German sides dominate EHF Cup stats

Like all previous seasons since the introduction of the new competition format in 2012/13, the hosts of the EHF Cup Finals have qualified directly from the group phase - this time SC Magdeburg.

And like last season, defending champions Frisch Auf Göppingen have become the only side to gather the maximum 12 points from six group matches.

After the quarter-final draw took place on Tuesday (St.-Raphael vs Granollers; Nexe vs Füchse; Chambéry vs Göppingen), the race to the Ottostadt Magdeburg EHF Cup Finals is now really heating up.

Let’s have a look at the Facts and Figures from the Men’s EHF Cup Group Phase:

0 quarter-final pairings feature teams from the same country.

0 Scandinavian teams have qualified for the quarter-finals - for the third time after 2013/14 and 2016/17.

0 French teams have won the EHF Cup in either the new of the old version, or the Cup Winners’ Cup.

1 team is a debutant in the quarter-finals: Nexe from Croatia.

1 non-German team has won the new version of the EHF Cup: Pick Szeged in 2014 (in a final against Montpellier).

1 time (in 2017 in Göppingen) three of the four participants of the EHF Cup Finals were from Germany.

1 team successfully defended the title under the new format (since 2012/13): Frisch Auf Göppingen in 2017. Löwen (2013 champions) and Szeged (2014) continued in the Champions League, and Berlin (2015) failed in qualification the following season.

1 team - Lugi Lund (Sweden) - finished the group phase without points.

1 team - defending champions Göppingen - finished the group phase with the maximum six wins.

1 German team at least has been part of the EHF Cup Finals each year.

1 team - Saint-Raphael - is quarter-finalist for the third straight time.

1 former Champions League winner - like every year so far - is still in the race at the quarter-final stage: SC Magdeburg. The hosts of the Ottostadt Magdeburg EHF Cup Finals have been quarter-finalist in 2013, 2016 and 2017, while Montpellier (2014) and Hamburg (2015) have also played in the quarter-finals.

2 teams which started in the second qualification round are still in the competition: Nexe and Chambéry.

2 of the six teams in the quarter-finals were also quarter-finalists last season: Saint-Raphael and Berlin. Also, Göppingen were finals hosts in 2017 while Magdeburg, quarter-finalists in 2017, will be hosting this time.

2 all-German finals have been played under the new format: Berlin vs Hamburg in 2015 and Göppingen vs Berlin in 2017.

2 of 48 group matches ended in a draw: Presov vs Minsk (25:25) and Chambéry vs Granollers (30:30).

2 of 48 group matches featured 45 or less goals, both in Group C: Cocks vs Nexe (20:22) and Koper vs Göppingen (20:25).

2 hosts of the EHF Cup Finals won the trophy: Berlin in 2015 and Göppingen in 2017. Berlin lost in the semi-finals in 2014, Nantes lost in the final twice: against Löwen (2013) and Göppingen (2016).

4 former EHF Cup winners are still in competition: Magdeburg (1999, 2001 and 2007 under the old format), Granollers (1995 and 1996 under the old format) and Berlin (2015). Göppingen have won under both the old and the new format (2011, 2012, 2016, 2017).

4 EHF Cup titles is the record, held by Göppingen since last season. Kiel and Magdeburg won three times each.

4 of 5 times under the new format, the champions came from Germany: Rhein-Neckar Löwen (2013), Berlin (2015) and Göppingen (2016, 2017).

4 of 48 group matches had a winning margin of 10 or more goals.

4 nations are represented by the six quarter-finalists: Germany, France (two each), Spain and Croatia. Last season it was Germany (three), France, Hungary and Spain.

6 times (which means every time including the current season) the hosts of the EHF Cup Finals directly qualified from the group phase and skipped the quarter-finals: Nantes in 2013 and 2016, Berlin in 2014 and 2015, Göppingen in 2017, Magdeburg in 2018.

6 times the weakest second-ranked team has been excluded from the quarter-finals. After teams from Spain in the past four seasons, this time is was Bjerringbro from Denmark.

7 different nations have had teams competing at the EHF Cup Finals: Germany (nine teams), France (five), Denmark (two), Romania, Hungary, Slovenia and Spain (one each). Three more nations – Croatia, Sweden and Portugal – have had teams in the quarter-finals.

7 group matches were attended by more than 3,000 fans, compared to nine last season.

12 points from six group matches were gathered by Göppingen, just like last season. The only other team to have achieved this feat is Montpellier (2013/14).

12 goals has been the biggest margin in a group match: Magdeburg vs Presov (36:24).

15 of 48 group matches featured 60 or more goals, compared to 14 matches last season.

14 times under the old format (1993/94 - 2011/2012) a German team won the EHF Cup, and four times under the new format (since 2012/13): Löwen in 2013, Berlin in 2015, Göppingen in 2016 and 2017.

20 away wins were among the 48 group matches, compared to 18 last season. Groups B and C recorded more away than home victories.

21 EHF Cup matches in a row, Göppingen have been unbeaten since the quarter-final defeat at Magdeburg in April 2016. They won 20 times and had one draw - against Arendal (Norway) in this season’s qualification.

26 of 48 group matches were won by the home team.

+35 is the best goal difference in the group phase, set by Magdeburg. Last season, Magdeburg had even better difference (+54).

42 was the lowest number of goals in a group phase match: Cocks vs Nexe (20:22).

67 was the highest number of goals: Azoty-Pulawy vs Granollers (30:37) and Anaitasuna vs Saint-Raphael (29:38).

75 was the highest number of goals scored by a single player: Uladzislau Kulesh (Minsk) of Belarus and Nico Rönnberg (Cocks) of Finland. The best scorer still in the competition is Hans Lindberg (Füchse Berlin) of Denmark, the overall top scorer last season, with 58 goals.

144 goals were conceded in the group phase by Göppingen, the least of all teams.

192 goals were scored by Magdeburg, the most of all teams. Last season, Magdeburg were also on top, with 200 goals.

2,685 goals were scored in the group phase: while Group B had 711 goals, Group C just had 636.

5,983 fans were the highest attendance in the group phase, at Berlin vs Anaitasuna.

Top 3 rankings of the Men’s EHF Cup Group Phase

Most goals per match:
67 - Azoty-Pulawy vs Granollers (30:37)
67 - Anaitasuna vs Saint-Raphael (29:38)
66 - Anaitasuna vs Lund (34:32)

Least goals per match:
42 - Cocks vs Nexe (20:22)
45 - Koper vs Göppingen (20:25)
46 - Bjerringbro vs Presov (27:19)

Biggest winning margins:
+12 goals - Magdeburg vs Presov (36:24)
+11 goals - Cocks vs Göppingen (20:31)
+11 goals - Füchse vs Anaitasuna (34:23)

Most spectators:
5,983 - Berlin vs Anaitasuna
5,805 - Berlin vs Lund
4,287 - Magdeburg vs Minsk

Most goals scored:
192 - Magdeburg
185 - Berlin
183 - Saint-Raphael

Least goals conceded:
144 - Göppingen
152 - Nexe
152 - Chambéry

Best goal difference:
+35 - Magdeburg
+33 - Göppingen
+31 - Berlin

Top scorers:
75 goals - Uladzislau Kulesh (Minsk)
75 goals - Nico Rönnberg (Cocks)
68 goals - Lenny Rubin (Thun)