The 2022–23 EHF Champions League was the 63rd edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 30th edition under the current EHF Champions League format. It ran from 14 September 2022 to 18 June 2023.
SC Magdeburg defeated Barlinek Industria Kielce 30–29 in the final to capture their fourth title.
Format The tournament used the same format as the previous two seasons. The competition began with a group stage featuring sixteen teams divided into two groups. Matches were played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures, fourteen in total for each team. In Groups A and B, the top two teams automatically qualified for the quarter-finals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th entered the playoff round.
The knockout stage included four rounds: the playoffs, quarter-finals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the playoffs, eight teams were paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches (third-placed in group A plays sixth-placed group B; fourth-placed group A plays fifth-placed group B, etc.). The four aggregate winners of the playoffs advanced to the quarterfinals, joining the top-two teams of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams were paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches, with the four aggregate winners qualifying to the final-four tournament.
In the final four tournament, the semifinals and the final were played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue. For this tournament, it was the Lanxess Arena.
Teams
There were ten guaranteed places, with the six additional spots being awarded as wildcards by the EHF. The league winners of Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, Denmark, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal and Romania qualified for the group stage automatically. 22 teams applied for a place. Teams which have qualified for the 2022–23 EHF European League will have the opportunity to apply for an upgrade to the EHF Champions League. The final list was announced in June 2022.
+Participating teams SC Magdeburg (1st) Barça (1st) Paris Saint-Germain (1st) OTP Bank - Pick Szeged (1st) GOG Håndbold (1st) Barlinek Industria Kielce (1st) FC Porto (1st) Dinamo București (1st) THW Kiel (2nd) HBC Nantes (WC) Telekom Veszprém (WC) Aalborg Håndbold (WC) Orlen Wisła Płock (WC) PPD Zagreb (WC) Celje Pivovarna Laško (WC) Elverum Håndball (WC) RK Vardar, who were originally to qualify as winners of the 2021–22 Macedonian Handball Super League, were removed from EHF competitions for this season due to financial issues.
+Wildcard rejection BM Granollers Sporting CP CS Minaur Baia Mare Kadetten Schaffhausen Ystads IF HC Motor Zaporizhzhia
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 1 July 2022. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. From each pot, two teams were drawn into Group A and the other two in Group B. Teams from the same national association will not drawn into the same group.
A total of 11 national associations were represented in the group stage.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Playoffs
Quarterfinals
Final four The final four was held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on 17 and 18 June 2023.
Bracket
Final
Top goalscorers Rank Player Club GoalsGoalscorers1 Emil Wernsdorf Madsen GOG Håndbold1072 Kamil Syprzak Paris Saint-Germain1033 Arkadiusz Moryto Barlinek Industria Kielce1004 Kay Smits SC Magdeburg985 Simon Pytlick GOG Håndbold946 Aleks Vlah Celje Pivovarna Laško887 Gísli Þorgeir Kristjánsson SC Magdeburg87 Dika Mem Barça9 Elohim Prandi Paris Saint-Germain8610 Lukas Jørgensen GOG Håndbold84 Dainis Krištopāns Paris Saint-Germain Rasmus Lauge Telekom Veszprém
References
External links Official website