2019–20 EHF Cup group stage

This article describes the group stage of the 2019–20 EHF Cup, a men's handball competition.^[1]^[2]

Draw

The 16 teams allocated into four pots will be drawn into four groups of four teams.^[3] The draw seeding pots were composed as follows:^[4]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
PAUC Handball SC Magdeburg Rhein-Neckar Löwen MT Melsungen	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Liberbank Cuenca HBC Nantes Grundfos Tatabánya KC	USAM Nîmes Gard Füchse Berlin Gwardia Opole RK Gorenje Velenje	TTH Holstebro CB Ademar León BM Logroño La Rioja SL Benfica

The draw of the EHF Cup group stage took place on Thursday, 28 November 2019.^[5]

Format

In each group, teams will play against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches. After completion of the group stage matches, the top teams and the best three second-placed teams advance to the Quarter-finals. Teams are not able to face opponents from the same country in the group.

Tiebreakers

In the group stage, teams will be 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 had scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows:

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.

Groups

The matchdays will be 8–9 February, 15–16 February, 22–23 February, 29 February–1 March, 21–22 March and 28–29 March 2020.

The European Handball Federation announced on 13 March 2020, that the EHF Cup group stage matches round 5 and 6 (21 to 22 and 28 to 29 March) matches will not be held as scheduled due to the ongoing developments in the spread of COVID-19 across Europe.^[6] On 25 March, the EHF announced that no matches will be played before June due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[7] On 24 April 2020 the matches were cancelled.^[8]

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	SL Benfica	4	4	0	121	97	+24	8	Knockout stage
2	MT Melsungen	4	2	2	118	118	0	4	Ranking of the second-placed teams
3	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	4	2	2	124	128	−4	4	Eliminated
4	Gwardia Opole	4	0	4	97	117	−20	0	Eliminated

Updated to match(es) played on 29 February 2020. Source: EHF

9 February 2020 15:00	MT Melsungen	26–21	Gwardia Opole	Rothenbach-Halle, Kassel Attendance: 2,786 Referees: Budzák, Záhradník (SVK)
	Ignatow 5	(12–10)	Mauer 7
	2× 3× 1×	Report	2× 7×

9 February 2020 15:00	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	24–33	SL Benfica	Jysk Arena, Silkeborg Attendance: 2,011 Referees: Bonaventura, Bonaventura (FRA)
	Hansen 11	(11–14)	Đorđić 11
	2× 3×	Report	1× 3×

15 February 2020 17:15	SL Benfica	29–26	MT Melsungen	Pavilhão da Luz Nº 2, Lisbon Attendance: 1,122 Referees: Boričič, Marković (SRB)
	Đorđić 9	(16–11)	Mikkelsen 6
	2× 5×	Report	1× 5×

16 February 2020 19:00	Gwardia Opole	29–32	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	Stegu Arena, Opole Attendance: 3,374 Referees: Čerņavskis, Bogdanovs (LAT)
	Działakiewicz 6	(12–20)	Pedersen 9
	2× 7×	Report	2× 6×

19 February 2020 18:45	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	35–31	MT Melsungen	Jysk Arena, Silkeborg Attendance: 1,973 Referees: Kaludjerović, Vujacić (MNE)
	Hansen 9	(16–19)	Kühn 9
	2× 5×	Report	2× 3×

22 February 2020 17:00	SL Benfica	29–24	Gwardia Opole	Pavilhão da Luz Nº 2, Lisbon Attendance: 397 Referees: Manea, Iliescu (ROU)
	Đorđić 9	(14–12)	Mauer 8
	3× 5×	Report	3× 5× 1×

29 February 2020 19:00	Gwardia Opole	23–30	SL Benfica	Stegu Arena, Opole Attendance: 2,800 Referees: Aghakishi, Aghakishi (AZE)
	Mauer 5	(12–17)	Đorđić 8
	1× 3×	Report	1× 6× 1×

29 February 2020 20:45	MT Melsungen	35–33	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	Rothenbach-Halle, Kassel Attendance: 2,878 Referees: Bounouara, Sami (FRA)
	Marić 9	(18–14)	Nøddesbo 9
	2× 3×	Report	1× 2×

SL Benfica	Cancelled	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg

Gwardia Opole	Cancelled	MT Melsungen

MT Melsungen	Cancelled	SL Benfica

Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	Cancelled	Gwardia Opole

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	4	4	0	0	136	111	+25	8	Knockout stage
2	USAM Nîmes Gard	4	2	1	1	123	117	+6	5	Ranking of the second-placed teams
3	Liberbank Cuenca	4	1	1	2	111	125	−14	3	Eliminated
4	TTH Holstebro (E)	4	0	0	4	110	127	−17	0	Eliminated

Updated to match(es) played on 29 February 2020. Source: EHF
(E) Eliminated

9 February 2020 12:00	Liberbank Cuenca	29–27	TTH Holstebro	Pabellón Municipal El Sargal, Cuenca Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Bolic, Hurich (ESP)
	Dutra, Alves 6	(11–10)	Kildelund 7
	1× 3×	Report	2× 5×

9 February 2020 17:00	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	32–31	USAM Nîmes Gard	GBG Halle am Herzogenried, Mannheim Attendance: 1,541 Referees: Vitaku, Vitaku (KOS)
	Schmid 8	(16–16)	Sanad 8
	2× 2×	Report	2× 5×

15 February 2020 18:30	USAM Nîmes Gard	29–29	Liberbank Cuenca	Le Parnasse, Nîmes Attendance: 2,800 Referees: Pirvu, Potirniche (ROU)
	Tobie 11	(17–13)	Alves 8
	3× 6× 1×	Report	6× 1×

15 February 2020 19:30	TTH Holstebro	27–35	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	Gråkjær Arena, Holstebro Attendance: 2,485 Referees: Cindrić, Gonzurek (CRO)
	Meklenborg 8	(12–16)	Kohlbacher 7
	3× 4×	Report	1× 2×

22 February 2020 15:00	TTH Holstebro	28–30	USAM Nîmes Gard	Gråkjær Arena, Holstebro Attendance: 2,053 Referees: Nabokau, Kulik (BLR)
	Meklenborg 8	(13–16)	Sanad 9
	1× 2×	Report	3× 2×

23 February 2020 12:00	Liberbank Cuenca	28–33	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	Pabellón Municipal El Sargal, Cuenca Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Pandžić, Mošorinski (SRB)
	Dutra 9	(16–16)	Gensheimer, Kirkeløkke 8
	1× 1×	Report	1× 2×

26 February 2020 19:30	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	36–25	Liberbank Cuenca	GBG Halle am Herzogenried, Mannheim Attendance: 1,403 Referees: Smailagic, Smailagic (SWE)
	Schmid 8	(21–13)	Dutra 7
	1× 2×	Report	2× 2×

29 February 2020 19:00	USAM Nîmes Gard	33–28	TTH Holstebro	Le Parnasse, Nîmes Attendance: 2,700 Referees: Caçador, Nicolau (POR)
	Prandi, Tobie 7	(15–14)	Bramming, Meklenborg 7
	2× 5×	Report	3× 4× 1×

USAM Nîmes Gard	Cancelled	Rhein-Neckar Löwen

TTH Holstebro	Cancelled	Liberbank Cuenca

Liberbank Cuenca	Cancelled	USAM Nîmes Gard

Rhein-Neckar Löwen	Cancelled	TTH Holstebro

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	SC Magdeburg	4	4	0	123	109	+14	8	Knockout stage
2	HBC Nantes	4	2	2	125	116	+9	4	Ranking of the second-placed teams
3	Gorenje Velenje	4	2	2	110	115	−5	4	Eliminated
4	Abanca Ademar León	4	0	4	103	121	−18	0	Eliminated

Updated to match(es) played on 1 March 2020. Source: EHF

9 February 2020 13:00	SC Magdeburg	32–26	Gorenje Velenje	GETEC Arena, Magdeburg Attendance: 4,531 Referees: Caçador, Nicolau (POR)
	Pettersson 9	(15–13)	Bojanić, Celminš 5
	2× 2×	Report	2× 2×

9 February 2020 17:00	HBC Nantes	34–28	Abanca Ademar Leon	Palais des Sports de Beaulieu, Nantes Attendance: 5,650 Referees: Mitrevski, Todorovski (MKD)
	Rivera Folch 9	(17–16)	three players 4
	2× 5×	Report	3× 6×

12 February 2020 20:00	Abanca Ademar Leon	27–31	SC Magdeburg	Palacio de los Deportes de León, León Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Di Domenico, Fornasier (ITA)
	Alonso 8	(14–12)	Damgaard 9
	4× 2×	Report	2× 3×

16 February 2020 18:45	Gorenje Velenje	28–35	HBC Nantes	Rdeča dvorana, Velenje Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Baumgart, Wild (GER)
	Verdinek 8	(12–19)	Rivera Folch 9
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3×

22 February 2020 19:30	Abanca Ademar Leon	23–26	Gorenje Velenje	Palacio de los Deportes de León, León Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Argyridis, Mouttas (CYP)
	five players 3	(14–13)	Kavčič, Verdinek 5
	2×	Report	2× 3×

23 February 2020 17:00	HBC Nantes	28–31	SC Magdeburg	Palais des Sports de Beaulieu, Nantes Attendance: 5,902 Referees: Gousko, Repkin (BLR)
	Lazarov 6	(9–15)	Damgaard, Schmidt 7
	1× 3×	Report	2× 6×

29 February 2020 17:00	Gorenje Velenje	30–25	Abanca Ademar Leon	Rdeča dvorana, Velenje Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Leszczyński, Piechota (POL)
	Kavčič 9	(13–14)	three players 5
	2× 5× 1×	Report	2× 5×

1 March 2020 18:00	SC Magdeburg	29–28	HBC Nantes	GETEC Arena, Magdeburg Referees: Konjičanin, Konjičanin (BIH)
	Damgaard 10	(16–12)	Minne 10
	2× 6×	Report	2× 4×

Gorenje Velenje	Cancelled	SC Magdeburg

Abanca Ademar Leon	Cancelled	HBC Nantes

SC Magdeburg	Cancelled	Abanca Ademar Leon

HBC Nantes	Cancelled	Gorenje Velenje

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Füchse Berlin	4	2	1	1	110	102	+8	5	Knockout stage
2	PAUC Handball	4	1	2	1	102	100	+2	4	Ranking of the second-placed teams
3	Grundfos Tatabánya KC	4	1	2	1	99	102	−3	4	Eliminated
4	BM Logroño La Rioja	4	1	1	2	106	113	−7	3	Eliminated

Updated to match(es) played on 1 March 2020. Source: EHF

8 February 2020 12:00	Grundfos Tatabánya KC	26–25	BM Logroño La Rioja	Audi Aréna, Győr Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Christiansen, Hansen (DEN)
	Ancsin 6	(15–11)	Hackbarth 5
	1× 3×	Report	1× 2×

9 February 2020 19:00	PAUC Handball	23–25	Füchse Berlin	Aréna du Pays d'Aix, Aix-en-Provence Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Stark, Ştefan (ROU)
	Larsen 6	(10–11)	Mandalinić 6
	3× 2×	Report	3× 4×

13 February 2020 19:00	Füchse Berlin	27–27	Grundfos Tatabánya KC	Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin Attendance: 5,919 Referees: Ben-Dan, Faran (ISR)
	Holm 6	(15–17)	Borzaš 9
	3× 2×	Report	1× 7×

15 February 2020 19:00	BM Logroño La Rioja	29–29	PAUC Handball	Palacio de los Deportes de La Rioja, Logroño Attendance: 1,650 Referees: Martins, Martins (POR)
	Hackbarth, Kukić 6	(15–15)	Larsen 8
	2× 4×	Report	2× 6×

22 February 2020 17:00	Grundfos Tatabánya KC	24–24	PAUC Handball	Audi Aréna, Győr Attendance: 2,700 Referees: Jović, Arnautović (BIH)
	Ancsin 6	(11–15)	Leoz 5
	2× 2×	Report	2× 3×

22 February 2020 19:00	BM Logroño La Rioja	26–25	Füchse Berlin	Palacio de los Deportes de La Rioja, Logroño Attendance: 1,800 Referees: Brunovský, Čanda (SVK)
	Scott Junior 7	(13–11)	Holm 8
	3× 2×	Report	2× 4×

1 March 2020 16:00	Füchse Berlin	33–26	BM Logroño La Rioja	Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin Attendance: 5,362 Referees: Šniūrevičius, Grigalionis (LTU)
	Müller 8	(15–14)	Alustiza, Kušan 6
	1× 6×	Report	1× 2×

1 March 2020 19:00	PAUC Handball	26–22	Grundfos Tatabánya KC	Aréna du Pays d'Aix, Aix-en-Provence Attendance: 1,400 Referees: Ershov, Pavliukov (RUS)
	Leoz 5	(14–8)	Hornyák, Komogorov 4
	3× 4×	Report	2× 4×

Füchse Berlin	Cancelled	PAUC Handball

BM Logroño La Rioja	Cancelled	Grundfos Tatabánya KC

PAUC Handball	Cancelled	BM Logroño La Rioja

Grundfos Tatabánya KC	Cancelled	Füchse Berlin

References

^ "2019–2020 Men's EHF Cup Group phase". EHF. Archived from the original on 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
^ "European club handball will have a new look from the 2020/21 season". EHF Office.
^ "Season overview" (PDF). European Handball Federation. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
^ "EHF Cup Finals hosts in Pot 3 before the group phase draw". EHF European cup. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
^ "Füchse face tough road to home finals". Retrieved 28 November 2019.
^ "Information on EHF competition matches in March and April". eurohandball.com. 13 March 2020. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
^ "EHF presents feasibility study for potential re-start of European handball". eurohandball.com. 25 March 2020.
^ "Information on the future of the European handball season 2019/20". eurohandball.com. 24 April 2020.

External links

EHF Cup (official website)

[1] "2019–2020 Men's EHF Cup Group phase". EHF. Archived from the original on 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2019-07-12.

[2] "European club handball will have a new look from the 2020/21 season". EHF Office.

[3] "Season overview" (PDF). European Handball Federation. Retrieved 9 July 2019.

[4] "EHF Cup Finals hosts in Pot 3 before the group phase draw". EHF European cup. Retrieved 25 November 2019.

[5] "Füchse face tough road to home finals". Retrieved 28 November 2019.

[6] "Information on EHF competition matches in March and April". eurohandball.com. 13 March 2020. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.

[7] "EHF presents feasibility study for potential re-start of European handball". eurohandball.com. 25 March 2020.

[Cancelled-8] "Information on the future of the European handball season 2019/20". eurohandball.com. 24 April 2020.

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