Facts and figures of the EHF Cup Group Phase

For the first time in the history of the competition a Group Phase was played in the Men’s EHF Cup. 16 teams from 12 countries played 48 matches in four groups. Six teams qualified for the quarter-finalist, while HBC Nantes directly made it to the EHF Cup Finals on home ground on 18/19 May, as the French team were among the three best second ranked teams.

Four group winners and the two best second ranked teams clinched their berth for the three quarter-final pairings (Branik Maribor vs Frisch Auf Göppingen, KIF Kolding vs Team Tvis Holstebro and SC Magdeburg vs Rhein Neckar Löwen), which will be played 20/21 and 27/28 April. The three aggregate winners of those pairings qualify for the EHF Cup Finals.

Here are the most important facts and figures about the Group Phase and the quarter-finalists:

The six quarter-finalist come from only three countries – Germany is represented by three teams, which all became group winners: SC Magdeburg, Rhein Neckar Löwen and the defending champions of the old EHF Cup Frisch Auf Göppingen.

Denmark is represented by the fourth group winner Team Tvis Holstebro and KIF Kolding. Additionally, Branik Maribor from Slovenia qualified for the quarter-finals as best second ranked team.

KIF Kolding and Maribor Branik made it all the way, as they are the only teams to arrive in the quarter-final, who had been part of the competition since first qualification stage. Team Tvis Holstebro started in the second qualification stage, as the three German clubs and Nantes started in the third qualification stage.

Points, points, points:

SC Magdeburg are the only unbeaten team of the Group Phase with five victories and one draw against EHF Cup Finals host HBC Nantes. Rhein Neckar Löwen and Frisch Auf Göppingen also took five victories, but each were once beaten in the Group Phase. Swedish side Eskilstuna Guif were the only team which remained by zero points in the end.

Only three draws occurred in the 48 matches of the Group Phase, one in the top duel of group D SC Magdeburg vs. HBC Nantes (26:26), two of Danish side Team Tvis Holstebro in group C (Holstebro vs. Maribor 26:26, Elverum vs. Holstebro 28:28).

In total 29 times the home finished the matches victorious, 16 times the away teams were the winners.

Overall statistics:
29 home victories – 3 draws – 16 away victories
Göppingen, La Rioja, Rhein Neckar Löwen, and Maribor have won all their home matches, Magdeburg won all away matches.

Goals, goals, goals

Attack:
Frisch Auf Göppingen were the best team concerning the attacking performance – and were the only participant to reach the mark of 200 goals in six matches (an average of 33,3 goals). Rhein Neckar Löwen had the second best attack by 185 goals, followed by RK Cimos Koper (181) and SC Magdeburg (176). Turkish champions Besiktas Istanbul are on the bottom of this ranking by 129 scored goals.

Defence:
Former EHF Champions League winner SC Magdeburg had the best defence of all 16 teams, conceding only 135 goals in six matches, an average of 22,5 goals. Second ranked in this department are EHF Cup Finals host HBC Nantes (143 goals), followed by KIF Kolding (145) and Rhein Neckar Löwen (150). Koper are on the bottom by 189 conceded goals.

Goal difference:

SC Magdeburg was the best team regarding the goal difference by +41, ahead of Rhein Neckar Löwen (+35) and Frisch Auf Göppingen (+25). Besiktas (-35), Eskilstuna (-33) and Motor Zaporozhye (-31) are on the bottom of this ranking.

Matches with the biggest number of goals:

The spectators of both legs of the encounter Frisch Auf Göppingen vs. Cimos Koper could not complaint to see less goals, as in total 145 goals were scored in both matches. And those encounters clearly lead the ranking in this department. Five of those eight matches with the highest number of goals happened in group A.

75 goals: Cimos Koper vs. Frisch Auf Göppingen 36:39
70 goals: Frisch Auf Göppingen vs. Cimos Koper 38:32
67 goals: Tatran Prešov vs. Rhein Neckar Löwen 33:34
64 goals: Tatran Prešov vs. Motor Zaporozhye 36:28
63 goals: Maribor Branik vs. Elverum Handball Herrer 34:29
63 goals: Frisch Auf Göppingen vs. Eskilstuna Guif 37:26
63 goals: Naturhouse La Rioja vs. Cimos Koper 35:28
63 goals : Frisch Auf Göppingen vs. Naturhouse La Rioja 32:31

Matches with the lowest number of goals:

Only 39 goals were scored in the first round encounter of Stiinta Municipal Bacau vs. HBC Nantes, the only match with less than 40 goals in the Group Phase.
39 goals: Stiinta Municipal Bacau vs. HBC Nantes 18:21
44 goals: Besiktas Istanbul vs. SC Magdeburg 17:27
45 goals: Besiktas Istanbul vs. HBC Nantes 21:24
48 goals: Besiktas Istanbul vs. Stiinta Municipal Bacau 25:23
48 goals: KIF Kolding vs. Rhein Neckar Löwen 25:23
49 goals: Maribor Branik vs. Orlen Wisla Plock 26:23

Matches with the biggest difference:

Six of 48 matches ended with a difference of more than ten goals – with the encounter KIF Kolding vs. Tatran Prešov on top with the huge margin of 20 goals.

20 goals: KIF Kolding vs. Tatran Prešov 37:17
16 goals: Rhein Neckar Löwen – Tatran Prešov 36:20
15 goals: SC Magdeburg vs. Besiktas Istanbul 33:18
15 goals: Team Tvis Holstebro vs. Elverum Handball Herrer 33:18
13 goals: Rhein Neckar Löwen vs. Motor Zaporozhye 35:22
10 goals: Besiktas Istanbul vs. SC Magdeburg 17:27

Top scorers after the Group Phase:

Andre Lindboe (Elverum Handball Herrer) 76
Patrick Larsen (Team Tvis Holstebro) 68
Sergii Burka (Motor Zaporozhye) 61
Nikola Špelić (Maribor Branik) 61
Kim Andersson (KIF Kolding) 60
Miha Zarabec (Maribor Branik) 58
Simon Razgor (Maribor Branik) 57
Ramazan Döne (Besiktas Istanbul) 55
Radoslav Antl (Tatran Prešov) 52
Radu Cristian Ghita (Bacau) 52

Top 12 of spectators:

The Danish-German top duel KIF Kolding, played at the Brondby Arena Kobenhavn, was the number 1 regarding spectators, as 4749 fans attended this match.

In total, HBC Nantes was the team with the highest number of spectators in their three home matches by an average of 4433 fans at their games, followed by Naturhouse La Rioja (3500 in average). In total 12 matches were attended by 3000 or more spectators.

4749: KIF Kolding vs. Rhein Neckar Löwen
4600: HBC Nantes vs. Besiktas Istanbul
4500: HBC Nantes vs. Bacau
4200 : HBC Nantes vs. SC Magdeburg
4000: Naturhouse La Rioja vs. Cimos Koper
3800: Wisla Plock vs. Team Tvis Holstebro
3600: Frisch Auf Göppingen vs. Naturhouse La Rioja
3500: Naturhouse La Rioja vs. Frisch Auf Göppingen
3350: Tatran Prešov vs. Rhein Neckar Löwen
3120: Tatran Prešov vs. Motor Zaporozhye
3100: Orlen Wisla Plock vs.Maribor Branik
3000: Naturhouse La Rioja vs. Eskilstuna Guif