57th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 24th edition under the current EHF Champions League format. Vardar were crowned champions for the first time, defeating Paris Saint-Germain Handball [1]

EHF Champions League
2016–17
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates3 September 2016–4 June 2017
Teams28 (group stage)
34 (Qualification)
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
Champions Vardar
Runner-up Paris Saint-Germain
Tournament statistics
Matches played200
Goals scored11085 (55.43 per match)
Attendance845,087 (4,225 per match)
MVP Arpad Sterbik
Top scorer(s) Uwe Gensheimer
(115 goals)

Competition format

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

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

Knock-out Phase 1 (Last 16)

12 teams played 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 joined 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, continued in its existing format, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.

Team allocation
Main article: EHF coefficient rank

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

Groups A/B
Meshkov Brest (1st) Zagreb (1st) Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (1st) Paris Saint-Germain (1st)
Flensburg-Handewitt (2nd) THW Kiel (3rd) Rhein-Neckar Löwen (1st) Pick Szeged (2nd)
Telekom Veszprém (1st) Vardar (1st) Vive Tauron KielceTH (1st) Wisła Płock (2nd)
Celje (1st) FC Barcelona (1st) IFK Kristianstad (1st) Kadetten Schaffhausen (1st)
Groups C/D
Team Tvis Holstebro (2nd) Montpellier (4th) HBC Nantes (3rd) Metalurg Skopje (2nd)
Elverum Håndball (1st) Dinamo București (1st) Chekhovskiye Medvedi (1st) Logroño (2nd)
Beşiktaş (1st) Motor Zaporozhye (1st) Qualifier Group 1 Qualifier Group 2
Qualification tournaments
Bregenz Handball Achilles Bocholt Riihimäki Cocks Maccabi Tel Aviv
Red Boys Differdange ABC/UMinho (1st) Tatran Prešov RK Gorenje
  • TH = Title holders

Round and draw dates

The qualification and group stage draw was held in Glostrup, Denmark.[3]

Phase Draw date
Qualification tournaments 29 June 2016
Group stage 1 July 2016
Knockout stage
Final Four
(Cologne)		 2 May 2017

Qualification stage
Main article: 2016–17 EHF Champions League qualifying

The draw was held on 29 June 2016 at 13:00 in Vienna, Austria. The eight teams were split in two groups and played a semifinal and final to determine the last participants. Matches were played on 3 and 4 September 2016.[4]

Qualification tournament 1
 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
3 September
 
 
 RK Gorenje28
 
4 September
 
 Riihimäki Cocks25
 
 RK Gorenje21
 
3 September
 
 Tatran Prešov23
 
 Tatran Prešov38
 
 
 Red Boys Differdange32
 
Third place
 
 
4 September
 
 
 Riihimäki Cocks30
 
 
 Red Boys Differdange21

Qualification tournament 2
 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
3 September
 
 
 ABC/UMinho34
 
4 September
 
 Maccabi Tel Aviv27
 
 ABC/UMinho33
 
3 September
 
 Bregenz Handball32
 
 Bregenz Handball39
 
 
 Achilles Bocholt31
 
Third place
 
 
4 September
 
 
 Maccabi Tel Aviv33
 
 
 Achilles Bocholt30

Group stage
Location of teams of the 2016–17 EHF Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Green: Group C; Yellow: Group D.
Main article: 2016–17 EHF Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 1 July 2016 at 13:00 in the Vienna city centre. 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 is that teams from the same national association could not face each other in the same group. Since Germany qualified three teams, the lowest seeded side (Kiel) was drawn with one of the other two.[5]

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 knockout stage was 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 VES FLE KIE BJE PLO SCH
1 Barcelona 14 12 1 1 413 354 +59 25 Quarterfinals — 35–32 26–23 26–23 26–25 34–19 36–28 38–25
2 Paris Saint-Germain 14 12 0 2 451 383 +68 24 First knockout round 33–26 — 28–24 27–22 42–24 32–27 33–30 34–26
3 MVM Veszprém 14 8 2 4 381 365 +16 18 22–25 28–29 — 34–28 21–19 30–29 31–25 32–28
4 Flensburg-Handewitt 14 7 1 6 382 366 +16 15 27–28 33–34 24–24 — 25–26 26–24 22–20 31–26
5 THW Kiel 14 5 2 7 353 376 −23 12 27–27 28–27 25–27 22–30 — 21–24 24–24 32–29
6 Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 14 4 0 10 364 396 −32 8[lower-alpha 1] 23–27 30–36 24–29 19–25 25–28 — 33–24 37–32
7 Wisła Płock 14 3 2 9 367 401 −34 8[lower-alpha 1] 23–28 25–29 28–28 30–37 24–22 28–25 — 33–26
8 Kadetten Schaffhausen 14 1 0 13 370 440 −70 2 24–31 25–35 27–28 26–29 25–30 24–25 27–25 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 58–52 Wisła Płock

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification VAR KIE SZE RNL BRE ZAG CEL KRI
1 Vardar 14 10 0 4 412 378 +34 20 Quarterfinals — 40–34 30–27 26–29 31–27 25–20 35–30 32–29
2 Vive Tauron Kielce 14 9 0 5 415 390 +25 18 First knockout round 27–24 — 28–24 26–34 35–27 29–25 31–23 38–28
3 Pick Szeged 14 8 1 5 376 350 +26 17[lower-alpha 1] 21–23 27–29 — 28–28 24–22 26–21 27–22 33–28
4 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 14 8 1 5 392 396 −4 17[lower-alpha 1] 27–33 28–25 24–30 — 25–24 25–24 31–30 30–29
5 Meshkov Brest 14 5 4 5 383 385 −2 14 30–26 24–29 25–23 30–28 — 21–21 29–29 32–27
6 Zagreb 14 4 1 9 332 356 −24 9[lower-alpha 2] 28–27 23–26 24–26 25–21 22–27 — 23–21 26–23
7 Celje 14 3 3 8 399 424 −25 9[lower-alpha 2] 26–32 34–33 25–31 37–31 36–36 30–28 — 27–28
8 IFK Kristianstad 14 3 2 9 381 411 −30 8 23–28 29–25 21–29 29–31 29–29 29–22 29–29 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Pick Szeged 58–52 Rhein-Neckar Löwen
  2. Zagreb 51–51 Celje, Zagreb advanced on away goals.

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MON LOG MET PRE ELV MED
1 Montpellier 10 8 0 2 302 252 +50 16 Playoffs — 37–27 28–18 28–23 31–24 26–22
2 Logroño 10 5 1 4 294 286 +8 11 31–30 — 31–25 33–27 28–21 34–37
3 Metalurg Skopje 10 5 0 5 240 251 −11 10 24–30 24–23 — 26–20 18–17 31–24
4 Tatran Prešov 10 4 1 5 259 271 −12 9 24–28 30–27 27–22 — 25–27 30–28
5 Elverum Håndball 10 3 2 5 257 274 −17 8 32–31 27–32 26–31 24–24 — 28–28
6 Chekhovskiye Medvedi 10 2 2 6 273 291 −18 6 27–33 28–28 25–21 28–29 26–31 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification NAN ZAP BES BUC HOL BRA
1 HBC Nantes 10 8 1 1 312 270 +42 17 Playoffs — 32–34 33–19 26–24 31–26 35–33
2 Motor Zaporozhye 10 7 1 2 308 272 +36 15 26–26 — 34–28 35–27 34–28 27–23
3 Beşiktaş 10 5 1 4 275 289 −14 11 28–33 23–22 — 29–27 36–27 33–31
4 Dinamo București 10 3 2 5 294 294 0 8 26–27 35–31 26–26 — 30–25 35–29
5 Team Tvis Holstebro 10 2 1 7 281 314 −33 5 25–35 28–30 29–25 32–32 — 34–29
6 ABC/UMinho 10 2 0 8 289 320 −31 4 29–34 22–35 27–28 34–32 32–27 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Playoffs

The top two teams from Groups C and D contest a playoff to determine the two sides advancing to the knockout phase. The winners of each group will face the runners-up of the other group in a two-legged tie. The first leg will be played on 1–5 March 2017 and the second leg on 7–12 March 2017.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Logroño 56–68 HBC Nantes 25–31 31–37
Motor Zaporozhye 63–65 Montpellier 34–36 29–29

Knockout stage
Main article: 2016–17 EHF Champions League knockout stage

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

Round of 16
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
HBC Nantes 53–61 Paris Saint-Germain 26–26 27–35
Montpellier 61–54 Vive Tauron Kielce 33–28 28–26
Zagreb 41–52 MVM Veszprém 22–23 19–29
Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 48–59 Pick Szeged 24–26 24–33
Meshkov Brest 51–54 Flensburg-Handewitt 25–26 26–28
THW Kiel 50–49 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 24–25 26–24

Quarterfinals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
THW Kiel 46–49 Barcelona 28–26 18–23
Flensburg-Handewitt 51–61 Vardar 24–26 27–35
Pick Szeged 57–60 Paris Saint-Germain 27–30 30–30
MVM Veszprém 56–48 Montpellier 26–23 30–25

Final four
 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
3 June
 
 
 MVM Veszprém26
 
4 June
 
 Paris Saint-Germain27
 
 Paris Saint-Germain23
 
3 June
 
 Vardar24
 
 Vardar26
 
 
 Barcelona25
 
Third place
 
 
4 June
 
 
 MVM Veszprém34
 
 
 Barcelona30

Final
4 June 2017
18:00		 Paris Saint-Germain 23–24 Vardar Lanxess Arena, Cologne
Attendance: 19,750
Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
Karabatić 5 (12–11) Dibirov 6
2× 4× Report 2× 4×

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.[7]

Rank Player Team Goals
1 Uwe Gensheimer Paris Saint-Germain 115
2 Mikkel Hansen Paris Saint-Germain 99
3 Momir Ilić MVM Veszprém 89
4 Zsolt Balogh Pick Szeged 88
Jure Dolenec Montpellier
6 Kiril Lazarov Barcelona 85
7 Gábor Császár Kadetten Schaffhausen 84
8 Alex Dujshebaev Vardar 83
9 Nedim Remili Paris Saint-Germain 81
Rastko Stojković Meshkov Brest

Awards

The all-star team was announced on 1 June 2017.[8]

Other awards
gollark: We need an O(1)-time sorting algorithm.
gollark: But you need to check if it's sorted.
gollark: Checking if a list is sorted is O(n).
gollark: Actually, it's O(n).
gollark: I mean, it kind of offloads the sorting to your OS scheduler, but BEST SORT.

See also

References
  1. "Almost 40 clubs submit registration for the VELUX EHF Champions League 2016/17". ehfcl.com. 8 June 2016.
  2. "Line-up for 2016/17 season set". ehfcl.com. 24 June 2016.
  3. "Season is over, what's next?". ehfcl.com. 6 June 2016.
  4. "Presov and Bregenz with hosting rights in qualification". ehfcl.com. 29 June 2016.
  5. "Familiar faces for Kielce, while other powerhouses collide in Group A". ehfcl.com. 1 July 2016.
  6. "VELUX EHF Champions League – Season 2015/16 – Regulations" (PDF). EHF. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  7. "Men's EHF Champions League 2016/17 – Scorers". EHF Champions League 2016/17. European Handball Federation (EHF). Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  8. "Revolution in the All-star team: five debutants and none of last year's names". ehfcl.com. 1 June 2017.
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