The DELO EHF Champions League is ready for the play-offs. This and next weekend, 16 teams will battle it out for the eight coveted tickets to the quarter-final.

A total of 28 matches still awaits us before this season’s champions will be crowned at the DELO EHF FINAL4 in Budapest on 29/30 May.

Let’s have a look at the most interesting facts and figures after the completion of the challenging group phase:

1 team remained unbeaten in the group phase: Defending champions Györ won 10 times and had four draws in their 14 matches.

1 play-off tie pits two teams from the same country against each other: CSM and Valcea, both from Romania.

1 team failed to win any home match: Bietigheim only got one draw - against Krim.

2 matches ended with 70 or more goals scored: Györ vs Podravka 43:28 (71 goals) and Dortmund vs Brest 29:41 (70).

2 debutants are among the 16 teams in the play-offs: CSKA and Dortmund.

2 players competing in the play-offs have the CL five times with the same club, Györ, but will leave that club after the season: Eduarda Amorim joins Rostov and Anita Görbicz retires; former Györ players Katrine Lunde and Nora Mørk can both win their fifth career trophy - now with Vipers.

5 was the highest number of draws by a team in the group phase, achieved by Brest. Györ had four draws, Krim three.

5 players in the play-offs have been CL top scorer in the past: Vipers’ Heidi Løke (99 goals in 2020/11 for Larvik), Györ’s Anita Görbicz (87 goals in 2013/14, 133 goals in 2011/12 for Györ), CSM’s Cristina Neagu (102 goals in 2014/15 for Buducnost, 110 goals I 2017/18 for CSM), Brest’s Isabelle Gulldén (108 goals in 2015/16 for CSM) and Vipers’ Linn Sulland (89 goals in 2018/19 for Vipers).

5 of the 16 teams in the play-offs have won the CL in the past - and 11 times in total: Podravka (1996), Krim (2001, 2003), Buducnost (2012, 2015), Györ (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019) and CSM (2016).

6 former or current IHF World Players of the Year, with nine awards in total, are part of the play-offs: Anita Görbicz (Györ/2005), Cristina Neagu (CSM/2010, 2015, 2016, 2018), Heidi Løke (Kristiansand/2011), Andrea Lekic (Buducnost/2013), Eduarda Amorim (Györ/2014), Stine Oftedal (Györ/2019).

6 of the 16 teams in the play-offs have played at the DELO EHF FINAL4 in Budapest before: Györ, Rostov, Vipers, Metz, CSM and Buducnost.

8 - which means all - teams that qualified for the 2019/20 quarter-final, which was eventually cancelled, are part of the 2020/21 play-offs.

9 of the 102 group matches played had a winning margin of 10 or more goals: three in group A, six in group B.

10 nations are represented in the play-offs: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Russia (all with two teams), Croatia, Montenegro, Norway, and Slovenia.

11 of the 16 teams in the play-offs were part of the 2019/20 main round (the competition’s previous format with two six-team groups): The only team missing are Sävehof; new are Podravka, Odense, CSKA, Dortmund and Bietigheim.

12 of 102 group matches ended in a draw: five in group A, seven in group B.

15 was the lowest amount of goals scored by a team in a group phase match, when Podravka lost 33:15 to Györ. Next was 17 goals, also from Podravka when they lost 33:17 to Odense.

18 goals was the largest winning margin in a group phase match, when Györ defeated Podravka 33:15. Next was 17 goals when Györ beat Valcea 37:20; and 16 goals when Odense beat Podravka 33:17 and CSKA beat Podravka 36:20.

20 group phase matches ended with 60 or more goals scored: eight in group A, 12 in group B.

24 matches - 16 in the play-offs and eight in the quarter-final - are coming up to find the four teams competing at the DELO EHF FINAL4 2021.

24 points was the most for any team in the group phase, achieved by group B winners Györ. Next were CSKA with 23, Rostov with 21, and Metz with 20 points.

31 goals was the biggest combined winning margin for both fixtures of a group phase tie, and this total was reached twice, at Györ vs Podravka and Odense vs Podravka.

40 of all played group phase matches ended in an away win: 22 in group A, 18 in group B.

43 was the highest amount of goals scored by a team in a single group phase match, when Györ beat Podravka 43:28. Next were 41 goals at Brest against Dortmund (41:29) and 38 goals at Györ against Valcea (38:31) as well as Györ against Dortmund (38:25).

44 was the lowest amount of goals scored in a group phase match, and this happened on three occasions: Bietigheim vs Krim 22:22, CSM vs Krim 22:22, and CSM vs FTC 25:19.

50 of all played group phase matches ended in a home win: 23 in group A, 27 in group B.

51 matches is Györ’s unbeaten streak in the CL: 43 wins and eight draws, since a 28:22 defeat against CSM on 26 January 2018.

54.94 was the average number of goals scored in a group phase match, compared to 55.27 last season.

71 was the highest amount of goals scored in a group phase match, when Györ beat Podravka 43:28. Next were 70 goals at Brest vs Dortmund 41:29, and 69 at Györ vs Valcea 38:31.

87 goals give Brest right back Ana Gros the lead in the top scorer standings before the play-offs, followed by CSM’s Cristina Neagu with 76 and Podravka’s Dejana Milosavljevic with 75.

136 was the total amount of goals scored in both fixtures of Brest vs Dortmund (41:29 and 33:33).

457 goals were scored by Györ in the group phase for an average of 32.6 goals per match. Next are Brest with 29.5 and Metz with 29.15 goals per match.

5,604 goals were scored in the 102 group matches that were played.

7,000 goals scored in the CL is the milestone that Buducnost and Krim reached during the group phase. Buducnost were the first to achieve this historic feat, when Jovanka Radicevic scored for 6:5 against Györ in November. For Krim, it was when Matea Pletikosic scored 21:19 against Vipers in the team’s last group match.