50 days to go until Cologne

Eight teams and thousands of their fans can still dream about the June trip to the banks of the Rhine. With 50 days before the event it is clear that only 50 per cent of the remaining teams will make it to Cologne.

The final cut on the way to the fourth edition of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 will be made in the upcoming days. The first leg of the quarter-finals will be played 20 and 21 April, the second leg will follow one week later.

The defending champions THW Kiel take on MKB Veszprém KC, SG Flensburg Handewitt will meet well-known faces of HSV Hamburg, the record champions FC Barcelona Intersport will lock horns with their Asobal rivals BM Atlético Madrid and Vive Targi Kielce will face HC Metalurg in the duel of debutants in the top eight.

On 2 May, exactly one month before the grand final in the LANXESS Arena, the VELUX EHF FINAL4 draw will take place in Cologne´s German Sports and Olympic Museum to determine the semi-finals pairings.

The playing times of the final weekend have been already set as follows – on Saturday 1 June Semi-final 1 will start at 15:15 followed by Semi-final 2 at 18:00. On Sunday the third place match and the final will take place at the same time slots. The order of play will be finalised only following the coordination of TV requirements.

Off the court, the totally packed LANXESS Arena has been guaranteed already for several weeks and there is only a very tiny chance of some tickets to be put on sale after 2 May, if four participating teams do not claim their contingents of 500 tickets for each.

However, the organisers have prepared an alternative chance for all those desperately longing for some excitement and atmoshere of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 as the tickets sale for a great opening party will start on Monday 15 April.

Find more information about the VELUX EHF FINAL4 Opening Party here.

Recently, the organisers have released the official hashtag for the two-day mega handball event. Fans looking for the latest news and information can join the conversation using the hashtag #EHFFINAL4.

Twitter users can keep up to date with the latest happenings on the EHF Champions League official Twitter channel @ehfcl.

Read more about the hashtag here.