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
Sport	Handball
Dates	5 September 2015–29 May 2016
Teams	28 (group stage) 31 (total)
Website	ehfcl.com
Final positions
Champions	Vive Tauron Kielce
Runner-up	MVM Veszprém
Tournament statistics
Matches played	201
Goals scored	11168 (55.56 per match)
Attendance	843,367 (4,196 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mikkel Hansen (DEN) (141 goals)

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.

Groups A/B
Zagreb	KIF Kolding København	Montpellier	Paris Saint-Germain
Rhein-Neckar Löwen	Flensburg-Handewitt	THW Kiel	MOL-Pick Szeged
MVM Veszprém	Vardar	Vive Tauron Kielce	Wisła Płock
Celje	Barcelona LassaTH	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 Zaporizhzhia
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.

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.

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. RK Banja Luka organized the tournament.

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	5 September 2015
	Elverum Håndball	35
					6 September 2015
	Limburg Lions	30
					Elverum Håndball	28
	5 September 2015
					Alpla HC Hard	25
	Alpla HC Hard	35
	RK Banja Luka	33
					Third place
					6 September 2015
					Limburg Lions	33
					RK Banja Luka	29

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

Kiel

RN Löwen

Flensburg

Barcelona

Logroño

PSG

Montpellier

Veszprém

Szeged

KIF

Skjern

Celje

Kielce

Płock

Vardar

Metalurg

Kristianstad

Brest

Kadetten

Minaur

Zagreb

Porto

Chekhov

Motor

Vojvodina

Tatran

Elverum

Beşiktaş

class=notpageimage|

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. 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 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.

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.

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.

Tiebreakers

In the group stage, teams are ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows (article 4.3.1, section II of regulations): Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved; Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved; Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved (or in the away match in case of a two-team tie); Superior goal difference in all matches of the group; Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group; If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by EHF through drawing of lots. During the group stage, only criteria 4–5 apply to determine the provisional ranking of teams.

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 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	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	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	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	Montpellier	14	3	1	10	372	413	−41	7			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			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:

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			28–32	—	30–23	30–26	31–22	37–29
3	Porto	10	7	0	3	296	265	+31	14			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			26–35	26–31	23–27	26–24	—	24–25
6	Tatran Prešov	10	2	0	8	240	279	−39	4			20–30	19–21	24–25	27–21	19–27	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZAP	SKJ	SCH	HCM	ELV	MET
1	Motor Zaporizhzhia	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.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Logroño	67–70	Motor Zaporizhzhia	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.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Motor Zaporizhzhia	52–70	MVM Veszprém	24–29	28–41
Meshkov Brest	58–65	Vive Tauron 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.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Zagreb	52–60	Paris Saint-Germain	20–28	32–32
THW Kiel	59–57	Barcelona Lassa	29–24	30–33
Vardar	56–59	MVM Veszprém	26–29	30–30
Flensburg-Handewitt	56–57	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.

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	28 May
	Vive Tauron Kielce	28
					29 May
	Paris Saint-Germain	26
					Vive Tauron Kielce (Pen)	39
	28 May
					MVM Veszprém	38
	THW Kiel	28
	MVM Veszprém (ET)	31
					Third place
					29 May
					Paris Saint-Germain	29
					THW Kiel	27

Final

29 May 2016 18:00	Vive Tauron 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

Top goalscorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.

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

Awards

The All-star team of the Champions League 2015/16:

Position	Player
Goalkeeper	Niklas Landin Jacobsen (THW Kiel)
Right wing	Gašper Marguč (MVM Veszprém)
Right back	Kiril Lazarov (Barcelona Lassa)
Centre back	Dean Bombač (MOL-Pick Szeged)
Left back	Momir Ilić (MVM Veszprém)
Left wing	Manuel Štrlek (Vive Tauron Kielce)
Pivot	Rastko Stojković (HC Meshkov Brest)
Best defender	Timuzsin Schuch (MVM Veszprém)
Best coach	Xavi Sabaté (MVM Veszprém)

Landin Štrlek Stojković Marguč Ilić Bombač Lazarov Best Defender : Timuzsin Schuch

Best Coach: Xavi Sabaté

See also

• 2015–16 EHF Cup
• 2015–16 EHF Challenge Cup

External links

• Official website