2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League

This article is about the women's competition. For the men's competition, see 2024–25 EHF Champions League.
Women's EHF Champions League
2024–25
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates7 September 2024–1 June 2025
Teams16
Websiteehfcl.com
Final positions
Champions Győri Audi ETO KC
Runner-up Odense Håndbold
Tournament statistics
Matches played132
Goals scored7148 (54.15 per match)
Attendance394,435 (2,988 per match)
MVP Kari Brattset Dale
Top scorer(s) Henny Reistad
(154 goals)

The 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League was the 32nd edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 7 September 2024 to 1 June 2025.

Győri Audi ETO KC were the defending champions and won the tournament for second straight and seventh overall time, after defeating Odense Håndbold in the final.[1]

Format

The tournament ran using the same format as the previous three 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.

Rankings

The rankings were based on the performances from the three most recent seasons.[2]

  • Associations 1–9 had their league champion qualify for the group stage and apply up to two wildcards.
  • The best-ranked association in the Women's EHF European League could have its league champion and runner-up qualified for the group stage and can apply for one wildcard.
  • Associations below the top 9 had their league champion apply for a wildcard.

Teams

19 teams applied for a place, with nine having a fixed place.[4] The final list was announced on 21 June 2024.[5]

The fixed place for Russia was vacant since the country and its clubs were not admitted to participate in the EHF competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[6]

Participating teams
Team Esbjerg (1st) Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub (2nd) Metz Handball (1st) HB Ludwigsburg (1st)
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (1st) WHC Budućnost BEMAX (1st) Vipers Kristiansand (1st) CSM București (1st)
RK Krim Mercator (1st) HC Podravka Vegeta (1st) WC Odense Håndbold (3rd) WC Brest Bretagne Handball (2nd) WC
Győri Audi ETO KC (2nd) WC Storhamar HE (2nd) WC CS Rapid București (2nd) WC CS Gloria Bistrița (3rd) WC
  • WC Accepted wildcards
Rejected upgrades
Borussia Dortmund (4th) DVSC Schaeffler (4th) Sola HK (3rd)

Draw

The draw was held on 27 June 2024.[4][7]

Group stage

Location of teams of the 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B.
Main article: 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League group stage

The 16 teams were drawn into two groups of eight. In regards to Denmark and Romania, who had three clubs in the group stage, a maximum of two clubs from those countries could be drawn into the same group.[4][7]

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 was determined as follows:

  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

This season, nine national associations were present. Poland and Sweden both miss out while Croatia return after a one-season absence. CS Gloria Bistrița made their debut in the Champions League.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MET FER BUC KRI KOP STO BIS NYK
1 Metz Handball 14 13 1 0 413 361 +52 27 Quarterfinals — 24–19 27–24 34–30 35–31 24–20 28–26 30–22
2 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 14 12 0 2 395 351 +44 24 23–26 — 31–28 28–27 33–24 26–25 32–28 31–22
3 CSM București 14 9 0 5 414 383 +31 18 Playoffs 31–32 26–28 — 36–23 31–30 32–28 32–23 27–26
4 RK Krim Mercator 14 6 1 7 390 404 −14 13 25–34 22–27 29–31 — 30–29 25–23 28–25 35–25
5 HC Podravka Vegeta 14 5 1 8 383 392 −9 11 26–28 29–30 28–29 23–24 — 25–24 26–25 27–27
6 Storhamar HE 14 3 2 9 351 377 −26 8 29–29 21–27 21–32 29–28 23–25 — 25–23 22–22
7 CS Gloria Bistrița 14 3 0 11 378 410 −32 6 28–34 23–26 30–26 30–35 25–29 31–28 — 37–29
8 Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub 14 1 3 10 372 418 −46 5 27–28 27–34 27–29 30–30 28–31 28–33 32–24 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GYO ESB ODE BRE LUD BUC BUD VIP
1 Győri Audi ETO KC 14 12 1 1 397 333 +64 25 Quarterfinals — 28–26 28–35 28–27 32–19 31–20 33–21 27–22
2 Team Esbjerg 14 10 1 3 414 360 +54 21 23–29 — 39–30 36–27 30–30 39–32 26–19 30–29
3 Odense Håndbold 14 10 0 4 434 376 +58 20 Playoffs 32–34 20–31 — 36–33 28–22 32–24 31–29 10–0
4 Brest Bretagne Handball 14 7 1 6 414 383 +31 15 34–35 33–32 36–38 — 26–28 33–21 23–23 30–27
5 HB Ludwigsburg 14 6 1 7 391 411 −20 13 26–31 31–36 24–40 26–33 — 30–24 26–18 33–29
6 CS Rapid București 14 2 2 10 350 412 −62 6 25–28 26–28 25–42 31–34 29–37 — 32–27 10–0
7 WHC Budućnost BEMAX 14 1 3 10 324 398 −74 5 23–23 23–27 24–33 22–35 25–36 21–21 — 26–20
8 Vipers Kristiansand[a] 14 3 1 10 245 296 −51 7 0–10 0–10 26–24 0–10 30–23 30–30 32–23 —
Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ^ Vipers Kristiansand declared bankruptcy on 13 January 2025 with the results that every game scheduled after that date was counted as a 10–0 win for the opponent.[8]

Knockout stage

Main article: 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League knockout stage

Playoffs

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
CS Rapid București 46–62 CSM București 24–34 22–28
Storhamar HE 41–58 Odense Håndbold 20–33 21–25
HB Ludwigsburg 54–47 RK Krim Mercator 31–21 23–26
HC Podravka Vegeta 54–61 Brest Bretagne Handball 27–26 27–35

Quarterfinals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Brest Bretagne Handball 58–62 Metz Handball 26–29 32–33
HB Ludwigsburg 46–54 Győri Audi ETO KC 24–25 22–29
Odense Håndbold 52–51 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 27–27 25–24
CSM București 52–55 Team Esbjerg 30–29 22–26

Final four

The final four will be held at the MVM Dome in Budapest, Hungary on 31 May and 1 June 2025.

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
31 May
 
 
 Győri Audi ETO KC29
 
1 June
 
 Team Esbjerg28
 
 Győri Audi ETO KC29
 
31 May
 
 Odense Håndbold27
 
 Metz Handball29
 
 
 Odense Håndbold (ET)31
 
Third place
 
 
1 June
 
 
 Team Esbjerg30
 
 
 Metz Handball27

Final

1 June 2025
18:00 		Győri Audi ETO KC 29–27 Odense Håndbold MVM Dome, Budapest
Attendance: 19,469
Referees: Mata, López (ESP)
three players 6 (20–15) Højlund 5
1× 2× Report  2× 1×

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Club Goals[9]
1 Henny Reistad Team Esbjerg 154
2 Elizabeth Omoregie CSM București 109
3 Sarah Bouktit Metz Handball 107
4 Cristina Neagu CSM București 101
5 Ana Gros RK Krim Mercator 91
Dione Housheer Győri Audi ETO KC
7 Thale Rushfeldt Deila Odense Håndbold 88
Clarisse Mairot Brest Bretagne Handball
9 Matea Pletikosić HC Podravka Vegeta 86
10 Anna Vyakhireva Brest Bretagne Handball 85

See also

References

  1. ^ "Györ crowned champions in Budapest for the seventh time". eurohandball.com. 1 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Place distribution for next season's EHF club competitions released". www.eurohandball.com.
  3. ^ https://www.eurohandball.com/media/3zlfocdq/placedistribution_final_24_25_women.pdf
  4. ^ a b c "19 teams registered for EHF Champions League Women 2024/25". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Line-up confirmed for EHF Champions League 2024/25". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  6. ^ "EHF Court of Handball rejects Russia appeal against ban". insidethegames.biz. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Draw promises exciting group phase in women's top flight". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Court of Handball rules in Vipers case". eurohandball.com. 16 January 2025.
  9. ^ "Top Scorers". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
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