2015–16 EHF Champions League

The 2015–16 EHF Champions League was the 56th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 23rd edition under the current EHF Champions League format. FC Barcelona Lassa was the defending champion.

EHF Champions League
2015–16
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates5 September 2015–29 May 2016
Teams28 (group stage)
31 (total)
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
ChampionsPoland Vive Tauron Kielce
Runner-upHungary MVM Veszprém
Tournament statistics
Matches played201
Goals scored11168 (55.56 per match)
Attendance843,367 (4,196 per match)
Top scorer(s) Mikkel Hansen (DEN)
(141 goals)[1]

Vive Tauron Kielce defeated MVM Veszprém in the final to capture their first title.

Overview

Team allocation

Twenty-seven teams were directly qualified for the group stage.[2]

Groups A/B
Croatia Zagreb Denmark KIF Kolding København France Montpellier France Paris Saint-Germain
Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen Germany Flensburg-Handewitt Germany THW Kiel Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged
Hungary MVM Veszprém North Macedonia Vardar Poland Vive Tauron Kielce Poland Wisła Płock
Slovenia Celje Spain Barcelona LassaTH Sweden IFK Kristianstad Turkey Beşiktaş
Groups C/D
Belarus Meshkov Brest Denmark Skjern Håndbold North Macedonia Metalurg Skopje Portugal Porto
Romania HC Baia Mare Russia Chekhovskiye Medvedi Serbia Vojvodina Slovakia Tatran Prešov
Spain Logroño Switzerland Kadetten Schaffhausen Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia
Qualification tournament
Austria Alpla HC Hard Bosnia and Herzegovina RK Banja Luka Netherlands Limburg Lions Norway Elverum Håndball
  • TH = Title holders

Competition format

In March 2014, EHF introduced a new competition format.[3]

Twenty-eight teams participated in the competition, divided in four groups. Groups A and B 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 12)

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, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.

Round and draw dates

All draws held at the European Handball Federation headquarters in Vienna, Austria.[4]

Phase Draw date
Group stage 26 June 2015
Knockout stage
Final Four
(Cologne)		 3 May 2016

Qualification stage

There was no draw held. The four teams played a semifinal and final to determine the last participant. Matches were played on 5 and 6 September 2015.[4][5] RK Banja Luka organized the tournament.[6]

Bracket
 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
5 September 2015
 
 
Norway Elverum Håndball35
 
6 September 2015
 
Netherlands Limburg Lions30
 
Norway Elverum Håndball28
 
5 September 2015
 
Austria Alpla HC Hard25
 
Austria Alpla HC Hard35
 
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina RK Banja Luka33
 
Third place
 
 
6 September 2015
 
 
Netherlands Limburg Lions33
 
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina RK Banja Luka29

All times are local (UTC+2).

Semifinals
5 September 2015
17:30		 Elverum Håndball Norway 35–30 Netherlands Limburg Lions Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka
Attendance: 500
Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA)
Burud 9 (14–15) Baart, Steins 7
3×Yellow card 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 3×Yellow card 4×number 2 in light blue rounded square
5 September 2015
20:00		 Alpla HC Hard Austria 35–33 Bosnia and Herzegovina RK Banja Luka Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka
Attendance: 3,500
Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL)
Zeiner 8 (17–14) Trivundža 13
3×Yellow card 7×number 2 in light blue rounded square 1×Red card Report 3×Yellow card 11×number 2 in light blue rounded square 1×Red card

Third place game
6 September 2015
17:30		 Limburg Lions Netherlands 33–29 Bosnia and Herzegovina RK Banja Luka Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka
Attendance: 400
Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA)
Heijnen 7 (16–14) Janković 8
3×Yellow card 5×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 3×Yellow card 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Final
6 September 2015
20:00		 Elverum Håndball Norway 28–25 Austria Alpla HC Hard Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka
Attendance: 400
Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL)
Stegavik 10 (15–11) Schlinger 8
3×Yellow card 4×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 2×Yellow card 4×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Group stage
Location of teams of the 2014–15 EHF Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Green: Group C; Yellow: Group D.
Main article: 2015–16 EHF Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 26 June 2015, 20:00 CEST, in the Vienna city centre.[4][7] 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).[4] The only restriction was 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 (Flensburg-Handewitt) had necessarily to be drawn with one of the other two.[8]

In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches. The matchdays are 16–20 September, 23–27 September, 30 September–4 October, 7–11 October, 14–18 October, 21–25 October, 11–15 November, 18–22 November, 25–29 November and 2–6 December 2015. For Groups A and B, additional matchdays include 10–14 February, 17–21 February, 24–28 February and 2–6 March 2016.[9]

After completion of the group stage matches, the teams advancing to the knockout stage were determined in the following manner:

  • Groups A and B – the top team qualified directly for the quarter-finals, 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 PAR VES FLE KIE ZAG PLO CEL BES
1 France Paris Saint-Germain 14 12 0 2 442 389 +53 24 Advanced to quarterfinals — 29–27 35–32 37–30 34–23 29–24 32–27 40–28
2 Hungary MVM Veszprém 14 11 1 2 402 364 +38 23 Advanced to first knockout round 28–20 — 28–24 29–27 27–25 27–25 34–28 33–25
3 Germany Flensburg-Handewitt 14 10 0 4 429 380 +49 20 39–32 28–29 — 37–27 28–27 27–25 30–20 33–25
4 Germany THW Kiel 14 8 1 5 400 388 +12 17 26–30 25–24 27–23 — 31–29 26–24 35–32 32–21
5 Croatia Zagreb 14 5 1 8 358 367 −9 11 23–25 20–21 23–30 29–22 — 29–25 24–23 32–26
6 Poland Wisła Płock 14 3 2 9 372 397 −25 8 22–27 27–27 30–34 23–37 23–23 — 26–31 32–26
7 Slovenia Celje 14 3 1 10 385 398 −13 7 30–32 27–30 26–30 23–23 20–21 25–28 — 43–29
8 Turkey Beşiktaş 14 1 0 13 382 487 −105 2 30–40 34–38 26–34 27–32 32–30 29–38 24–30 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BAR KIE VAR RNL SZE MON KRI KOL
1 Spain Barcelona Lassa 14 11 1 2 423 372 +51 23 Advanced to quarter-finals — 31–33 31–30 26–20 30–25 37–27 34–32 28–25
2 Poland Vive Tauron Kielce 14 9 3 2 425 399 +26 21 Advanced to first knockout round 30–30 — 23–20 28–27 27–26 30–23 35–27 33–31
3 North Macedonia Vardar 14 9 0 5 416 373 +43 18 25–27 34–24 — 25–19 27–23 34–26 38–31 34–24
4 Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen 14 8 1 5 369 353 +16 17 22–21 32–32 28–27 — 30–25 25–21 29–20 24–20
5 Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged 14 7 1 6 404 390 +14 15 28–30 31–30 29–31 30–24 — 28–27 35–28 34–23
6 France Montpellier 14 3 1 10 372 413 −41 7[lower-alpha 1] 23–31 27–32 25–30 28–30 29–29 — 30–26 30–25
7 Sweden IFK Kristianstad 14 3 1 10 409 437 −28 7[lower-alpha 1] 24–31 35–35 25–30 32–29 32–34 29–30 — 33–26
8 Denmark KIF Kolding København 14 2 0 12 348 429 −81 4 28–36 25–33 33–31 18–30 22–27 27–26 21–30 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Montpellier 60–55 Kristianstad

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BRE LOG POR MED VOJ PRE
1 Belarus Meshkov Brest 10 8 0 2 321 264 +57 16 Advanced to playoffs — 31–33 34–27 32–26 34–22 32–26
2 Spain Logroño 10 7 0 3 298 270 +28 14[lower-alpha 1] 28–32 — 30–23 30–26 31–22 37–29
3 Portugal Porto 10 7 0 3 296 265 +31 14[lower-alpha 1] 29–28 35–31 — 31–27 37–15 33–23
4 Russia Chekhovskiye Medvedi 10 4 0 6 271 292 −21 8 27–33 27–26 30–29 — 34–30 29–28
5 Serbia Vojvodina 10 2 0 8 241 297 −56 4[lower-alpha 2] 26–35 26–31 23–27 26–24 — 24–25
6 Slovakia Tatran Prešov 10 2 0 8 240 279 −39 4[lower-alpha 2] 20–30 19–21 24–25 27–21 19–27 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Logroño–Porto 61–58
  2. Tatran Prešov–Vojvodina 44–51

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ZAP SKJ SCH HCM ELV MET
1 Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia 10 7 1 2 296 277 +19 15 Advanced to playoffs — 31–26 31–23 25–23 33–30 30–24
2 Denmark Skjern Håndbold 10 6 2 2 293 271 +22 14 36–36 — 25–29 32–28 34–29 20–19
3 Switzerland Kadetten Schaffhausen 10 5 1 4 270 270 0 11 30–27 24–30 — 24–23 30–31 27–17
4 Romania HC Baia Mare 10 3 3 4 264 268 −4 9 35–30 28–28 31–31 — 24–29 21–20
5 Norway Elverum Håndball 10 3 1 6 274 289 −15 7 29–30 23–37 27–28 28–28 — 29–23
6 North Macedonia Metalurg Skopje 10 2 0 8 219 241 −22 4 21–23 24–25 28–24 21–23 22–19 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 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 27–28 February 2016, and the second leg will be played on 5 March 2016.[9]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Logroño Spain 67–70 Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia 30–31 37–39
Skjern Håndbold Denmark 54–58 Belarus Meshkov Brest 31–31 23–27

Knockout stage
Main article: 2015–16 EHF Champions League knockout stage

The first-place team from the preliminary groups A and B advanced to the quarterfinals, while the second through sixth place teams advanced to the round 16 alongside the playoff winners.

Round of 16
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Motor Zaporizhzhia Ukraine 52–70 Hungary MVM Veszprém 24–29 28–41
Meshkov Brest Belarus 58–65 Poland Vive Tauron Kielce 28–32 30–33
Montpellier France 57–59 Germany Flensburg-Handewitt 27–28 30–31
Wisła Płock Poland 54–55 North Macedonia Vardar 30–30 24–25
Pick Szeged Hungary 62–65 Germany THW Kiel 33–29 29–36
Zagreb Croatia 54–53 Germany Rhein-Neckar Löwen 23–24 31–29

Quarterfinals
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Zagreb Croatia 52–60 France Paris Saint-Germain 20–28 32–32
THW Kiel Germany 59–57 Spain Barcelona Lassa 29–24 30–33
Vardar North Macedonia 56–59 Hungary MVM Veszprém 26–29 30–30
Flensburg-Handewitt Germany 56–57 Poland Vive Tauron Kielce 28–28 28–29

Final four
Drawing the final four in May in Cologne

The final four was held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on 28 and 29 May 2016. The draw was held on 3 May 2016 at 12:00.[11][12]

Bracket
 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
28 May
 
 
Poland Vive Tauron Kielce28
 
29 May
 
France Paris Saint-Germain26
 
Poland Vive Tauron Kielce (Pen)39
 
28 May
 
Hungary MVM Veszprém38
 
Germany THW Kiel28
 
 
Hungary MVM Veszprém (ET)31
 
Third place
 
 
29 May
 
 
France Paris Saint-Germain29
 
 
Germany THW Kiel27

Final
29 May 2016
18:00		 Vive Tauron Kielce Poland 39–38 (ET) Hungary MVM Veszprém Lanxess Arena, Cologne
Attendance: 19,250
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Reichmann 9 (13–17) Ilić, Ugalde 6
3×Yellow card 5×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 3×Yellow card 6×number 2 in light blue rounded square

FT: 29–29 ET: 6–6 Pen: 4–3

Top goalscorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.[13]

Rank Player Team Goals
1 Denmark Mikkel Hansen France Paris Saint-Germain 141
2 Serbia Momir Ilić Hungary MVM Veszprém 120
3 North Macedonia Kiril Lazarov Spain Barcelona Lassa 109
4 Serbia Marko Vujin Germany THW Kiel 103
5 Slovenia Dean Bombač Hungary MOL-Pick Szeged 101
6 Croatia Domagoj Duvnjak Germany THW Kiel 93
Poland Michał Jurecki Poland Vive Tauron Kielce
8 Denmark Anders Eggert Germany Flensburg-Handewitt 90
France Nikola Karabatić France Paris Saint-Germain
Belarus Barys Pukhouski Ukraine Motor Zaporizhzhia

Awards

See also

References
  1. "VELUX EHF Champions League 2015/16 – Scorers". EHF Champions League 2015/16. European Handball Federation (EHF). Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  2. "VELUX EHF Champions League 2015/16 line-up confirmed". EHF Champions League 2015/16. EHF. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  3. "EHF Executive meets in Vienna". EHF Champions League 2015/16. EHF. 21 March 2014. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  4. "Vienna city centre to host first draw of new season". EHF Champions League 2015/16. EHF. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  5. "Semi-final pairings for the qualification tournament set". EHF Champions League 2015/16. EHF. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  6. "Qualification tournament to be played in Banja Luka". EHF Champions League 2015/16. EHF. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  7. "Barcelona in group with Kielce, Kiel with Veszprem again". EHF Champions League 2015/16. EHF. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  8. "Seedings for the Group Phase draw released". EHF Champions League 2015/16. EHF. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  9. "VELUX EHF Champions League – Season 2015/16 playing system and schedule" (PDF). EHF Champions League 2015/16. EHF. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  10. "VELUX EHF Champions League – Season 2015/16 – Regulations" (PDF). EHF. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  11. "Draw at the River of Dreams". ehfcl.com. 27 April 2016.
  12. "Kiel against Veszprem, Kielce welcome PSG to Cologne". ehfcl.com. 3 May 2016.
  13. "Men's EHF Champions League 2015/16 – Scorers". EHF Champions League 2015/16. European Handball Federation (EHF). Archived from the original on June 12, 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  14. "All-star team fan vote soars to new heights as over 80,000 take part". ehfcl.com. 27 May 2015.
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