2015–16 Women's EHF Champions League

Women's EHF Champions League

2015–16
Tournament information
Sport	Handball
Dates	12 September 2015–8 May 2016
Teams	22
Final positions
Champions	CSM Bucharest
Runner-up	Győri ETO
Tournament statistics
Matches played	96
Goals scored	5017 (52.26 per match)
Attendance	281,616 (2,934 per match)
MVP	Jelena Grubišić
Top scorer(s)	Isabelle Gulldén (108 goals)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The 2015–16 Women's EHF Champions League was the 23rd 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.

CSM Bucharest won their first title by defeating Győri ETO 29–26 in the big final.^[1]

Overview

Team allocation

14 teams were directly qualified for the group stage.^[2]

Group stage
Hypo Niederösterreich (1st)	Podravka Koprivnica (1st)	Midtjylland (1st)	Fleury Loiret HB (1st)
Thüringer HC (1st)	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (1st)	Vardar (1st)	Budućnost (1st)^TH (1st)
Larvik HK (1st)	MKS Selgros Lublin (1st)	CSM Bucharest (1st)	Rostov-Don (1st)
Krim (1st)	IK Sävehof (1st)
Qualification tournament
BNTU Minsk (1st)	Team Esbjerg (2nd)	Győri ETO (2nd)	SERCODAK Dalfsen (1st)
Glassverket IF (2nd)	HCM Baia Mare (2nd)	RK Radnički Kragujevac (1st)	Yenimahalle Bld. SK (1st)

• ^{TH = Title holders}

Round and draw dates

All draws held at the European Handball Federation headquarters in Vienna, Austria.^[3]

Phase	Draw date
Qualifying	26 June 2015
Group stage
Knockout stage
Final Four	12 April 2016

Qualification stage

The draw was held on 26 June 2015. The teams played a semifinal and final to determine the last participants. Matches were played on 12 and 13 September 2015.^[3][4]

Seedings

The seedings were announced on 23 June 2015.^[5]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Győri ETO Team Esbjerg	Glassverket IF HCM Baia Mare	BNTU Minsk SERCODAK Dalfsen	RK Radnički Kragujevac Yenimahalle Bld. SK

Qualification tournament 1

	Semifinals				Final
	12 September
	Győri ETO	42
					13 September
	Kragujevac	13
					Győri ETO	30
	12 September
					Glassverket IF	21
	Glassverket IF	26
	SERCODAK Dalfsen	21
					Third place
					13 September
					Kragujevac	17
					SERCODAK Dalfsen	23

Qualification tournament 2

	Semifinals				Final
	12 September
	Team Esbjerg	32
					13 September
	Yenimahalle Bld. SK	28
					Team Esbjerg	21
	12 September
					HCM Baia Mare	32
	HCM Baia Mare	31
	BNTU Minsk	21
					Third place
					13 September
					Yenimahalle Bld. SK	27
					BNTU Minsk	31

Group stage

The draw was held on 26 June 2015.^[3][6]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ROS	LAR	HCM	KRI
1	Rostov-Don	6	6	0	0	173	148	+25	12	Advanced to main round		—	26–25	27–26	35–25
2	Larvik HK	6	4	0	2	173	153	+20	8			21–27	—	27–22	32–28
3	HCM Baia Mare	6	2	0	4	165	162	+3	4			20–22	29–31	—	35–28
4	Krim	6	0	0	6	160	208	−48	0			31–36	21–37	27–33	—

Source: ehfcl.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FER	FLE	THÜ	KOP
1	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	6	5	1	0	181	146	+35	11	Advanced to main round		—	36–23	32–28	28–16
2	Fleury Loiret HB	6	2	3	1	144	149	−5	7			28–28	—	27–21	19–17
3	Thüringer HC	6	2	1	3	159	156	+3	5			27–30	27–27	—	29–19
4	Podravka Koprivnica	6	0	1	5	117	150	−33	1			24–27	20–20	21–27	—

Source: ehfcl.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GYO	VAR	MID	NIE
1	Győri ETO	6	4	1	1	164	134	+30	9	Advanced to main round		—	28–27	21–26	37–16
2	Vardar	6	4	0	2	182	144	+38	8			22–27	—	33–24	37–25
3	Midtjylland	6	3	1	2	153	149	+4	7			22–22	15–25	—	33–21
4	Hypo Niederösterreich	6	0	0	6	135	207	−72	0			21–29	25–38	27–33	—

Source: ehfcl.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BUD	BUC	SÄV	LUB
1	Budućnost	6	5	1	0	169	131	+38	11	Advanced to main round		—	23–23	33–20	29–25
2	CSM Bucharest	6	4	1	1	163	138	+25	9			22–28	—	27–22	33–21
3	IK Sävehof	6	2	0	4	138	158	−20	4			18–25	17–28	—	27–24
4	MKS Selgros Lublin	6	0	0	6	141	184	−43	0			23–31	27–30	21–34	—

Source: ehfcl.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored

Main round

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ROS	LAR	FER	HCM	FLE	THÜ
1	Rostov-Don	10	9	1	0	281	237	+44	19	Advanced to quarterfinals		—	26–25	23–21	27–26	38–21	30–24
2	Larvik HK	10	6	0	4	281	263	+18	12[lower-alpha 1]			21–27	—	37–31	27–22	26–31	28–19
3	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	10	5	2	3	282	272	+10	12[lower-alpha 1]			29–29	30–27	—	21–18	36–23	32–28
4	HCM Baia Mare	10	5	0	5	259	247	+12	10			20–22	29–31	32–24	—	31–28	38–27
5	Fleury Loiret HB	10	2	2	6	252	287	−35	6			22–27	28–31	28–28	17–18	—	27–21
6	Thüringer HC	10	0	1	9	244	297	−53	1			28–32	20–28	27–30	23–25	27–27	—

Source: ehfcl.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored
Notes:

1. Larvik 64–61 Ferencvárosi

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BUD	GYO	VAR	BUC	MID	SÄV
1	Budućnost	10	7	1	2	264	213	+51	15[lower-alpha 1]	Advanced to quarterfinals		—	25–22	31–19	23–23	27–21	33–20
2	Győri ETO	10	7	1	2	252	230	+22	15[lower-alpha 1]			22–20	—	28–27	28–22	21–26	32–26
3	Vardar	10	7	0	3	269	246	+23	14			26–24	22–27	—	22–21	33–24	37–25
4	CSM Bucharest	10	4	1	5	242	239	+3	9			22–28	22–24	25–30	—	24–22	27–22
5	Midtjylland	10	2	1	7	220	261	−41	5			18–28	22–22	15–25	23–28	—	25–21
6	IK Sävehof	10	1	0	9	225	286	−61	2			18–26	18–26	26–29	17–28	32–24	—

Source: ehfcl.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored
Notes:

1. Budućnost 45–44 Győri

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
CSM Bucharest	55–53	Rostov-Don	26–25	29–28
Vardar	60–48	Larvik HK	34–20	26–28
FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	41–71	Győri ETO	18–31	23–40
HCM Baia Mare	49–61	Budućnost	24–29	25–32

Final four

The final four was held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 7 and 8 May 2016. The draw was held on 15 April 2016 at 11:30.^[7][8]

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	7 May
	CSM Bucharest	27
					8 May
	Vardar	21
					CSM Bucharest (Pen.)	29
	7 May
					Győri ETO	26
	Budućnost	20
	Győri ETO	21
					Third place
					8 May
					Vardar	30
					Budućnost	28

Final

8 May 2016 17:45	CSM Bucharest	29–26 (ET)	Győri ETO	László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest Attendance: 12,000 Referees: Arntsen, Røen (NOR)
	Gulldén 15	(13–12)	Løke 8
	2× 4×	Report	3× 3×
	FT: 22–22 ET: 3–3 Pen: 4–1

Awards and statistics

Top goalscorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.^[9]

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Isabelle Gulldén	CSM Bucharest	108
2	Ekaterina Ilina	Rostov-Don	97
3	Cristina Neagu	Budućnost	94
4	Nora Mørk	Larvik	93
5	Allison Pineau	HCM Baia Mare	89
6	Katarina Bulatović	Budućnost	87
7	Andrea Penezić	Vardar	79
8	Iuliia Managarova	Rostov-Don	72
9	Andrea Lekić	Vardar	70
10	Heidi Løke	Győri ETO	69

All-Star Team

The all-star team and awards were announced on 6 May 2016.^[10]

• Goalkeeper:  Kari Aalvik Grimsbø (NOR)
• Right wing:  Jovanka Radičević (MNE)
• Right back:  Nora Mørk (NOR)
• Centre back:  Cornelia Groot (NED)
• Left back:  Cristina Neagu (ROU)
• Left wing:  Anikó Kovacsics (HUN)
• Pivot:  Heidi Løke (NOR)

Other awards

• MVP:  Jelena Grubišić (CRO)
• Best Coach:  Ambros Martín (ESP)
• Best Young Player:  Luca Szekerczes (HUN)
• Best Defence Player:  Eduarda Amorim (BRA)

References

1. "Gullden touch leads CSM to a maiden trophy after a shootout thriller". ehfcl.com. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
2. "Women's EHF Champions League 2015/16 participants announced". ehfcl.com. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
3. "Vienna city centre to host first draw of new season". ehfcl.com. 16 June 2015.
4. "Qualification draw puts Györ vs Kragujevac and Esbjerg vs Ankara". ehfcl.com. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
5. "Pots for the qualification and group matches announced". ehfcl.com. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
6. "Buducnost in group with Bucuresti, Sävehof and Lublin". ehfcl.com. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
7. "2016 Women's EHF FINAL4 draw takes place on 15 April". ehfcl.com. 4 April 2016.
8. "Women's EHF FINAL4: Title holders Buducnost meet Györ in the semi-final". ehfcl.com. 15 April 2016.
9. "Women's EHF Champions League 2015/16 – Scorers". EHF Champions League 2015/16. European Handball Federation (EHF). Retrieved 8 May 2016.
10. "All-stars take to the court at the 2016 MVM EHF FINAL4". ehfcl.com. 6 May 2016.

External links

• Official website