The 2022–23 EHF Champions League was the 63rd edition of Europe's premier club

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

tournament and the 30th edition under the current

EHF Champions League The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the me ...

format. It ran from 14 September 2022 to 18 June 2023.

SC Magdeburg SC Magdeburg is a handball club from Magdeburg, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History During the time in the GDR, the club won 10 national championships (1970, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991) an ...

defeated Barlinek Industria Kielce 30–29 in the final to capture their fourth title.

Format

The tournament used the same format as the previous two seasons. The competition began with a group stage featuring sixteen teams divided into two groups. Matches were played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures, fourteen in total for each team. In Groups A and B, the top two teams automatically qualified for the quarter-finals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th entered the playoff round. The knockout stage included four rounds: the playoffs, quarter-finals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the playoffs, eight teams were paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches (third-placed in group A plays sixth-placed group B; fourth-placed group A plays fifth-placed group B, etc.). The four aggregate winners of the playoffs advanced to the quarterfinals, joining the top-two teams of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams were 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 were played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue. For this tournament, it was the

Lanxess Arena Lanxess Arena (originally Kölnarena, German for ''Cologne Arena'') is an indoor arena, in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known as the 18,500-capacity home of the Kölner Haie. The arena opened in 1998 and can accommodate 20,000 p ...

Teams

There were ten guaranteed places, with the six additional spots being awarded as wildcards by the EHF. The league winners of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

qualified for the group stage automatically. 22 teams applied for a place. Teams which have qualified for the 2022–23 EHF European League will have the opportunity to apply for an upgrade to the

. The final list was announced in June 2022. *

RK Vardar RK Vardar 1961 ( mk, РК Вардар 1961) is a professional handball club from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Vardar is the most successful handball team in the country, having won fifteen national League and Cup titles. Also, Vardar is the ...

, who were originally to qualify as winners of the 2021–22 Macedonian Handball Super League, were removed from EHF competitions for this season due to financial issues.

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 1 July 2022. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. From each pot, two teams were drawn into Group A and the other two in Group B. Teams from the same national association will not drawn into the same group. A total of 11 national associations were represented in the group stage.

Group A

Group B

Knockout stage

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Final four

The final four will be held at the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany on 17 and 18 June 2023.

Bracket

Final

Top goalscorers

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:EHF Champions League

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