2015–16 EHF Cup

The 2015–16 EHF Cup was the 35th edition of the EHF Cup, the second most important European handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF), and the fourth edition since the merger with the EHF Cup Winners' Cup.

EHF Cup

2015–16
Tournament information
Sport	Handball
Dates	5 September 2015–15 May 2016
Teams	69 (qualification stage) 16 (group stage)
Final positions
Champions	Frisch Auf Göppingen
Runner-up	HBC Nantes
Tournament statistics
Top scorer(s)	Ferran Solé (70 goals)

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 24 teams entered the draw for the first qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 22 July 2015. The first legs were played on 6–7 September and the second legs were played on 13–14 September 2015.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Dinamo București	62–48	Energia Lignitul Pandurii Târgu Jiu	38–24	24–24
Hubo Initia Hasselt	70–45a	Merzifon Belediye Hentbol SK	37–21	33–24
RK Poreč	46–42b	Maccabi Rishon Lezion	20–18	26–24
HC Fregata-Burgas	38–54	KH BESA Famiglia	18–24	20–30
GRK Varaždin 1930	47–36	A.S.D. Romagna Handball	26–16	21–20
PGU-Kartina TV Tiraspol	50–76c	NMC Górnik Zabrze	25–40	25–36
Põlva Serviti	53–49	Dragūnas Klaipėda	29–26	24–23
Ystad IF HF	76–48	Handball Käerjeng	41–28	35–20
HB Dudelange	50–68d	Haslum Handballklubb	27–34	23–34
KRAS/Volendam	64–41e	HC Lovćen	34–23	30–18
TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen	67–55	Riihimäki Cocks	34–24	33–21
SSV Bozen Loacker	50–50f (a)	Haukar	30–24	20–26

Notes

^a Both legs were hosted by Hubo Initia Hasselt.

^b Both legs were hosted by RK Poreč.

^c Both legs were hosted by NMC Górnik Zabrze.

^d Both legs were hosted by Haslum Handballklubb.

^e Both legs were hosted by KRAS/Volendam.

^f Both legs were hosted by SSV Bozen Loacker.

Round 2

A total of 32 teams entered the draw for the second qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 22 July 2015. Among these teams were 12 winners of the previous round.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
AC Diomidis Argous	41–61a	Dinamo București	21–26	20–35
Csurgói KK	59–46	Pogoń Szczecin	29–19	30–27
ØIF Arendal	65–43b	KH BESA Famiglia	34–18	31–25
Talent M.A.T. Plzeň	54–49	RK Poreč	27–24	27–25
Pfadi Winterthur	52–44	Põlva Serviti	31–24	21–20
Hubo Initia Hasselt	48–43	RK Spartak Vojput	27–20	21–23
Permskie Medvedi	54–55	Ystads IF	30–28	24–27
CSM București	50–47	Bregenz	28–24	22–23
TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen	53–52	Alingsås HK	27–25	26–27
RK Nexe	62–41	GRK Varaždin 1930	30–20	32–31
Haukar	63–44c	HC Zomimak-M	34–20	29–24
Team Tvis Holstebro	64–63	Sporting CP	36–31	28–32
NMC Górnik Zabrze	54–52	ZTR Zaporizhia	28–25	26–27
Haslum Handballklubb	53–60	RK Borac m:tel	28–29	25–31
KRAS/Volendam	55–64	SKA Minsk	25–32	30–32
Chambery Savoie Handball	66–40	HC Sporta Hlohovec	35–12	31–28

Notes

^a Both legs were hosted by Dinamo București.

^b Both legs were hosted by OIF Arendal.

^c Both legs were hosted by Haukar.

Round 3

A total of 32 teams entered the draw for the third qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 21 October 2015. Among these teams 16 winners of the previous round.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Pfadi Winterthur	59–48	KS Azoty-Puławy	29–25	30–23
Ystads IF	59–48	Grundfos Tatabanya KC	28–28	31–20
Maribor Branik	52–57	Dinamo București	27–26	25–31
Alpla HC Hard	46–68	SKA Minsk	23–33	23–35
RK Gorenje Velenje	52–61	Team Tvis Holstebro	25–29	27–32
Aalborg Handball	62–48	TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen	30–20	32–28
Hubo Initia Hasselt	46–52	Helvetia Anaitasuna	20–28	26–24
RK Borac m:tel	52–58	OCI-LIONS	29–31	23–27
Talent M.A.T. Plzeň	51–66	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	28–31	23–35
RK Nexe	44–48	HBC Nantes	26–26	18–22
Füchse Berlin	61–65	Chambery Savoie Handball	31–31	30–34
NMC Górnik Zabrze	58–77	Frisch Auf Göppingen	29–39	29–38
CSM București	60–53	Frigoríficos del Morrazo	31–24	29–29
SC Magdeburg	65–61	Csurgói KK	42–37	23–24
Haukar	46–59	Saint-Raphael Var Handball	28–29	18–30
Fraikin BM. Granollers	55–49	ØIF Arendal	29–21	26–28

Group stage

Göppingen

SC Magdeburg

Granollers

Anaitasuna

Aalborg

Silkeborg

Holstebro

Chambery

Nantes

Saint-Raphael

SKA Minsk

Limburg

Pfadi

CSM București

CS Dinamo București

Ystads

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Location of teams of the 2015–16 EHF Cup group stage.
Red: Group A; Green: Group B; Blue: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

Main article: 2015–16 EHF Cup group stage

Draw and format

The draw of the EHF Cup group phase took place on Thursday, 3 December 2015, 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.

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 13–14 February, 20–21 February, 27–28 February, 5–6 March, 19–20 March, and 26–27 March 2016.

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):

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.

Seeding

On 3 December 2015, EHF announced the composition of the group phase seeding pots.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Fraikin BM. Granollers	SC Magdeburg	Dinamo București	Aalborg Handball
OCI-Lions	Team Tvis Holstebro	HBC Nantes	Frisch Auf Göppingen
SKA Minsk	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	Pfadi Winterthur	Saint-Raphael Var Handball
Chambery Savoie Handball	Helvetia Anaitasuna	Ystads IF	CSM București

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MAG	GRA	DIN	AAL
1	SC Magdeburg (A)	6	4	0	2	184	162	+22	8	Advance to knockout stage		—	32–28	39–22	25–19
2	Fraikin BM. Granollers (A)	6	3	1	2	172	165	+7	7			34–29	—	28–29	24–24
3	Dinamo Bucuresti (E)	6	2	1	3	166	181	−15	5			33–34	26–27	—	28–23
4	Aalborg Handball (E)	6	1	2	3	147	161	−14	4			26–25	25–31	28–28	—

Updated to match(es) played on 27 March 2016. Source: [1]
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NAN	GÖP	HOL	OCI
1	HBC Nantes (A)	6	5	0	1	176	151	+25	10	Advance to knockout stage		—	27–24	32–23	30–24
2	Frisch Auf Göppingen (A)	6	4	0	2	198	161	+37	8			27–26	—	36–23	40–20
3	Team Tvis Holstebro (E)	6	3	0	3	167	180	−13	6			27–28	34–31	—	29–24
4	OCI-Lions (E)	6	0	0	6	154	203	−49	0			26–33	31–40	29–31	—

Updated to match(es) played on 27 March 2016. Source: [2]
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		SIL	RAP	WIN	MIN
1	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (A)	6	4	1	1	168	155	+13	9	Advance to knockout stage		—	31−26	27–27	32–26
2	Saint-Raphael Var Handball (A)	6	3	1	2	165	165	0	7			23–25	—	28–28	31–29
3	Pfadi Winterthur (E)	6	1	2	3	160	162	−2	4			25–28	21–24	—	32–24
4	SKA Minsk (E)	6	2	0	4	169	180	−11	4			28–25	31–33	31−27	—

Updated to match(es) played on 27 March 2016. Source: [3]
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		CHA	YST	BUC	HEL
1	Chambery Savoie Handball (A)	6	4	2	0	161	141	+20	10	Advance to knockout stage		—	32–22	23–23	26–23
2	Ystads IF (E)	6	3	1	2	159	167	−8	7			26–27	—	29–28	32–31
3	CSM Bucuresti (E)	6	1	3	2	152	156	−4	5			25–25	27–27	—	27–24
4	Helvetia Anaitasuna (E)	6	1	0	5	150	158	−8	2			22–28	22–23	28–22	—

Updated to match(es) played on 27 March 2016. Source: [4]
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 French side HBC Nantes, 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.

Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
B	Frisch Auf Göppingen	6	4	0	2	198	161	+37	8
A	Fraikin BM. Granollers	6	3	1	2	172	165	+7	7
C	Saint-Raphael Var Handball	6	3	1	2	165	165	0	7
D	Ystads IF	6	3	1	2	159	167	−8	7

Source:

Knockout stage

Main article: 2015–16 EHF Cup knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Draw and format

Because the hosts of the Final 4 tournament, HBC Nantes, 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 were played for the remaining spots in the final tournament. The draw of the EHF Cup quarter-finals took place on Tuesday 29 March 2016 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Six teams were positioned into two pots. Teams from the same group could not face each other in the quarter-finals. The country protection rule was not applied for the quarter-finals. Therefore, there were two national duels in this round.

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. The first pot contained the three group winners and the second pot contained the top three second-placed teams.

Pot 1 SC Magdeburg Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Chambery Savoie Handball

Pot 2 Fraikin BM Granollers Frisch Auf Göppingen Saint-Raphael Var Handball

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Fraikin Granollers	56–56	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	30–24	26–32
Saint-Raphael Var Handball	52–54	Chambery Savoie Handball	30–25	22–29
Frisch Auf Göppingen	58–54	SC Magdeburg	31–25	27–29

Final four

	Semi-finals				Final
	14 May
	Chambery Savoie	25
					15 May
	FA Göppingen	28
					FA Göppingen	32
	14 May
					HBC Nantes	26
	BM Granollers	26
	HBC Nantes	27
					Third place
					15 May
					Chambery Savoie	21
					BM Granollers	25

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Team	Goals
1	Ferran Solé	Fraikin BM. Granollers	70
2	Marcel Schiller	Frisch Auf Göppingen	69
3	Robert Weber	SC Magdeburg	66
4	Valero Rivera Folch	HBC Nantes	59
5	Javier Humet	CSM Bucuresti	58
	Michael Damgaard	SC Magdeburg	58

See also

• 2015–16 EHF Champions League
• 2015–16 EHF Challenge Cup

External links

• EHF Cup (official website)