Media Guide VELUX EHF Champions League Season 2014/15 Group Phase Title sponsor Premium sponsors Regional Premium sponsor Partners VELUX EHF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPONSORS Table of contents Foreword 5 Media contacts 6 Map of participating clubs 7 Playing system diagrams - stages and dates 8 Important regulations - scoring of matches and ranking 10 EHF Champions League information 11 ehfTV.com 12 VELUX EHF FINAL4 countdown 14 Facts & Figures of the Group Phase 16 GROUP A Preview 19 Head-to-heads in the EC 20 THW Kiel 21 HC Metalurg 25 HC Prvo Plinarsko Drustvo Zagreb 29 Naturhouse La Rioja 33 PSG Handball 37 HC Meshkov Brest 41 GROUP B Preview 45 Head-to-heads in the EC 46 FC Barcelona 47 KIF Kolding Köbenhavn 51 Alingsas HK 55 Orlen Wisla Plock 59 SG Flensburg-Handewitt 63 Besiktas MOGAZ HT 67 3 Table of contents GROUP C Preview 70 Head-to-heads in the EC 71 MKB-MVM Veszprem 73 RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko 77 Chekhovskie Medvedi 81 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 85 HC Vardar 89 Montpellier Agglomeration HB 93 GROUP D Preview 97 Head-to-heads in the EC 98 KS Vive Tauron Kielce 99 Dunkerque Grand Littoral 103 Kadetten Schaffhausen 107 MOL-Pick Szeged 111 Aalborg Handbold 115 HC Motor Zaporozhye 119 HISTORY Past winners 123 History of the EHF Champions League 124 Top scorers of the past seasons 126 Top scorers of the 2013/14 season 127 All-time club standings 128 4 Foreword Dear Media Representative, On behalf of the European Handball Federation, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Group Phase of the 2014/15 VELUX EHF Champions League. Moving into the first stage of the new season, I welcome all the teams who have made it to this stage of the competition. Following an emotionally intense qualification phase that concluded on 7 September 2014, the final line-up of the Groups A to D is finally known. Twenty-four teams from all corners of Europe will play the Group Phase that will begin in September 2014 and conclude in February 2015 following the winter hiatus, in all there will be ten rounds of competition. The Group Phase is the first challenge that the teams have to face; this is by no means easy. In the past, we have borne witness, watching stunned as handball giants have failed to progress and the underdogs have thrived against all odds. The Group Phase is the first hurdle that has to be conquered on the road to the FINAL4. Once again, as in the previous season, the final 24 teams representing 15 countries are ready for their first matches. The defending champions, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, will launch their new Champions League campaign from Group B; anew they will meet FC Barcelona, the record holder for most Champions League titles (7 wins). The VELUX EHF Champions League is the only place where the handball elite meet on a European club competition level. The event is guaranteed to bring both great highs and excruciating lows to the teams. But the Champions League remains unpredictable as ever; there is just so much to look forward to. I wish all the teams on their VELUX EHF Champions League journey the very best of luck and I wish you, the fans an enjoyable season! We pride ourselves on our positive and cooperative relationship with the press and media and I am sure this will continue and develop in the future. I therefore hope you consider this media guide a useful and enriching resource for your work in the upcoming weeks and months. Should you require any further information, help or assistance during the course of the season, your first point of contact is the EHF Media and Communications Department based in our office in Vienna. They will be more than happy to assist you with any questions you might have. We look forward to working with you in the coming season! Jean Brihault EHF President 5 EHF/M Media contacts Media matters TV and Radio Vlado Brindzak Miguel Mateo Marcellan Media and Communications Media Manager European Handball Federation EHF Marketing GmbH +43 1 80 151 161 +43 1 80 151 224 [email protected] [email protected] Twitter: @ehfmedia Clubs – Media contacts GROUP A GROUP B GROUP C GROUP D THW Kiel (GER) FC Barcelona (ESP) MKB-MVM Veszprém KC (HUN) Vive Tauron Kielce (POL) Christian Robohm Gustau Galvache Zsolt Sevinger Sebastian Kozubek +49 1635306300 +34 618522789 +36 305024547 +48 505031244 [email protected] [email protected] mkbveszpremkezilabdazrt@ [email protected] upcmail.hu HC Metalurg (MKD) KIF Kolding København (DEN) RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (SLO) Dunkerque HB Grand Littoral (FRA) Zoran Cvetanovski Thomas Christensen Nejc Ajdnik Melanie Lefevbre +389 78223505 +45 22 629062 +386 40687766 + 33 3 28 66 91 52 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] HC PPD Zagreb (CRO) Alingsas HK (SWE) Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS) Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) Goran Roknić Christer Martensson Benjamin Kuznetsov Barbara Imobersteg +385 95 9999 334 +46 705 919625 +7 9166186054 +41 787203247 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Naturhouse La Rioja (ESP) Orlen Wisła Płock (POL) Rhein Neckar Löwen (GER) MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN) Jaime Luis Gonzalez Gutierrez Piotr Raczkowski Christopher Monz Nandor Szögi +34 63 77 66 107 Tel: +48-691-99881 [email protected] +36 70 3878234 [email protected] [email protected] +491744288849 [email protected] PSG Handball (FRA) SG Flensburg Handewitt (GER) HC Vardar Skopje (MKD) Aalborg Handball (DEN) Louise Cosnard Sandra von Wallis Marko Savovski Poul Madsbjerg +33 (0)675 591 939 +49 4611609625 +389 75 200 008 +4520804976 [email protected] s.vonwallis@ [email protected] [email protected] sg-flensburg-handewitt.de HC Meshkov Brest (BLR) Besiktas Mogaz HT (TUR) Montpellier Agglomeration HB HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) Alexandr Kulbaka Berk Karahan (FRA) Dmitriy Karpushchenko +375 293 50 74 79 +90-535-358-8747 Suzy Demonte +380 50 5581181 [email protected] [email protected] +33 499 610 358 [email protected] suzy.demonte@montpellier- handball.com 6 VELUX EHF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SG Flensburg- THW Kiel, Orlen Wisla Alingsas HK, Handewitt, GER GER Plock, POL Season 2014/15 SWE Haslum HK, ZAGREB NOR RUKOMETNI KLUB PRVO PLINARSKO DRUŠTVO KS Vive Tauron Teams eliminated in the Qualification Kielce, POL Teams in the Group Phase Aalborg HC Brest Handbold, DEN Meshkov, BLR KIF Kolding Kobenhavn, DEN Chekhovski Medvedi, RUS Targos VELUX EHF FINAL4 HC Bevo, NED Host City Cologne, GER Tatran Presov, SVK Hubo Initia Hasselt, BEL 7 HC Motor Zaporozhye, UKR Dunkerque HB G. Littoral, FRA MKB-MVM Rhein-Neckar Veszprem, HUN Löwen, GER bevo hc PSG Handball, MOL-Pick FRA Szeged, HUN Montpellier HB, HCM Constanta, FRA ROU Futebol Clube HC Vojvodina do Porto, POR Novi Sad, SRB Naturhouse Besiktas La Rioja, ESP MOGAZ HT, TUR Alpla F.C. Barcelona, HC Hard, AUT Junior Fasano HC Vardar ESP I TA MKD Kadetten HC Metalurg, Schaffhausen, SUI HC PPD RK Celje Pivo. MKD Lasko, SLO Zagreb,CRO VELUX EHF Champions League 2014/15 playing system Qualication Tournaments Group Phase Last 16 Quarter-nals FINAL4 Semi-nals 4 vs. 1 3 vs. 2 2 vs. 1 vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. 3rd Place Match vs. vs. vs. vs. 8 Final Home Matches 5 1 1 Total Matches 10 2 2 vs. Season 2014/15 playing dates Qualication Tournaments Group Phase Last 16 Quarter-nals FINAL4 12 teams 4 groups with 6 teams each 16 teams 8 teams 4 teams 24. - 28.09.2014 19. - 23.11.2014 rst leg rst leg 30/31.05.2015 3 tournaments with semi-nals 01. - 05.10.2014 26. - 30.11.2014 11.03. - 15.03.2015 08.04. - 12.04.2015 and nals 08. - 12.10.2014 03. - 06.12.2014 15. - 19.10.2014 11. - 15.02.2015 second leg second leg 06. - 07.09.2014 12. - 16.11.2014 18. - 22.02.2015 18.03. - 22.03.2015 15.04. - 19.04.2015 VELUX EHF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2014/15 Qualification Tournaments Group Phase Last 16 Quarterfinals FINAL4 4 groups with 6 teams 16 teams 8 teams 4 teams 24.‐28.09.2014 (1) 06./07.09.2014 01.‐05.10.2014 (2) 11.‐15.03.2015 08.‐12.04.2015 30./31.05.2015 tournaments 08.‐12.10.2014 (3) first leg first leg tournament 15.‐19.10.2014 (4) NATION 12.‐16.11.2014 (5) played in semi finals and 19.‐23.11.2014 (6) finals 26.‐30.12.2014 (7) 03.‐06.12.2014 (8) 18.‐22.03.2015 15.‐19.04.2015 11.‐15.02.2015 (9) second leg second leg 18.‐22.02.2015 (10) DRAWS: 26 June 2014 in Vienna 27 June 2014 in Vienna 24 February 2015 24 March 2015 21 April 2015 1 GER 1 THW Kiel 2 ESP 1 FC Barcelona 3 HUN 1 MKB‐MVM Veszprem 4 POL 1 KS VIVE Targi Kielce 5 DEN 1 KIF Kolding 6 MKD 1 HC Metalurg 7 SLO 1 RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko 8 FRA 1 Dunkerque Grand Littoral 9 CRO 1 RK Zagreb 16 10 RUS 1 Chekhovskie Medvedi group Last 11 SUI 1 Kadetten Schaffhausen Quarterfinals 12 SWE 1 Alingsas HK each 13 GER 2 Rhein‐Neckar Löwen League 14 ESP 2 Naturhouse La Rioja from League 15 HUN 2 Pick Szeged team 16 POL 2 Orlen Wisla Plock S.A. 17 GER 3 SG Flensburg‐Handewitt Champions 18 DEN 2 Aalborg Handbold Champions placed EHF 19 MKD 2 HC Vardar 4th EHF 20 FRA 2 PSG HB VELUX 21 FRA 3 Montpellier AH and of VELUX 22 UKR 1 HC Motor Zaporozhye 3rd of 23 BLR 1 HC Meshkov Brest 2nd, 24 ROU 1 HCM Constanta Winners 25 SRB 1 RK Vojvodina 1st, 8 Winners 26 POR 1 FC Porto 4 27 NOR 1 Haslum HK Qualification 3 28 SVK 1 Tatran Presov the 29 AUT 1 Alpla HC Hard of tournaments 30 TUR 1 Besiktas JK 31 NED 1 Targos Bevo HC 32 BEL 1 Initia Hasselt Winners 33 ITA 1 Junior Fasano 3 groups with 4 teams 4th placed teams of CL Qualification Tournaments go to the EHF Cup Qualification Rd 2, 2nd and 3rd placed teams of CL Qualification Tornaments go to the EHF Cup Qualification Rd 3 status: 23.06.2014 Important regulations Scoring of the matches and ranking General If two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the All matches of the VELUX EHF Champions League shall be played in 2 ranking will be determined as follows: x 30 minutes with a half-time break of 10 minutes.