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
SportHandball
Dates9 September 2017–13 May 2018
Teams16 (group stage)
22 (qualification)
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
ChampionsHungary Győri Audi ETO KC
Runner-upNorth Macedonia HC Vardar
Tournament statistics
Matches played96
Goals scored5014 (52.23 per match)
Attendance281,647 (2,934 per match)
Top scorer(s)Romania Cristina Neagu
(110 goals)

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

Competition format

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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

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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

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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]

PhaseDraw date
Qualification tournaments29 June 2017
Group stage30 June 2017
Knockout stage
Final Four17 April 2018

Qualification stage

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

Qualification tournament 1

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Vipers Kristiansand hosted the tournament.[7]

Bracket

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
9 September
 
 
Vipers Kristiansand43
 
10 September
 
HC Gomel19
 
Vipers Kristiansand42
 
9 September
 
Podravka Koprivnica14
 
Podravka Koprivnica21
 
 
Kastamonu Belediyesi17
 
Third place
 
 
10 September
 
 
HC Gomel29
 
 
Kastamonu Belediyesi28

Qualification tournament 2

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Thüringer HC hosted the tournament.[7]

Bracket

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
9 September
 
 
Thüringer HC31
 
10 September
 
CB Atlético Guardés21
 
Thüringer HC33
 
9 September
 
H 65 Höör24
 
H 65 Höör32
 
 
Hypo Niederösterreich19
 
Third place
 
 
10 September
 
 
CB Atlético Guardés27
 
 
Hypo Niederösterreich29

Group stage

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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.

Group A

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PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationBUCNYKKRIGDY
1 CSM Bucureşti6501192144+4810Main round39–2630–1834–22
2 Nykøbing Falster6402168163+5825–2228–2627–21
3 RK Krim6303159158+1630–3327–2629–22
4 Vistal Gdynia6006135189−540EHF Cup23–3428–3619–29
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group B

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PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationGYOROSMIDBRE
1 Győri Audi ETO KC6501153126+2710Main round25–2327–1629–17
2 Rostov-Don6402149138+11823–2227–2026–24
3 FC Midtjylland6303134147−13624–2724–2127–23
4 Brest Bretagne Handball6006132157−250EHF Cup23–2623–2922–23
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers

Group C

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PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationVARFERTHÜLAR
1 HC Vardar6600182147+3512Main round34–3129–2130–27
2 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria6402183167+16828–2928–2537–33
3 Thüringer HC6105145167−222[a]21–2925–2922–25
4 Larvik HK6105152181−292[a]EHF Cup19–3121–3027–31
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Thüringer HC 53–52 Larvik HK

Group D

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PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationMETBUDBIEKRI
1 Metz Handball6501157137+2010Main round27–2327–2130–22
2 ŽRK Budućnost6303144148−46[a]23–1832–2426–23
3 SG BBM Bietigheim6303152158−66[a]26–3027–2125–24
4 Vipers Kristiansand6105144154−102EHF Cup22–2529–1924–29
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b ŽRK Budućnost 53–51 SG BBM Bietigheim

Main round

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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

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PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationGYOROSBUCMIDNYKKRI
1 Győri Audi ETO KC10802281231+5016Quarterfinals25–2328–2427–1632–2334–25
2 Rostov-Don10712266232+341523–2225–2427–2032–2229–22
3 CSM Bucureşti10613282246+361328–2222–2229–2439–2630–18
4 FC Midtjylland10226226251−25624–2724–2126–3124–2024–24
5 Nykøbing Falster10217240284−445[a]24–3225–2925–2221–2128–26
6 RK Krim10217243294−515[a]21–3226–3530–3324–2327–26
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Nykøbing Falster 54–53 RK Krim

Group 2

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PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationVARMETFERBUDBIETHÜ
1 HC Vardar10901301245+5618Quarterfinals29–2334–3131–2430–2229–21
2 Metz Handball10703269256+131424–2228–2527–2327–2135–29
3 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria10604282265+171228–3929–2734–2631–2228–25
4 ŽRK Budućnost10406251260−9825–3023–1823–2432–2429–21
5 SG BBM Bietigheim10208242294−524[a]26–3826–3027–2327–2131–24
6 Thüringer HC10208257282−254[a]21–2929–3125–2924–2528–26
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: See Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ a b SG BBM Bietigheim 57–52 Thüringer HC

Knockout stage

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

Quarterfinals

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Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
ŽRK Budućnost 48–56 Győri Audi ETO KC20–2628–30
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 51–63 Rostov-Don29–3122–32
CSM București 54–48 Metz Handball34–2120–27
FC Midtjylland 48–56 HC Vardar23–2425–32

Final four

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Bracket

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
12 May
 
 
CSM București20
 
13 May
 
Győri Audi ETO KC26
 
Győri Audi ETO KC (OT) 27
 
12 May
 
HC Vardar26
 
Rostov-Don19
 
 
HC Vardar25
 
Third place
 
 
13 May
 
 
CSM București31
 
 
Rostov-Don30

Final

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

FT: 20–20 ET: 7–6

Awards and statistics

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All-Star Team

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

Other awards

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Top goalscorers

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As of 13 May 2018
RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Cristina Neagu CSM București110
2 Iveta Luzumová Thüringer HC105
3 Andrea Penezić HC Vardar92
4 Veronica Kristiansen FC Midtjylland91
5 Johanna Westberg Nykøbing Falster76
6 Ana Gros Metz Handball74
7 Milena Raičević ŽRK Budućnost72
8 Anita Görbicz Győri Audi ETO KC70
9 Andrea Lekić HC Vardar69
10 Nerea Pena FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria66
Anna Vyakhireva Rostov-Don
Isabelle Gulldén CSM București

References

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  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. ^ a b "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.
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