MEDIA GUIDE Women’s EHF Champions League 2018/19 Main Round Update OFFICIAL PROGRAMME WOMEN’S EHF Champions League 2018/2019 Regional premium sponsor Partners 1 2 ULTIMATE Completely controlled bounce. Extreme durability. Optimal roundness. Perfect grip and soft feel. Official match ball of the WOMEN’S EHF Champions League. select-sport.com Table of contents Table of contents Foreword 5 Media contacts 6 Playing system diagrams - stages and dates 7 How to follow and cover the matches 9 Important regulations 10 Current top scorers 11 GROUP 1 Preview 12 Head-to-heads in the EC 13 Rostov-Don 14 Buducnost 20 Metz Handball 26 Kobenhavn Handball 32 Brest Bretagne Handball 38 Odense HC 44 GROUP B Preview 50 Group B head-to-heads 51 Györi Audi ETO KC 52 CSM Bucuresti 58 Vipers Kristiansand 64 RK Krim Mercator 70 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 76 Thüringer HC 82 HISTORY 88 All-time stats 90 Timeline - 25 years 4 Foreword Foreword Dear handball friends, Welcome to the main round of the Women’s EHF Champions League 2018/19. Less than six weeks after France‘s triumph at EHF EURO 2018 on home court in Paris, Europe’s elite women’s handball club competition returns to the spotlight. From 26 January to 10 March, the six weekends of the main round will determine which eight teams progress to the quarter-finals. I take this opportunity to welcome twelve sides from nine countries to the third phase of the competition. Before we start analysing the two main round groups and their participants we should have a look back at the tournament in France last month, which underlined the prominent position of the EHF Champions League in women‘s handball. No fewer than 109 players from the European top flight took part in the event and all 12 main round teams had at least one player who took the floor in the tournament. As many as 29 players return to the Champions League race decorated with a medal – 12 French champions, eight Russian silver medallists and nine Dutch bronze medallists. The dominance of the premier club competition in France was also underlined by the EURO All-star team which featured only two non-Champions League players. We will all be eager to find out how the recently awarded medallists and All-star team members, including the tournament’s MVP Anna Vyakhireva, can build on their success in the national team competition with their clubs. Their morale boost can prove to be a decisive factor for their sides in what will probably become the closest and most thrilling main round stage of the Women‘s EHF Champions League yet. While all twelve participants still have a fair chance of reaching the quarter-finals, there are at least eight teams who have what it takes to reach the season‘s finale in Budapest – the Women’s EHF FINAL4. Two teams have yet to lose a game this season and are sitting atop the two groups. While Vyakhireva’s Rostov leads Group 1 with seven points, the defending champions Györi Audi ETO KC claim the pole position in Group 2 with a perfect record of eight points. However, none of the group leaders can take the ticket to Budapest for granted as packs of formidable contenders also eye a trip to the Hungarian capital in May. Who will rule the final standings in Group 1 following the race between Rostov, Buducnost and Metz? Can any of the three main round newcomers – Kobenhavn, Brest or Odense reach the quarter-finals? Can the 2016 champions CSM Bucuresti endanger Györ’s position even without injured Cristina Neagu? Will Vipers be able to return Norwegian handball back to the quarter-final picture after last season’s absence? And which of these main round regulars Krim, FTC and Thüringer HC have the best chance of breaking into the top eight this season? All these questions will be answered over the next two months. 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. Should you require any 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! EHF Media & Communications Team 5 Media contacts 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] Clubs media contacts GROUP 1 Rostov-Don (RUS) Buducnost (MNE) Metz Handball (FRA) Andrey Demyanov Milos Pavicevic Estelle Vogein +79897198555 +382 682 226 66 +33 608 258 725 [email protected] [email protected] estelle.gauvin [email protected] @metz-handball.fr Kobenhavn Handball (DEN) Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA) Odense HC (DEN) Janni Møller Thomsen Nicolas Roué Maria V. Eilertsen +45 223 55 225 +33 6 62 32 50 91 +4520637130 [email protected] nicolas.roue@ [email protected] brest-bretagnehandball.fr GROUP 2 Győri Audi ETO KC (HUN) CSM Bucuresti (ROU) Vipers Kristiansand (NOR) Tamas Szabo Ioana Patachi Terje Marcussen +36 20 505 63 07 +40 748 050 301 +47 905 818 15 [email protected] ioana.patachi@ [email protected] csmbucuresti.ro RK Krim Mercator (SLO) FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) Thüringer HC (GER) Gašper Lončarič Adam Schleinig Bernd Hohnstein +386 51 630 877 +36 704 454 902 +49 179 4649 389 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 6 WOMEN'S EHF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2018/19 Qualification Tournaments Group Matches Main Round Quarter-finals FINAL4 2 tournaments 4 groups with 4 teams 2 groups with 6 teams 8 teams 4 teams 05.-07.10.2018 (1) 25.-27.01.2019 (1) 11./12.05.2019 07.-09.09.2018 12.-14.10.2018 (2) 01.-03.02.2019 (2) 05.-07.04.2019 tournament tournaments 19.-21.10.2018 (3) 08.-10.02.2019 (3) first leg played in semi-finals 02.-04.11.2018 (4) 22.-24.02.2019 (4) played in semi- and finals 09.-11.11.2018 (5) 01.-03.03.2019 (5) 12.-14.04.2019 finals and finals NATION in one venue 16.-18.11.2018 (6) 08.-10.03.2019 (6) second leg DRAWS: 27 June 2018 in Vienna/AUT 29 June 2018 in Vienna/AUT no draw no draw 16 April 2019 1 HUN 1 Györi Audi ETO KC 2 ROU 1 CSM Bucuresti 3 MNE 1 Buducnost 4 RUS 1 Rostov-Don 5 FRA 1 Metz Handball 6 DEN 1 Kobenhavn Handball 7 NOR 1 Vipers Kristiansand 8 GER 1 Thüringer HC 9 SLO 1 RK Krim Mercator 10 SWE 1 IK Sävehof 11 HUN 2 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 12 DEN 2 Odense HC 13 FRA 2 Brest Bretange HB 14 NOR 2 Larvik HK 15 ROU 2 SCM Craiova 16 GER 2 SG BBM Bietigheim 17 POL 1 MKS Perla Lublin 18 CRO 1 HC Podravka Vegeta the of team placed 4th and 3rd 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed team from each group group each from team placed 3rd and 2nd 1st, 19 ITA 1 Jomi Salerno Round Main League Champions EHF WOMEN'S Qualification Qualification 20 TUR 1 Muratpasa BSK tournaments 21 ESP 1 Super Amara Bera Bera Winners of the 2 4 Winners of WOMEN'S EHF Champions League Quarter-finals League Champions EHF WOMEN'S of Winners 4 22 SRB 1 ZORK Jagodina 2 groups with 4 teams 4th placed teams of CL Group 4th placed teams of CL Qualification Tournaments go Matches go to EHF Cup Group to EHF Cup Rd 2, 2nd and 3rd placed teams of CL Phase Qualification Tornaments go to EHF Cup Rd 3 status: 19.06.2018 8 How to follow and cover the matches How to follow and cover the matches ehfTV.com after each match, a completed match report will also Handball fans across Europe will not miss a single be available online with details such as goalscorers match in the new season of both elite European club and number of spectators. competitions. All matches starting from the group phase of the VELUX EHF Champions League and group Media portal matches of the Women’s EHF Champions League will All media professionals are invited to register on the be broadcast live on ehfTV.com and the videos of all EHF Media portal, where they can find all essential matches will also be on demand. Furthermore, like in information on the EHF club and national teams the past season fully produced highlights magazine competitions including media guides and updates. ‘Rewind - The Handball Show’ will feature stories bit.ly/ehfmediaportal and highlights from all women´s top matches and will be played out after each playing round. Apart from Media accreditation selected matches of other European Cup competitions in the new season there will also be a renewed focus The written media and photographer’s accreditation on coverage of top leagues (SEHA League and Spain’s procedure in the group matches, main round and Asobal). quarter-finals is entirely within the responsibility of the participating clubs. TV and Radio accreditations Live ticker are subject to approval by EHF Marketing GmbH - contact Miguel Mateo Marcellán. The EHF Live Ticker at ticker.ehf.eu will track the scores of all matches. Every goal, missed shot and Online information yellow card will be documented and live statistics made available online for the first time at this stage of www.ehfCL.com Europe’s elite club competition.