2020–21 Women's EHF Champions League

The 2020–21 Women's EHF Champions League is the 28th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 12 September 2020 to 30 May 2021.

Women's EHF Champions League

2020–21
Tournament information
Sport	Handball
Dates	12 September 2020–30 May 2021
Teams	16
Website	ehfcl.com
Tournament statistics
Matches played	84
Goals scored	4604 (54.81 per match)
Attendance	40,104 (477 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ana Gros (82 goals)

There is no defending champion, after last season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because of this pandemic, each local health department allows a different number of spectators.

Format

The competition begins with a group stage featuring 16 teams divided in two groups. Matches are played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures. In Groups A and B, the top two teams qualify for the quarterfinals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th entering the playoffs.

The knockout stage includes four rounds: the playoffs, quarterfinals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the playoffs, eight teams are paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches. The four aggregate winners of the playoffs advance to the quarterfinals, joining the top-two teams of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams are paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches, with the four aggregate winners qualifying to the final-four tournament.

In the final four tournament, the semifinals and the final are played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue.[1]

Team allocation

A total of 21 teams from 15 countries submitted their application for a place in the competition's group stage before the deadline of 10 June 2020.[2] The final list of 16 participants was revealed by the EHF Executive Committee on 19 June.[3]

Podravka Vegeta	Team Esbjerg	Odense Håndbold	Metz Handball
Brest Bretagne Handball	Borussia Dortmund	SG BBM Bietigheim	Győri Audi ETO KC
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	ŽRK Budućnost	Vipers Kristiansand	SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea
CSM Bucureşti	Rostov-Don	CSKA Moscow	Krim Mercator

Group stage

The draw was held on 1 July 2020 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria.[3][4] The 16 teams were drawn into two groups of eight, with the restriction that teams from the same national association could not be drawn into the same group.[5]

In each group, teams play against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches. After completion of the group stage matches, the top two teams from each group qualify directly for the quarterfinals, and the four teams ranked 3rd–6th advance to the playoffs.

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	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ROS	MET	VIP	FER	BUC	ESB	KRI	BIE
1	Rostov-Don (T)	9	7	1	1	244	223	+21	15	Quarterfinals		—	30–26	9 Feb	13 Feb	TBD	28–24	23–23	27–21
2	Metz Handball (T)	11	7	0	4	322	307	+15	14			27–26	—	3 Feb	30–29	13 Feb	31–29	33–27	36–27
3	Vipers Kristiansand (T)	7	5	2	0	203	185	+18	12	Playoffs		TBD	TBD	—	TBD	30–25	28–28	13 Feb	TBD
4	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (T)	11	6	0	5	301	298	+3	12			25–26	32–30	6 Feb	—	31–27	24–28	32–25	24–35
5	CSM Bucureşti	10	5	1	4	261	258	+3	11			22–27	31–26	22–29	25–19	—	6 Feb	22–22	TBD
6	Team Esbjerg	11	3	2	6	301	294	+7	8			24–25	25–28	27–27	21–24	29–30	—	33–23	14 Feb
7	Krim Mercator	11	1	3	7	267	301	−34	5	Eliminated		6 Feb	22–26	26–27	26–32	23–25	TBD	—	28–26
8	SG BBM Bietigheim	10	1	1	8	264	296	−32	3			31–32	7 Feb	29–33	25–29	22–32	26–33	22–22	—

Updated to match(es) played on 3 February 2021. Source: EHF
(T) Qualified, but not yet to the particular phase indicated.

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MOS	GYO	BRE	ODE	BUD	VAL	DOR	KOP
1	CSKA Moscow (Q)	12	10	1	1	353	296	+57	21	Quarterfinals		—	27–27	25–24	27–23	7 Feb	30–20	35–28	30–26
2	Győri Audi ETO KC (T)	12	8	4	0	393	314	+79	20			13 Feb	—	27–27	32–25	34–29	38–31	38–25	43–28
3	Brest Bretagne Handball (T)	12	6	4	2	351	306	+45	16	Playoffs		28–30	25–25	—	32–21	28–28	28–21	6 Feb	32–25
4	Odense Håndbold (T)	12	6	1	5	335	287	+48	13			26–25	32–32	24–31	—	30–21	7 Feb	32–27	35–20
5	ŽRK Budućnost	12	4	2	6	307	324	−17	10			22–25	21–26	22–22	27–24	—	29–28	31–27	13 Feb
6	SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea	9	2	0	7	217	274	−57	4			24–34	20–37	14 Feb	21–30	25–23	—	9 Feb	TBD
7	Borussia Dortmund	10	2	0	8	272	324	−52	4	Eliminated		28–29	24–34	29–41	14 Feb	26–28	TBD	—	32–31
8	Podravka Vegeta	11	1	0	10	275	378	−103	2			20–26	6 Feb	29–33	17–33	29–26	17 Jan	25–26	—

Updated to match(es) played on 1 February 2021. Source: EHF
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (T) Qualified, but not yet to the particular phase indicated.

Knockout stage

The top-two teams of Groups A and B advance directly to the quarterfinals, while the teams ranked 2nd–6th to the playoffs.

Playoffs

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
B6	M1	A3	6–7 Mar	13–14 Mar
A6	M2	B3	6–7 Mar	13–14 Mar
B5	M3	A4	6–7 Mar	13–14 Mar
A5	M4	B4	6–7 Mar	13–14 Mar

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
M4	–	A1	3–4 Apr	10–11 Apr
M3	–	B1	3–4 Apr	10–11 Apr
M2	–	A2	3–4 Apr	10–11 Apr
M1	–	B2	3–4 Apr	10–11 Apr

Final four

	Semi-finals				Final
	29 May
					30 May
	29 May
					Third place
					30 May

Final

30 May 2021	WSF1	v	WSF2	László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest

Top goalscorers

As of 24 January 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[6]
1	Ana Gros	Brest Bretagne Handball	82
2	Dejana Milosavljević	RK Podravka Koprivnica	62
3	Cristina Neagu	CSM Bucureşti	61
4	Lois Abbingh	Odense Håndbold	60
5	Mette Tranborg	Team Esbjerg	55
6	Angela Malestein	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	54
7	Katrin Klujber	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	51
	Veronica Kristiansen	Győri Audi ETO KC
	Océane Sercien-Ugolin	Krim Mercator
10	Estelle Nze Minko	Győri Audi ETO KC	49

References

1. Competition system
2. "21 teams eye a place in the new season". ehfcl.com. 10 June 2020.
3. "EXEC finalises the list of teams for the DELO EHF Champions League 2020/21". ehfcl.com. 19 June 2020.
4. "Group phase draw sets the path for all teams". eurohandball.com. 1 July 2020.
5. "Four pots for the group phase draw announced". ehfcl.com. 22 June 2020.
6. Goalscorers

External links

• Official website