2019–20 Women's EHF Champions League

The 2019–20 Women's EHF Champions League was the 27th edition of the Women's EHF Champions League, the competition for top women's clubs of Europe, organized and supervised by the European Handball Federation.

Women's EHF Champions League
2019–20
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates7 September 2019–8 March 2020
Teams16 (group stage)
4 (qualification)
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
ChampionsNo winners crowned
Runner-upNo runners-up crowned
Tournament statistics
Matches played84
Goals scored4643 (55.27 per match)
Attendance215,898 (2,570 per match)
Top scorer(s)Montenegro Jovanka Radičević
(97 goals)

Győri Audi ETO KC were the defending champions.

Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, the quarterfinals matches which normally start in early April, were postponed to mid-June, then moved to September and were later cancelled. The final four was first moved from May to September and later cancelled.[1][2][3]

Format

16 teams were participating 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 two groups who played in a round robin, home and away format. The points and the goal difference 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 Final four, would continue in its existing format, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.

Team allocation

16 national champions applied for the 27th season based on the EHF ranking list, while further eight teams eligible to play in the Women's EHF Cup have requested an upgrade for the EHF Champions League. Registration of clubs does not equal participation, and the final list of all participants was confirmed by the EHF Executive Committee on Friday 21 June.[4]15 teams are directly qualified for the group stage.[5]

Group stage
Győri Audi ETO KC ŽRK Budućnost Rostov-Don Metz Handball
Team Esbjerg Vipers Kristiansand SG BBM Bietigheim Krim Merkator
IK Sävehof MKS Perła Lublin Podravka Vegeta SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria CSM București Brest Bretagne HandballQualifier
Qualification tournament
Rocasa Gran Canaria ŽORK Jagodina DHK Baník Most Kastamonu GSK

Round and draw dates

The hosting rights for the qualification tournament were drawn on 26 June 2019 and the group stage draw on 27 June 2019 in Vienna, Austria.[6][7]

PhaseDraw date
Qualification tournaments26 June 2019
Group stage27 June 2019
Knockout stage
Final Four
(Budapest)
Cancelled

Qualification stage

The four teams played a semifinal and final to determine the last participant for the group stage. The hosting rights for the qualification tournament were drawn on 26 June 2019. The winner of the qualification tournament advanced to the group stage.

Qualification tournament

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
7 September
 
 
Rocasa Gran Canaria21
 
8 September
 
DHK Baník Most28
 
DHK Baník Most35
 
7 September
 
Kastamonu GSK33
 
Kastamonu GSK31
 
 
ŽORK Jagodina15
 
Third place
 
 
8 September
 
 
Rocasa Gran Canaria28
 
 
ŽORK Jagodina15

Group stage

The draw was held on 27 June 2019. In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches. The top three teams advanced to the main round.

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification MET VIP FER POD
1 Metz Handball6420194158+3610Main round26–1724–2440–26
2 Vipers Kristiansand6312178168+10738–3831–2234–28
3 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria6213167180−13528–3429–3437–31
4 Podravka Vegeta6105161194−332EHF Cup25–3225–2426–27
Source: EHF

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification ROS ESB BUC LUB
1 Rostov-Don6411167143+249Main round34–2623–2231–21
2 Team Esbjerg6402167149+18831–2622–2435–22
3 CSM București6312153131+22723–2321–2535–19
4 MKS Perła Lublin6006123187−640EHF Cup20–3022–2819–23
Source: EHF

Group C

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification BRE BUD VAL BIE
1 Brest Bretagne Handball6600201169+3212Main round32–2837–2436–30
2 Budućnost6402168157+11832–3523–1934–28
3 SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea6105148165−172[a]23–2620–2134–27
4 SG BBM Bietigheim6105171197−262[a]EHF Cup32–3523–3031–28
Source: EHF
Notes:

Group D

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification GYO SAV KRI BAN
1 Győri Audi ETO KC6600216147+6912Main round35–2331–2635–29
2 IK Sävehof6213148166−18527–3621–2524–19
3 Krim Mercator6204158170−12421–3326–2829–31
4 DHK Baník Most6114151190−393EHF Cup21–4625–2526–31
Source: EHF

Main round

In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches. Points against teams from the same group were carried over.

Group 1

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification MET ESB ROS BUC VIP FER
1 Metz Handball10532289270+1913[a]Quarterfinals31–3123–2028–2626–1724–24
2 Team Esbjerg10613289279+1013[a]30–2931–2622–2433–3029–27
3 Rostov-Don10613279266+1313[a]24–2934–2623–2233–2629–26
4 CSM București10514251250+11132–2721–2523–2328–2227–24
5 Vipers Kristiansand10217281303−225[b]38–3831–3529–3223–2531–22
6 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria10217270291−215[b]28–3426–2531–3533–2329–34
Source: EHF
Notes:

Group 2

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification GYO BRE BUD VAL KRI SAV
1 Győri Audi ETO KC10910309252+5719Quarterfinals27–2726–2435–2931–2635–23
2 Brest Bretagne Handball10811311253+581728–2932–2837–2437–2631–22
3 Budućnost10505271266+51027–2832–3523–1930–2830–25
4 SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea10316245252−7720–2923–2620–2131–1628–20
5 Krim Mercator10217250291−41521–3325–2929–2328–2826–28
6 IK Sävehof10109224296−72227–3617–2924–3317–2321–25
Source: EHF

Knockout stage

On 26 June 2020, EHF announced that the knockout stage, including the quarterfinals and the Final 4 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Quarterfinals

The European Handball Federation announced on 13 March 2020 that the quarter-finals matches will not be held as scheduled due to the ongoing developments in the spread of COVID-19 across Europe.[8] The matches were rescheduled on 25 March.[9] The matches were cancelled on 24 April 2020.[10]

Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea Metz HandballCancelledCancelled
CSM București Győri Audi ETO KCCancelledCancelled
Budućnost Team EsbjergCancelledCancelled
Rostov-Don Brest Bretagne HandballCancelledCancelled

Awards and statistics

All-Star Team

The all-star team and awards were announced on 5 June 2020.[11]

Other awards

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerClubGoals[12]
1 Jovanka Radičević Budućnost97
2 Katrin Klujber FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria84
3 Ana Gros Brest Bretagne Handball78
4 Estavana Polman Team Esbjerg74
5 Cristina Neagu CSM București72
6 Alja Varagić Krim Mercator62
7 Sonja Frey Team Esbjerg61
8 Stine Bredal Oftedal Győri Audi ETO KC58
9 Anna Vyakhireva Rostov-Don57
10 Yulia Managarova Rostov-Don56

References