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 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
Champions Vive Targi Kielce
Runner-up 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 Targi 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
Zagreb KIF Kolding København Montpellier Paris Saint-Germain
Rhein-Neckar Löwen Flensburg-Handewitt THW Kiel Pick Szeged
MVM Veszprém Vardar Vive Targi Kielce Wisła Płock
Celje BarcelonaTH IFK Kristianstad Beşiktaş
Groups C/D
Meshkov Brest Skjern Håndbold Metalurg Skopje Porto
HC Baia Mare Chekhovskiye Medvedi Vojvodina Tatran Prešov
Logroño Kadetten Schaffhausen Motor Zaporozhye
Qualification tournament
Alpla HC Hard RK Banja Luka Limburg Lions 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
 
 
 Elverum Håndball35
 
6 September 2015
 
 Limburg Lions30
 
 Elverum Håndball28
 
5 September 2015
 
 Alpla HC Hard25
 
 Alpla HC Hard35
 
 
 RK Banja Luka33
 
Third place
 
 
6 September 2015
 
 
 Limburg Lions33
 
 
 RK Banja Luka29

All times are local (UTC+2).

Semifinals
5 September 2015
17:30		 Elverum Håndball 35–30 Limburg Lions Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka
Attendance: 500
Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA)
Burud 9 (14–15) Baart, Steins 7
3× 3× Report 3× 4×
5 September 2015
20:00		 Alpla HC Hard 35–33 RK Banja Luka Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka
Attendance: 3,500
Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL)
Zeiner 8 (17–14) Trivundža 13
3× 7× 1× Report 3× 11× 1×

Third place game
6 September 2015
17:30		 Limburg Lions 33–29 RK Banja Luka Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka
Attendance: 400
Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA)
Heijnen 7 (16–14) Janković 8
3× 5× Report 3× 3×

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

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 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 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 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 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 Zagreb 14 5 1 8 358 367 −9 11 23–25 20–21 23–30 29–22 — 29–25 24–23 32–26
6 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 Celje 14 3 1 10 385 398 −13 7 30–32 27–30 26–30 23–23 20–21 25–28 — 43–29
8 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 Barcelona 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 Vive Targi 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 Vardar 14 9 0 5 416 373 +43 18 25–27 34–24 — 25–19 27–23 34–26 38–31 34–24
4 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 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 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 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 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 Meshkov Brest 10 8 0 2 321 264 +57 16 Advanced to playoffs — 31–33 34–27 32–26 34–22 32–26
2 Logroño 10 7 0 3 298 270 +28 14[lower-alpha 1] 28–32 — 30–23 30–26 31–22 37–29
3 Porto 10 7 0 3 296 265 +31 14[lower-alpha 1] 29–28 35–31 — 31–27 37–15 33–23
4 Chekhovskiye Medvedi 10 4 0 6 271 292 −21 8 27–33 27–26 30–29 — 34–30 29–28
5 Vojvodina 10 2 0 8 241 297 −56 4[lower-alpha 2] 26–35 26–31 23–27 26–24 — 24–25
6 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 Motor Zaporozhye 10 7 1 2 296 277 +19 15 Advanced to playoffs — 31–26 31–23 25–23 33–30 30–24
2 Skjern Håndbold 10 6 2 2 293 271 +22 14 36–36 — 25–29 32–28 34–29 20–19
3 Kadetten Schaffhausen 10 5 1 4 270 270 0 11 30–27 24–30 — 24–23 30–31 27–17
4 HC Baia Mare 10 3 3 4 264 268 −4 9 35–30 28–28 31–31 — 24–29 21–20
5 Elverum Håndball 10 3 1 6 274 289 −15 7 29–30 23–37 27–28 28–28 — 29–23
6 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. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Logroño 67–70 Motor Zaporozhye 30–31 37–39
Skjern Håndbold 54–58 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. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Motor Zaporozhye 52–70 MVM Veszprém 24–29 28–41
Meshkov Brest 58–65 Vive Targi Kielce 28–32 30–33
Montpellier 57–59 Flensburg-Handewitt 27–28 30–31
Wisła Płock 54–55 Vardar 30–30 24–25
Pick Szeged 62–65 THW Kiel 33–29 29–36
Zagreb 54–53 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 23–24 31–29

Quarterfinals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Zagreb 52–60 Paris Saint-Germain 20–28 32–32
THW Kiel 59–57 Barcelona 29–24 30–33
Vardar 56–59 MVM Veszprém 26–29 30–30
Flensburg-Handewitt 56–57 Vive Targi 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
 
 
 Vive Targi Kielce28
 
29 May
 
 Paris Saint-Germain26
 
 Vive Targi Kielce (Pen)39
 
28 May
 
 MVM Veszprém38
 
 THW Kiel28
 
 
 MVM Veszprém (ET)31
 
Third place
 
 
29 May
 
 
 Paris Saint-Germain29
 
 
 THW Kiel27

Final
29 May 2016
18:00		 Vive Targi Kielce 39–38 (ET) MVM Veszprém Lanxess Arena, Cologne
Attendance: 19,250
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Reichmann 9 (13–17) Ilić, Ugalde 6
3× 5× Report 3× 6×

FT: 29–29 ET: 6–6 Pen: 4–3

Awards and statistics

Top goalscorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.[13]

Rank Player Team Goals
1 Mikkel Hansen Paris Saint-Germain 108
2 Momir Ilić MVM Veszprém 97
3 Kiril Lazarov Barcelona 94
4 Marko Vujin THW Kiel 93
5 Dean Bombač Pick Szeged 89
6 Domagoj Duvnjak THW Kiel 87
Michał Jurecki Vive Targi Kielce
8 Anders Eggert Flensburg-Handewitt 72
Nikola Karabatić Paris Saint-Germain
Barys Pukhouski Motor Zaporozhye

Awards

The all-star team was announced by EHF on 29 May 2015.[14]

Other 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. 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). 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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