The 2016–17 EHF Cup is the 36th edition of the EHF Cup, the second most important European handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF), and the fifth edition since the merger with the EHF Cup Winners' Cup.
Team allocation
Federation ranking For the 2016–17 EHF Cup, the national federations were allocated places according to their 2016–17 EHF country ranking, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2012–13 to 2014–15.
Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, federations may have more or less teams participating in the EHF Cup, as noted below: – Additional berth for 2015–16 EHF Cup title holders – Berth transferred from or to 2016–17 EHF Champions League – Berth transferred from 2016–17 EHF Challenge Cup
RankFederationCoeff.TeamsNotes1 Germany154.833)2 Spain122.833 Hungary103.334 France75.335 Denmark70.006 Poland54.227 Slovenia54.008 Macedonia40.5629 Romania36.3410 Sweden34.7511 Croatia33.7112 Russia31.0013 Portugal30.2514 Belarus28.75115 Switzerland22.3316 Ukraine21.7817 Norway21.11
RankFederationCoeff.TeamsNotes18 Serbia20.44119 Slovakia13.5620 Turkey13.0021 Luxembourg11.1322 Finland11.0023 Greece11.0024 Belgium9.7125 Israel9.0026 Austria9.0027 Czech Republic6.1728 Bosnia and Herzegovina5.7829 Kosovo5.1730 Lithuania4.8331 Italy4.7832 Netherlands4.7533 Cyprus4.3334 Estonia4.17
RankFederationCoeff.TeamsNotes35 Bulgaria3.50136 Iceland3.2937 Montenegro3.1438 Moldova1.1739 Great Britain1.0040 Georgia0.1741 Albania0.00042 Andorra0.0043 Armenia0.0044 Azerbaijan0.0045 Faroe Islands0.0046 Republic of Ireland0.0047 Latvia0.0048 Liechtenstein0.0049 Malta0.0050 Monaco0.00
Distribution
Teams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundFirst qualifying round(30 teams)1 sixth-placed team from federation 4 2 fifth-placed teams from federations 3, 4 3 fourth-placed teams from federations 8, 11, 12 5 third-placed teams from federations 9, 11, 13, 15, 26 8 runner-up teams from federations 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 32 10 champions from federations 18, 23, 29, 32, 34, 36–40 1 domestic cup winner from federation 17Second qualifying round(32 teams)3 fifth-placed teams from federations 1, 6, 17 3 fourth-placed teams from federations 3, 5, 7 1 third-placed team from federation 12 7 runner-up teams from federations 9–11, 13–15, 19 1 champion from federation 27 2 fourth-placed teams from Champions League qualification stage15 winners from the first qualifying roundThird qualifying round(32 teams)Title holders 2 fourth-placed teams from federations 1, 2 5 third-placed teams from federations 2, 3, 5–7 1 runner-up team from federation 4 3 domestic cup winners/runners-up from federations 1, 2, 5 2 third-placed teams from Champions League qualification stage 2 runners-up from Champions League qualification stage16 winners from the second qualifying roundGroup stage(16 teams)16 winners from the third qualifying roundKnockout phase(16 teams)4 group winners from the group stage 4 group runners-up from the group stage
Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: TH: Title holders 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position CW: Domestic cup winners CR: Domestic cup runners-up CL QS: Losers from the Champions League qualification stage.
Third qualifying round Frisch Auf Göppingen Fraikin Granollers GOG RK Gorenje Velenje MT Melsungen Helvetia Anaitasuna HC Midtjylland Riihimäki Cocks SC Magdeburg Grundfos Tatabánya KC KS Azoty-Puławy Maccabi Tel Aviv CB Ademar León Saint-Raphaël Var Handball RD Ribnica Bregenz Handball Second qualifying round Füchse Berlin CSM București SKA Minsk Red Boys Differdange Balatonfüredi KSE Alingsås HK Wacker Thun HC Achilles Bocholt KIF Kolding København RK Nexe Našice ØIF Arendal NMC Górnik Zabrze Saint Petersburg HC HC Sporta Hlohovec RD Koper 2013 S.L. Benfica Talent M.A.T. Plzeň First qualifying round Csurgói KK FC Porto AC Filippos Veria Põlva Serviti Chambéry Savoie Handball Pfadi Winterthur AC Diomidis Argous Haukar Handball US Créteil Handball ZTR Zaporizhia Maccabi Rishon LeZion RK Budvanska Rivijera RK Prilep 2010 Bodø HK Alpla HC Hard HC Olimpus-85 USEFS SCM Politehnica Timișoara RK Vojvodina HC Dukla Prague London GD HC GRK Varaždin 1930 RK Metaloplastika KH BESA Famiglia B.S.B. Batumi RK Zamet BB Ankaraspor OCI-Lions Dinamo Astrakhan Handball Käerjeng KRAS/Volendam
Notes
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was follows (all draws were held at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria):
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualificationFirst qualifying round19 July 20163–4 September 201610–11 September 2016Second qualifying round8–9 October 201615–16 October 2016Third qualifying round18 October 201619–20 November 201626–27 November 2016Group stageMatchday 11 December 201611–12 February 2017Matchday 217–19 February 2017Matchday 34–5 March 2017Matchday 411–12 March 2017Matchday 525–26 March 2017Matchday 61–2 April 2017Knockout phaseQuarter-finals4 April 201722–23 April 201729–30 April 2017Final four2 May 201720–21 May 2017
Qualification stage The qualification stage consists of three rounds, which are played as two-legged ties using a home-and-away system. In the draws for each round, teams are allocated into two pots, with teams from Pot 1 facing teams from Pot 2. The winners of each pairing (highlighted in bold) qualify for the following round.
For each round, teams listed first played the first leg at home. In some cases, teams agreed to play both matches at the same venue.
Round 1 A total of 30 teams entered the draw for the first qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 19 July 2016. The draw seeding pots were composed as follows:
Pot 1 Pot 2 Chambéry Savoie Handball Csurgói KK US Créteil Handball FC Porto SCM Politehnica Timișoara GRK Varaždin 1930 Dinamo Astrakhan RK Prilep 2010
HC Dukla Prague Haukar Handball ZTR Zaporizhia RK Vojvodina AC Filippos Veria Maccabi Rishon LeZion OCI-Lions KH BESA Famiglia Põlva Serviti BB Ankaraspor Handball Käerjeng HC Olimpus-85 USEFS RK Budvanska Rivijera London GD HC B.S.B. Batumi
RK Vojvodina AC Diomidis Argous Pfadi Winterthur RK Zamet Bodø HK Alpla HC Hard KRAS/Volendam
The first legs were played on 2–3 September and the second legs were played on 4 and 10–11 September 2015.
Notes
1 Both legs were hosted by Handball Käerjeng. 2 Both legs were hosted by Maccabi Rishon LeZion. 3 Both legs were hosted by BB Ankaraspor. 4 Both legs were hosted by AC Diomidis Argous. 5 Both legs were hosted by FC Porto. 6 Both legs were hosted by RK Prilep 2010.
Round 2 A total of 32 teams entered the draw for the second qualifying round, which was held after the draw for the first qualifying round on Tuesday, 19 July 2016. The draw seeding pots were composed as follows:
Pot 1 Pot 2 Red Boys Differdange HC Achilles Bocholt Alingsås HK RD Koper 2013 Wacker Thun Balatonfüredi KSE S.L. Benfica CSM București
SKA Minsk RK Nexe Našice Saint Petersburg HC ØIF Arendal HC Sporta Hlohovec Talent M.A.T. Plzeň NMC Górnik Zabrze Füchse Berlin KIF Kolding København Chambéry Savoie Handball Csurgói KK FC Porto SCM Politehnica Timișoara Dinamo Astrakhan HC Dukla Prague Haukar Handball
ZTR Zaporizhia AC Filippos Veria Maccabi Rishon LeZion BB Ankaraspor Handball Käerjeng Pfadi Winterthur RK Zamet Alpla HC Hard
The first legs were played on 8–9 October and the second legs were played on 9 and 15–16 October 2016.
Notes 1 Order of legs reversed 2 Both legs were hosted by ZTR Zaporizhia. 3 Both legs were hosted by Górnik Zabrze.
Round 3 A total of 32 teams entered the draw for the third qualifying round, which was held on Tuesday, 18 October 2016. The draw seeding pots were composed as follows:
Pot 1 Pot 2 Frisch Auf Göppingen CB Ademar León Saint-Raphaël Var Handball MT Melsungen Helvetia Anaitasuna HC Midtjylland RD Ribnica Grundfos Tatabánya KC
KS Azoty-Puławy SC Magdeburg Fraikin Granollers GOG RK Gorenje Velenje Maccabi Tel Aviv Riihimäki Cocks Bregenz Handball Alingsås HK S.L. Benfica SKA Minsk RK Nexe Našice Saint Petersburg HC NMC Górnik Zabrze Füchse Berlin KIF Kolding København
Csurgói KK FC Porto SCM Politehnica Timișoara Dinamo Astrakhan ZTR Zaporizhia Maccabi Rishon LeZion Pfadi Winterthur RK Zamet
The first legs were played on 18–20 and 23 November and the second legs were played on 25–27 November 2016.
Notes 1 Order of legs reversed
Group stage
Draw and format The draw of the EHF Cup group stage took place on Thursday, 1 December 2016. The 16 teams allocated into four pots were drawn into four groups of four teams. The country protection rule was applied, i.e. two clubs from the same country could not face each other in the same group.
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays are 11–12 February, 17–19 February, 4–5 March, 11–12 March, 25–26 March, and 1–2 April 2017.
If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order): number of points in matches of all teams directly involved; goal difference in matches of all teams directly involved; higher number of plus goals in matches of all teams directly involved; goal difference in all matches of the group; higher number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by drawing lots. Lots shall be drawn by the EHF, if possible in the presence of a responsible of each club.
Seeding On 28 November 2016, EHF announced the composition of the group stage seeding pots.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 KIF Kolding København Saint-Raphaël Var Handball Frisch Auf Göppingen MT Melsungen HC Midtjylland Helvetia Anaitasuna Grundfos Tatabánya KC RD Ribnica GOG Fraikin Granollers SC Magdeburg S.L. Benfica Riihimäki Cocks Füchse Berlin Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Porto
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Ranking of the second-placed teams Because the German side Frisch Auf Göppingen, the organizers of the Final 4 tournament, finished on top of their group they qualified directly to the final tournament and only the top three second-placed teams qualified to the quarter-finals. The ranking of the second-placed teams was determined on the basis of the team's results in the group stage.
Knockout stage Quarter-finals
Pot 1 SC Magdeburg Füchse Berlin MT Melsungen
Pot 2 Saint-Raphaël Var Handball Helvetia Anaitasuna Grundfos Tatabánya KC
Final four
See also 2016–17 EHF Champions League 2016–17 EHF Challenge Cup 2016–17 Women's EHF Cup
References
External links EHF Cup (official website)