2017–18 Women's EHF Champions League

The 2017–18 EHF Champions League was the 25th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament.

Women's EHF Champions League

2017–18
Tournament information
Sport	Handball
Dates	9 September 2017–13 May 2018
Teams	16 (group stage) 22 (qualification)
Website	ehfcl.com
Final positions
Champions	Győri Audi ETO KC
Runner-up	HC Vardar
Tournament statistics
Matches played	96
Goals scored	5014 (52.23 per match)
Attendance	281,647 (2,934 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Cristina Neagu (110 goals)
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

Győri Audi ETO KC defended their title by defeating HC Vardar in the final.^[1]

Competition format

16 teams participated in the competition, divided in four groups who played in a round robin, home and away format. The top three teams in each group qualified for the main round

Main round

The 12 qualified teams were divided in four groups who played in a round robin, home and away format. The points gained against the qualified teams in the first round were carried over. The top four teams in each group qualified for the quarterfinals.

Knockout stage

After the quarterfinals, the culmination of the season, the WOMEN'S EHF FINAL4, will continue in its existing format, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.

Team allocation

14 teams were directly qualified for the group stage.^[2]

Group stage
FC Midtjylland	Nykøbing Falster Håndbold	Brest Bretagne Handball	Metz Handball
SG BBM Bietigheim	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	Győri Audi ETO KC	HC Vardar
ŽRK Budućnost	Larvik HK	Vistal Gdynia	CSM București
Rostov-Don	RK Krim
Qualification tournaments
Hypo Niederösterreich	HC Gomel	Podravka Koprivnica	Thüringer HC
Vipers Kristiansand	CB Atlético Guardés	H 65 Höör	Kastamonu Belediyesi

Round and draw dates

The qualification draw was held in Vienna, Austria, the group stage draw in Ljubljana, Slovenia and the final four draw in Budapest, Hungary.^[3][4][5]

Phase	Draw date
Qualification tournaments	29 June 2017
Group stage	30 June 2017
Knockout stage
Final Four	17 April 2018

Qualification stage

Main article: 2017–18 Women's EHF Champions League qualifying

The draw was held on 29 June 2017. The two winners of the qualification tournaments advanced to the group stage.^[6]

Qualification tournament 1

Vipers Kristiansand hosted the tournament.^[7]

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	9 September
	Vipers Kristiansand	43
					10 September
	HC Gomel	19
					Vipers Kristiansand	42
	9 September
					Podravka Koprivnica	14
	Podravka Koprivnica	21
	Kastamonu Belediyesi	17
					Third place
					10 September
					HC Gomel	29
					Kastamonu Belediyesi	28

Qualification tournament 2

Thüringer HC hosted the tournament.^[7]

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	9 September
	Thüringer HC	31
					10 September
	CB Atlético Guardés	21
					Thüringer HC	33
	9 September
					H 65 Höör	24
	H 65 Höör	32
	Hypo Niederösterreich	19
					Third place
					10 September
					CB Atlético Guardés	27
					Hypo Niederösterreich	29

Group stage

Main article: 2017–18 Women's EHF Champions League group stage

The draw was held on 30 June 2017.^[8]

In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches.

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: 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 v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BUC	NYK	KRI	GDY
1	CSM Bucureşti	6	5	0	1	192	144	+48	10	Main round		—	39–26	30–18	34–22
2	Nykøbing Falster	6	4	0	2	168	163	+5	8			25–22	—	28–26	27–21
3	RK Krim	6	3	0	3	159	158	+1	6			30–33	27–26	—	29–22
4	Vistal Gdynia	6	0	0	6	135	189	−54	0	EHF Cup		23–34	28–36	19–29	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GYO	ROS	MID	BRE
1	Győri Audi ETO KC	6	5	0	1	153	126	+27	10	Main round		—	25–23	27–16	29–17
2	Rostov-Don	6	4	0	2	149	138	+11	8			23–22	—	27–20	26–24
3	FC Midtjylland	6	3	0	3	134	147	−13	6			24–27	24–21	—	27–23
4	Brest Bretagne Handball	6	0	0	6	132	157	−25	0	EHF Cup		23–26	23–29	22–23	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VAR	FER	THÜ	LAR
1	HC Vardar	6	6	0	0	182	147	+35	12	Main round		—	34–31	29–21	30–27
2	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	6	4	0	2	183	167	+16	8			28–29	—	28–25	37–33
3	Thüringer HC	6	1	0	5	145	167	−22	2[lower-alpha 1]			21–29	25–29	—	22–25
4	Larvik HK	6	1	0	5	152	181	−29	2[lower-alpha 1]	EHF Cup		19–31	21–30	27–31	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Thüringer HC 53–52 Larvik HK

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MET	BUD	BIE	KRI
1	Metz Handball	6	5	0	1	157	137	+20	10	Main round		—	27–23	27–21	30–22
2	ŽRK Budućnost	6	3	0	3	144	148	−4	6[lower-alpha 1]			23–18	—	32–24	26–23
3	SG BBM Bietigheim	6	3	0	3	152	158	−6	6[lower-alpha 1]			26–30	27–21	—	25–24
4	Vipers Kristiansand	6	1	0	5	144	154	−10	2	EHF Cup		22–25	29–19	24–29	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:

1. ŽRK Budućnost 53–51 SG BBM Bietigheim

Main round

Main article: 2017–18 Women's EHF Champions League main round

The top three teams of each preliminary group advance. Points obtained against qualified teams from the same group are carried over.

In each group, teams play against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches.

Group 1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GYO	ROS	BUC	MID	NYK	KRI
1	Győri Audi ETO KC	10	8	0	2	281	231	+50	16	Quarterfinals		—	25–23	28–24	27–16	32–23	34–25
2	Rostov-Don	10	7	1	2	266	232	+34	15			23–22	—	25–24	27–20	32–22	29–22
3	CSM Bucureşti	10	6	1	3	282	246	+36	13			28–22	22–22	—	29–24	39–26	30–18
4	FC Midtjylland	10	2	2	6	226	251	−25	6			24–27	24–21	26–31	—	24–20	24–24
5	Nykøbing Falster	10	2	1	7	240	284	−44	5[lower-alpha 1]			24–32	25–29	25–22	21–21	—	28–26
6	RK Krim	10	2	1	7	243	294	−51	5[lower-alpha 1]			21–32	26–35	30–33	24–23	27–26	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Nykøbing Falster 54–53 RK Krim

Group 2

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		VAR	MET	FER	BUD	BIE	THÜ
1	HC Vardar	10	9	0	1	301	245	+56	18	Quarterfinals		—	29–23	34–31	31–24	30–22	29–21
2	Metz Handball	10	7	0	3	269	256	+13	14			24–22	—	28–25	27–23	27–21	35–29
3	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	10	6	0	4	282	265	+17	12			28–39	29–27	—	34–26	31–22	28–25
4	ŽRK Budućnost	10	4	0	6	251	260	−9	8			25–30	23–18	23–24	—	32–24	29–21
5	SG BBM Bietigheim	10	2	0	8	242	294	−52	4[lower-alpha 1]			26–38	26–30	27–23	27–21	—	31–24
6	Thüringer HC	10	2	0	8	257	282	−25	4[lower-alpha 1]			21–29	29–31	25–29	24–25	28–26	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:

1. SG BBM Bietigheim 57–52 Thüringer HC

Knockout stage

Main article: 2017–18 Women's EHF Champions League knockout stage

The first four placed teams from the main round qualified for the knockout stage.

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ŽRK Budućnost	48–56	Győri Audi ETO KC	20–26	28–30
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	51–63	Rostov-Don	29–31	22–32
CSM București	54–48	Metz Handball	34–21	20–27
FC Midtjylland	48–56	HC Vardar	23–24	25–32

Final four

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	12 May
	CSM București	20
					13 May
	Győri Audi ETO KC	26
					Győri Audi ETO KC (OT)	27
	12 May
					HC Vardar	26
	Rostov-Don	19
	HC Vardar	25
					Third place
					13 May
					CSM București	31
					Rostov-Don	30

Final

13 May 2018 18:00	Győri Audi ETO KC	27–26 (ET)	HC Vardar	László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest Attendance: 12,000 Referees: Bonaventura, Bonaventura (FRA)
	Groot 9	(9–9)	Lekić 6
	3× 6×	Report	2× 4×
	FT: 20–20 ET: 7–6

Awards and statistics

All-Star Team

The all-star team and awards were announced on 11 May 2018.^[9]

• Goalkeeper:  Kari Aalvik Grimsbø (NOR)
• Right wing:  Yulia Managarova (RUS)
• Right back:  Ana Gros (SVN)
• Centre back:  Veronica Kristiansen (NOR)
• Left back:  Cristina Neagu (ROU)
• Left wing:  Siraba Dembélé (FRA)
• Pivot:  Dragana Cvijić (SRB)

Other awards

• MVP of the Final Four:  Amandine Leynaud (FRA)
• Best coach:  Ambros Martín (ESP)
• Best young player:  Tjaša Stanko (SVN)
• Best defence player:  Zsuzsanna Tomori (HUN)

Top goalscorers

As of 13 May 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Cristina Neagu	CSM București	110
2	Iveta Luzumová	Thüringer HC	105
3	Andrea Penezić	HC Vardar	92
4	Veronica Kristiansen	FC Midtjylland	91
5	Johanna Westberg	Nykøbing Falster	76
6	Ana Gros	Metz Handball	74
7	Milena Raičević	ŽRK Budućnost	72
8	Anita Görbicz	Győri Audi ETO KC	70
9	Andrea Lekić	HC Vardar	69
10	Nerea Pena	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	66
	Anna Vyakhireva	Rostov-Don
	Isabelle Gulldén	CSM București

References

1. "A perfect farewell for Martin: Györ become first to defend FINAL4 title". ehfcl.com. 13 May 2018.
2. "Top flight participants for 2017/18 confirmed". ehfcl.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
3. "EHF receives 25 registrations for the 25th season of Women's EHF Champions League". ehfcl.com. 12 June 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
4. "Ljubljana hosts draw for the 25th season of EHF Champions League". ehfcl.com. 13 June 2017.
5. "Follow the Women's EHF FINAL4 2018 Draw live". ehfcl.com. 17 April 2018.
6. "Former champions avoid a clash in the qualification". eurohandball.com. 29 June 2017.
7. "Vipers Kristiansand and Thüringer HC host EHF CL Qualification Tournaments". ehfcl.com. 7 July 2017. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
8. "Defending champions in the group with the EHF Cup winners Rostov". ehfcl.com. 30 June 2017.
9. "Women's EHF Champions League All-star team revealed on the eve of EHF FINAL4". eurohandball.com. 11 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.

External links

• Official website