The 2015–16 EHF Champions League was the 56th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 23rd edition under the current EHF Champions League format. FC Barcelona Lassa was the defending champion.
Vive Tauron Kielce defeated MVM Veszprém in the final to capture their first title.
Overview Team allocation Twenty-seven teams were directly qualified for the group stage.
Groups A/B Zagreb KIF Kolding København Montpellier Paris Saint-Germain Rhein-Neckar Löwen Flensburg-Handewitt THW Kiel MOL-Pick Szeged MVM Veszprém Vardar Vive Tauron Kielce Wisła Płock Celje Barcelona LassaTH IFK Kristianstad Beşiktaş Groups C/D Meshkov Brest Skjern Håndbold Metalurg Skopje Porto HC Baia Mare Chekhovskiye Medvedi Vojvodina Tatran Prešov Logroño Kadetten Schaffhausen Motor ZaporizhzhiaQualification tournament Alpla HC Hard RK Banja Luka Limburg Lions Elverum Håndball TH = Title holders
Competition format In March 2014, EHF introduced a new competition format.
Twenty-eight teams participated in the competition, divided in four groups. Groups A and B played with eight teams each, in a round robin, home and away format. The top team in each group qualified directly for the quarter-finals, the bottom two in each group dropped out of the competition and the remaining 10 teams qualified for the first knock-out phase.
In groups C and D, six teams played in each group in a round robin format, playing both home and away. The top two teams in each group then met in a 'semi-final' play-off, with the two winners going through to the first knock-out phase. The remaining teams dropped out of the competition.
Knock-out Phase 1 (Last 12) 12 teams played home and away in the first knock-out phase, with the 10 teams qualified from groups A and B and the two teams qualified from groups C and D.
Knock-out Phase 2 (Quarterfinals) The six winners of the matches in the first knock-out phase joined with the winners of groups A and B to play home and away for the right to play in the VELUX EHF FINAL4.
Final four The culmination of the season, the VELUX EHF FINAL4, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.
Round and draw dates All draws held at the European Handball Federation headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
PhaseDraw dateGroup stage26 June 2015Knockout stageFinal Four(Cologne)3 May 2016
Qualification stage There was no draw held. The four teams played a semifinal and final to determine the last participant. Matches were played on 5 and 6 September 2015. RK Banja Luka organized the tournament.
Bracket
All times are local (UTC+2).
Semifinals
Third place game
Final
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 26 June 2015, 20:00 CEST, in the Vienna city centre. The 28 teams were drawn into four groups, two containing eight teams (Groups A and B) and two containing six teams (Groups C and D). The only restriction was that teams from the same national association could not face each other in the same group. Since Germany qualified three teams, the lowest seeded side (Flensburg-Handewitt) had necessarily to be drawn with one of the other two.
In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches. The matchdays are 16–20 September, 23–27 September, 30 September–4 October, 7–11 October, 14–18 October, 21–25 October, 11–15 November, 18–22 November, 25–29 November and 2–6 December 2015. For Groups A and B, additional matchdays include 10–14 February, 17–21 February, 24–28 February and 2–6 March 2016.
After completion of the group stage matches, the teams advancing to the knockout stage were determined in the following manner:
Groups A and B – the top team qualified directly for the quarter-finals, and the five teams ranked 2nd–6th advanced to the first knockout round. Groups C and D – the top two teams from both groups contested a playoff to determine the last two sides joining the 10 teams from Groups A and B in the first knockout round.
TiebreakersIn the group stage, teams are ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows (article 4.3.1, section II of regulations):
Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved; Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved; Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved (or in the away match in case of a two-team tie); Superior goal difference in all matches of the group; Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group; If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by EHF through drawing of lots.
During the group stage, only criteria 4–5 apply to determine the provisional ranking of teams.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Playoffs
Knockout stage
The first-place team from the preliminary groups A and B advanced to the quarterfinals, while the second through sixth place teams advanced to the round 16 alongside the playoff winners.
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Final four
Final
Top goalscorers Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.
Rank Player Team Goals 1 Mikkel Hansen Paris Saint-Germain 141 2 Momir Ilić MVM Veszprém 120 3 Kiril Lazarov Barcelona Lassa 109 4 Marko Vujin THW Kiel 103 5 Dean Bombač MOL-Pick Szeged 101 6 Domagoj Duvnjak THW Kiel 93 Michał Jurecki Vive Tauron Kielce 8 Anders Eggert Flensburg-Handewitt 90 Nikola Karabatić Paris Saint-Germain Barys Pukhouski Motor Zaporizhzhia
Awards
The All-star team of the Champions League 2015/16:
Position Player Goalkeeper Niklas Landin Jacobsen (THW Kiel) Right wing Gašper Marguč (MVM Veszprém) Right back Kiril Lazarov (Barcelona Lassa) Centre back Dean Bombač (MOL-Pick Szeged) Left back Momir Ilić (MVM Veszprém) Left wing Manuel Štrlek (Vive Tauron Kielce) Pivot Rastko Stojković (HC Meshkov Brest) Best defender Timuzsin Schuch (MVM Veszprém) Best coach Xavi Sabaté (MVM Veszprém)
Best Coach: Xavi Sabaté
See also 2015–16 EHF Cup 2015–16 EHF Challenge Cup
References
External links Official website