The 2023–24 Women's EHF Champions League is the 31st 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, running from 9 September 2023 to 2 June 2024.

Vipers Kristiansand Vipers Kristiansand is a handball club from Kristiansand, Norway. They currently compete in REMA 1000-ligaen, the top division in the country, since its promotion in 2001. They claimed there first Norwegian Championship in 2018, defeating 18 tim ...

are the defending champions.

Format

The tournament will run using the same format as the previous three seasons. The competition begins with a group stage featuring sixteen teams divided into two groups. Matches are 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 qualify for the quarter-finals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th entering the playoff round. The knockout stage includes four rounds: the playoffs, quarter-finals, 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 (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 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.

Rankings

This season, the EHF decided to make separate

rankings A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

for each club competition. *Associations 1–9 can have their league champion qualify for the Group Stage and apply up to two wildcards. *The Association that won the past season's

Women's EHF European League The Women's EHF European League is an annual competition for women's handball clubs of Europe. It is organized by the EHF. It is currently the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

can have their league champion and runner up qualify for the Group Stage and apply for one wildcard. *Associations below the top 9 can have their league champion apply for a Wildcard.

Teams

21 teams applied for a place, with nine having a fixed place. For the first time ever, countries were allowed to apply two clubs for a wildcard. The final list was announced in June 20 2023, which included Hungary and Denmark having three participating teams for the first time. The fixed place for Russia is vacant since the country and its clubs are currently not admitted to participate in the EHF competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. *^WC Accepted wildcards

Draw

The draw took place on 27 June 2023.

Group stage

The 16 teams were drawn into 2 groups of eight. In regards to Hungary and Denmark, who have three clubs in the Group Stage, a maximum of 2 clubs from those countries can be drawn into the same group. 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: #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; #Superior goal difference in all matches of the group; #Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group; #Drawing of Lots This season, ten national associations are present. For the first time since the 2019–20 season, Poland has a representative, while Sweden returns after a one season absence.

Group A

Group B

Knockout stage

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Final four

The final four will held at the

MVM Dome The MVM Dome, sometimes known as the Budapest Handball Sports Hall (Hungarian: ''Budapesti Kézilabda Sportcsarnok'') and formally known as ''Budapest Multifunctional Arena'', named after MVM Group, is Europe's largest handball arena located in ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary on 1 and 2 June 2024.

Top goalscorers

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:EHF Champions League

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