2023–24 EHF European League

This article is about the men's competition. For the women's competition, see 2023–24 Women's EHF European League.
EHF European League
2023–24
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates26 August 2023–23 May 2024
Teams10 (qualification stage)
32 (group stage)
Websiteehfel.com

The 2023–24 EHF European League will be the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club handball tournament organised by European Handball Federation (EHF), and the 4th season since it was renamed from the EHF Cup to the EHF European League. This is the first season under the new revamped format. The defending champions are Füchse Berlin.

Format

The tournament will be divided in the following phases:

  • Qualification round: 10 teams will be drawn into 5 different home and away ties. The 5 winners will advance to the group stage.
  • Group stage: The 27 teams already qualified along with the 5 winners of the qualification round will be drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams each, where they will play in a double round-robin format. The top 2 teams in each group will progress to the main round. Teams from the same country can't be drawn into the same group.
  • Main round: The 16 group winners and runners-up will be placed in 4 groups of 4 teams each where they will play a single round-robin. The winners will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while 2nd and 3rd placed teams will qualify for the play-offs.
  • Play-offs: The 2nd and 3rd placed teams from each group in the main round will play in 4 different home and away ties. The winners will progress to the quarterfinals.
  • Quarter-finals: The main round group winners will face a play-off winner to determine who makes it to the European League finals.
  • EL finals: They will be played in a Final 4 format similar to the Champions League.

Rankings

This season, the EHF decided to make separate rankings for each club competition.

  • Associations 1–2 can have four clubs qualify.
  • Associations 3–9 can have three clubs qualify.
  • Associations 10–18 can have two clubs qualify.
  • Associations below the top 18 are allowed to enter apply one club for a potential wildcard.

Qualified teams

The full list of teams qualified for each stage of the 2023–24 EHF European League was announced on 10 July 2023.

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

  • EL: European League title holders
  • EC: European Cup title holders
  • CW: Cup winners
  • CR: Cup runners-up
  • 4th, 5th, etc.: League position of the previous season
Group stage
Füchse Berlin (3rd)EL Sporting CP (2nd) HBC Nantes (3rd) REBI BM Cuenca (2nd)
Górnik Zabrze (3rd) RK Nexe (2nd) Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (3rd) Kadetten Schaffhausen (1st)
IFK Kristianstad (1st) HC Alkaloid (2nd) MOL-Tatabánya KC (3rd) RK Gorenje Velenje (2nd)
MŠK Považská Bystrica (1st) Dinamo București (1st) AEK Athens (1st) Elverum Håndball (2nd)
SG Flensburg-Handewitt (4th) SL Benfica (3rd) Chambéry Savoie MBH (4th) Logroño La Rioja (CR)
Chrobry Głogów (4th) Skjern Håndbold (4th) HC Kriens-Luzern (2nd) IK Sävehof (2nd)
RK Vojvodina (1st)EC WC RK Izviđač (1st) WC RK Lovćen (1st) WC
Qualification round
Rhein-Neckar Löwen (5th) ABC Braga (4th) Fraikin BM Granollers (3rd) Pfadi Winterthur (3rd)
Ystads IF (3rd) Vardar 1961 (3rd) RK Trimo Trebnje (3rd) CSM Constanța (CW)
TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (6th) Águas Santas Milaneza (5th)
  • WC Accepted Wildcard

Draw

The Draw took place on the 21 July 2023. The only restriction was that clubs from the same country cannot be in the same group.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

Füchse Berlin
Sporting CP
HBC Nantes
REBI BM Cuenca
Górnik Zabrze
RK Nexe
Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
Kadetten Schaffhausen

IFK Kristianstad
HC Alkaloid
MOL-Tatabánya KC
RK Gorenje Velenje
MŠK Považská Bystrica
Dinamo București
AEK Athens
Elverum Håndball

SG Flensburg-Handewitt
SL Benfica
Chambéry Savoie MBH
Logroño La Rioja
Chrobry Głogów
Skjern Håndbold
HC Kriens-Luzern
IK Sävehof

Play Off Winner 1
Play Off Winner 2
Play Off Winner 3
Play Off Winner 4
Play Off Winner 5
RK Vojvodina
RK Izviđač
RK Lovćen

  1. The eventual team in this slot was TSV Hannover-Burgdorf.
  2. The eventual team in this slot was ABC Braga
  3. The eventual team in this slot was Pfadi Winterthur
  4. The eventual team in this slot was Rhein-Neckar Löwen
  5. The eventual team in this slot was CSM Constanța

Qualification round

Main article: 2023–24 EHF European League Qualification Round

The draw for the qualification round was conducted on 18 July 2023. The first legs will be held on 26–27 August 2023 while the second legs will be held on 2–3 September 2023.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Ystads IF 49–63 TSV Hannover-Burgdorf 28–33 21–30
RK Trimo Trebnje 57–58 ABC Braga 31–29 26–29
Águas Santas Milaneza 43–44 Pfadi Winterthur 24–22 19–22
Vardar 1961 58–71 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 25–34 33–37
CSM Constanța 52–51 Fraikin BM Granollers 27–29 25–22 PS

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was conducted on 21 July 2023 at the EHF office in Vienna.

In the group stage, teams were 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:

Tiebreakers
  1. Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;
  3. Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved;
  4. Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
  5. Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
  6. Drawing of Lots

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification NAN RHE BEN KRI
1 HBC Nantes 6 5 0 1 201 177 +24 10 Main round — 32–25 37–28 31–27
2 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 6 5 0 1 198 177 +21 10 36–32 — 39–30 36–28
3 SL Benfica 6 2 0 4 194 210 −16 4 34–38 35–36 — 36–33
4 IFK Kristianstad 6 0 0 6 162 191 −29 0 27–31 20–26 27–31 —
Source: EHF

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HAN GOZ LUZ AEK
1 TSV Hannover-Burgdorf 6 5 1 0 192 164 +28 11 Main round — 34–28 30–30 31–25
2 Górnik Zabrze 6 3 1 2 179 171 +8 7 29–32 — 32–28 30–21
3 HC Kriens-Luzern 6 1 2 3 179 180 −1 4 23–31 30–30 — 39–27
4 AEK Athens 6 1 0 5 158 193 −35 2 29–34 26–30 30–29 —
Source: EHF

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SAV GOR CUE WIN
1 IK Sävehof 6 5 1 0 207 160 +47 11 Main round — 36–34 40–27 41–20
2 RK Gorenje Velenje 6 2 1 3 182 170 +12 5 28–28 — 28–20 34–26
3 REBI BM Cuenca 6 2 0 4 153 181 −28 4 22–30 28–27 — 28–24
4 Pfadi Winterthur 6 2 0 4 163 194 −31 4 29–32 32–31 32–28 —
Source: EHF

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification NEX SKJ BRA POV
1 RK Nexe 6 5 0 1 215 172 +43 10 Main round — 39–25 38–28 35–28
2 Skjern Håndbold 6 4 0 2 191 172 +19 8 33–30 — 32–25 42–22
3 ABC Braga 6 2 0 4 173 188 −15 4 30–34 25–32 — 31–26
4 MŠK Považská Bystrica 6 1 0 5 161 208 −47 2 28–39 31–27 26–34 —
Source: EHF

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FLE KAD ELV LOV
1 SG Flensburg-Handewitt 6 5 0 1 218 162 +56 10 Main round — 46–32 38–35 42–19
2 Kadetten Schaffhausen 6 4 0 2 181 183 −2 8 25–24 — 32–30 36–26
3 Elverum Håndball 6 3 0 3 192 181 +11 6 32–33 31–27 — 37–25
4 RK Lovćen 6 0 0 6 141 206 −65 0 19–35 26–29 26–27 —
Source: EHF

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SIL VOJ ALK LOG
1 Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 6 5 0 1 183 158 +25 10 Main round — 26–22 35–31 34–25
2 RK Vojvodina 6 4 0 2 172 163 +9 8 29–28 — 34–29 24–25
3 HC Alkaloid 6 1 1 4 166 187 −21 3 23–31 26–31 — 28–27
4 Logroño La Rioja 6 1 1 4 163 176 −13 3 28–29 29–32 29–29 —
Source: EHF

Group G

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FUC BUC CHA IZV
1 Füchse Berlin 6 6 0 0 194 160 +34 12 Main round — 33–30 24–22 34–23
2 Dinamo București 6 4 0 2 218 168 +50 8 32–33 — 36–33 52–24
3 Chambéry Savoie MBH 6 2 0 4 181 181 0 4 31–36 21–28 — 34–30
4 RK Izviđač 6 0 0 6 150 234 −84 0 22–34 24–40 27–40 —
Source: EHF

Group H

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CON SPO TAT CHR
1 CSM Constanța 6 4 1 1 172 158 +14 9 Main round — 29–28 28–25 29–18
2 Sporting CP 6 4 0 2 199 158 +41 8 34–28 — 36–28 37–20
3 MOL-Tatabánya KC 6 3 0 3 175 171 +4 6 24–29 31–29 — 37–24
4 Chrobry Głogów 6 0 1 5 138 197 −59 1 29–29 22–35 25–30 —
Source: EHF

Main round

In the main round, the remaining sixteen teams merge into four groups of four, where they play the teams they didn't play in the group stage. Points from the group stage against the teams that advanced with each other are carried over. At the end of the main round, The four group winners advance to the quarter-finals, while the 2nd and 3rd place teams qualify for the play-offs.

Group I

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HAN NAN RHE GOZ
1 TSV Hannover-Burgdorf 2 2 0 0 66 57 +9 4 Quarter-finals — – – 34–28
2 HBC Nantes 2 1 0 1 64 61 +3 2 Play-offs – — 32–25 –
3 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 2 1 0 1 61 64 −3 2 – 36–32 — –
4 Górnik Zabrze 2 0 0 2 57 66 −9 0 29–32 – – —
Source: EHF

Group II

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SAV NEX SKJ GOR
1 IK Sävehof 2 1 1 0 64 62 +2 3 Quarter-finals — – – 36–34
2 RK Nexe 2 1 0 1 69 58 +11 2 Play-offs – — 39–25 –
3 Skjern Håndbold 2 1 0 1 58 69 −11 2 – 33–30 — –
4 RK Gorenje Velenje 2 0 1 1 62 64 −2 1 28–28 – – —
Source: EHF

Group III

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FLE SIL VOJ KAD
1 SG Flensburg-Handewitt 2 1 0 1 70 57 +13 2 Quarter-finals — – – 46–32
2 Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 2 1 0 1 54 51 +3 2 Play-offs – — 26–22 –
3 RK Vojvodina 2 1 0 1 51 54 −3 2 – 29–28 — –
4 Kadetten Schaffhausen 2 1 0 1 57 70 −13 2 25–24 – – —
Source: EHF

Group IV

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FUC SPO CON BUC
1 Füchse Berlin 2 2 0 0 66 62 +4 4 Quarter-finals — – – 33–30
2 Sporting CP 2 1 0 1 62 57 +5 2 Play-offs – — 34–28 –
3 CSM Constanța 2 1 0 1 57 62 −5 2 – 29–28 — –
4 Dinamo București 2 0 0 2 62 66 −4 0 32–33 – – —
Source: EHF

Knockout stage

Play-offs Quarter-finals
 
   
 

See also