The 2013–14 VELUX EHF Champions League was the 54th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 21st edition under the current EHF Champions League format. HSV Hamburg was the defending champion. The VELUX EHF FINAL4 was played on 31 May–1 June at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.
SG Flensburg-Handewitt won the title for the first time after defeating THW Kiel 30–28 in the final.
Overview
Team allocation The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: TH: Title holders CW: Cup winners CR: Cup runners-up 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
Group stage THW Kiel (1st) Paris Saint-Germain (1st) Gorenje (1st) Wacker Thun (1st) Flensburg (2nd) Dunkerque (2nd) Celje (2nd) Zagreb (1st) Rhein-Neckar Löwen (3rd) Aalborg (1st) St. Petersburg (2nd) Vive Targi Kielce (1st) Barcelona (1st) KIF Kolding (2nd) MKB-MVM Veszprém (1st) Vardar (1st) Logroño (3rd)QualifyingQualification tournamentWild card tournament HCM Constanța (1st) Elverum (1st) KRAS/Volendam (1st) Füchse Berlin (4th) Porto (1st) Dinamo-Minsk (1st) Handball Esch (1st) HSV Hamburgth (5th) HK Drott (1st) AEK Athens (1st) Montpellier (3rd) Vojvodina (1st) Alpla HC Hard (1st) Pick Szeged (2nd) Motor Zaporizhzhia (1st) Tatran Prešov (1st) Wisła Płock (2nd) Borac Banja Luka (1st) Beşiktaş (1st) Metalurg (2nd)
Qualification stage
Qualification tournaments Fourteen teams took part in the qualification tournaments. Twelve were drawn into three groups of four teams, where they played a semifinal and a final or third place match, while the remaining two teams played a two-legged playoff match. The winners of the qualification tournaments and of the play-off qualified for the group stage, while the eliminated teams were transferred to the 2013–14 EHF Cup. The draw took place on 27 June 2013, at 14:00 local time, in Vienna, Austria. Matches were played on 31 August and 1 September 2013.
Seedings Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4 Dinamo-Minsk Borac Banja Luka HCM Constanța Vojvodina Tatran Prešov Porto Alpla HC Hard Elverum Beşiktaş Motor Zaporizhzhia AEK Athens KRAS/Volendam
Qualification tournament 1 This qualification tournament was hosted in Prešov, Slovakia, at the home venue of Tatran Prešov.
Qualification tournament 2 This qualification tournament was hosted in Novi Sad, Serbia, at the home venue of Vojvodina.
Qualification tournament 3 This qualification tournament was hosted in Porto, Portugal, at the home venue of Porto.
Playoff The winner qualified for the group stage and the losing team entered the 2013–14 EHF Cup second round.
Wildcard qualification The winners qualified for the group stage and the losing teams entered the 2013–14 EHF Cup third round.
Group phase
The draw for the group stage took place at the Gloriette in Vienna on 28 June 2013 at 20:15 local time. A total of 24 teams were drawn into four groups of six. Teams were divided into six pots, based on EHF coefficients. Clubs from the same pot or the same association could not be drawn into the same group, except the wild card tournament winner, which did not enjoy any protection.
Pot 1 THW Kiel Barcelona Aalborg Veszprém Pot 2 Kielce Zagreb Paris SG Gorenje Pot 3 Flensburg Wisła Płock St. Petersburg Vardar Pot 4 KIF Kolding Wacker Thun RN Löwen Logroño Pot 5 Dunkerque Celje HK Drott Dinamo-Minsk Pot 6 Motor Porto Metalurg HSV Hamburg
Key to colours in group tables Top four placed teams advanced to the last 16
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
Last 16 The draw was held on 25 February 2014 at 12:00 in Vienna, Austria. The first legs were played on 20–23 March, and the second legs on 29–31 March 2014.
Seedings Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4 MKB-MVM Veszprém THW Kiel Barcelona HSV Hamburg Rhein-Neckar Löwen KIF Kolding Paris Saint-Germain Flensburg RK Celje Vive Targi Kielce Metalurg Skopje Gorenje Motor Zaporizhzhia Wisła Płock Vardar Aalborg
Matches
Quarter-finals The draw was held on 1 April 2014 at 12:15 in Vienna, Austria. The first legs were played on 19–21 April, and the second legs on 26–27 April 2014.
Seedings Pot 1Pot 2 MKB-MVM Veszprém Rhein-Neckar Löwen THW Kiel Metalurg Skopje Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain Vardar Flensburg
Matches
Final four The draw was held on 29 April 2014.
Awards
The All-star team of the Champions League 2013/14
Position Player Goalkeeper Niklas Landin Jacobsen (Rhein-Neckar Löwen) Right wing Luc Abalo (Paris Saint-Germain) Right back Kiril Lazarov (Barcelona) Centre back Mikkel Hansen (Paris Saint-Germain) Left back Momir Ilić (MKB-MVM Veszprém) Left wing Timur Dibirov (RK Vardar) Pivot Renato Sulić (MKB-MVM Veszprém) Final four MVP Aron Palmarsson (THW Kiel) Best defender Timuzsin Schuch (MKB-MVM Veszprém)
Final four MVP: Aron Palmarsson
See also 2013–14 EHF Cup
References
External links Official website