Media Guide VELUX EHF Champions League Season 2015/16 Last 16 Table of contents Foreword 4 Media contacts 5 Map of participating clubs 6 Playing system diagram - stages and dates 7 Road to the VELUX EHF FINAL4 - diagram 8 Media accreditation for the VELUX EHF FINAL4 9 Facts & Figures of the Group Phase 11 Important regulations - scoring of the Last 16 matches 12 Motor Zaporozhye vs MVM Veszprem 14 HC Meshkov Brest vs Vive Tauron Kielce 23 Montpellier HB vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt 32 Orlen Wisla Plock vs HC Vardar 41 MOL-Pick Szeged vs THW Kiel 50 HC PPD Zagreb vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen 59 Current top scorers 68 Past winners 69 3 Foreword Dear Media Representative, Following the conclusion of the group phase, the 2015/16 VELUX EHF Champions League in its new format is about to make another step towards the season’s finale in Cologne. Only the top fourteen teams have survived the exciting group phase marathon which was played for the first time with 28 teams on the starting grid. And before we set our sights towards the upcoming playoff matches let me just underline that the many thrilling matches between even opponents in the group phase has certainly justified our move to revitalise this stage of the competition. The two clubs who won the Group A and B have also benefitted from another change in the playing system as Paris Saint-Germain Handball and FC Barcelona Lassa qualified directly to the quarter-finals and can now enjoy a welcome break in the busy season, while their future quarter-final opponents will have to overcome the Last 16 hurdles. Whilst there has been a face-lift in the structure of the competition, not too much has changed when it comes to the composition of teams which made it to this phase and still can dream of a May trip to the river Rhine. Not fewer than twelve teams from the previous season’s Last 16 are back in the race again in addition to the two winners of the Group C and D knockout round, HC Meshkov Brest and Motor Zaporozhye who both finished just one place below a playoff spot last year. Having made their way to the next round at the cost of Skjern Handbold and Naturhouse La Rioja respectively, both Eastern European sides face a daunting task now as two participants of the last edition of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 await them. Last season’s runners-up MVM Veszprem meet Zaporozhye while the third team of the 2014/15 season KS Vive Tauron Kielce put the ambitions of the Belarusian champions to a stern test. There are four former EHF Champions League winners still in action and while the defending champions from Barcelona are now enjoying a relaxed fortnight, THW Kiel face last season’s quarter-final opponents MOL-Pick Szeged and the two remaining trophy holders Montpellier HB and SG Flensburg-Handewitt face each other. Szeged was the last stop for Kiel before they boarded for Cologne and this could give THW a confidence boost when the same rivals meet this time around, but the current season of the reigning German champions is more turbulent and Szeged will be eager to avenge last year’s setback. It can be a payback time for another pairing as well as Orlen Wisla Plock take on HC Vardar again after they were eliminated last year in the Last 16 by the Macedonian champions despite a very promising first leg in Poland. Germany, the country of the reigning EHF EURO champions is the only one out of nine countries represented in the Last 16 which can boast three teams. As all three have avoided each other in the playoff picture, only time will tell how many of them we will see in the quarter-finals and finally at the VELUX EHF FINAL4. Germany’s third participant Rhein-Neckar Löwen play against HC PPD Zagreb in what should prove to be a pair of nail-biting games and we all are eager to find out whether the golden or white lions will prevail at the end. 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. Jean Brihault EHF President 4 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 Media accreditation for the Last 16 matches The written media and photographer’s accreditation procedure in the Group Phase is entirely in the responsibility of the participating clubs. TV and Radio accreditations are subjects to approval by EHF Marketing GmbH – please contact Miguel Mateo Marcellán. Clubs – Media contacts HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) MVM Veszprém (HUN) FC Barcelona Lassa (ESP) Dmitriy Karpushchenko Zsolt Sevinger Gustau Galvache +380 50 5581181 +36 305024547 +34 618522789 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] HC Meshkov Brest (BLR) KS Vive Tauron Kielce (POL) Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA) Alexandr Kulbaka Sebastian Kozubek Louise Cosnard +375 29 350 74 79 +48 505031244 +33 675 591 939 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Montpellier HB (FRA) SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) Suzy Demonte Sandra von Wallis +33 499 610 358 +49 4611609625 [email protected] [email protected] Orlen Wisla Płock (POL) HC Vardar (MKD) Tomasz Bauman Marko Savovski Tel: +48 723 100 787 +389 75 200 088 [email protected] [email protected] MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN) THW Kiel (GER) Levente Juhasz Christian Robohm +36 70 543 0979 +49 1635306300 [email protected] [email protected] HC PPD Zagreb (CRO) Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER) Goran Roknic Christopher Monz +385 95 9999 334 +491744288849 [email protected] [email protected] 5 VELUX EHF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SG Flensburg- IFK Kristianstad, THW Kiel, Orlen Wisla Season 2015/16 Handewitt, GER SWE GER Plock, POL Elverum HH, NOR Quarter-final teams HC Meshkov Brest, BLR Last 16 teams Skjern Handbold, DEN KS Vive Tauron Kielce, POL Teams eliminated in the group phase Teams eliminated in qualification ZAGREB RUKOMETNI KLUB PRVO PLINARSKO DRUŠTVO Chekhovskie Medvedi, RUS KIF Kolding Kobenhavn, DEN Tatran Presov, SVK OCI-Lions, NED HC Motor 6 VELUX EHF FINAL4 Zaporozhye, UKR Host City Cologne, GER HCM Baia Mare, ROU Rhein-Neckar Löwen, GER Paris Saint-Germain MVM Veszprem, HUN Handball, FRA Montpellier MOL-Pick HB, FRA Szeged, HUN Futebol Clube HC Vojvodina do Porto, POR Novi Sad, SRB Naturhouse Besiktas La Rioja, ESP JK, TUR HC PPD Alpla Zagreb,CRO FC Barcelona HC Hard, AUT HC Vardar Lassa, ESP MKD Kadetten HC Metalurg, Schaffhausen, SUI RK Celje Pivovarna RK Borac m:tel MKD Lasko, SLO Banja Luka, BIH Group Phase Last 16 Quarter-nals Groups A & B (draw) (no draw) (no draw) Season 2015/16 A1 B1 A1 bye M6 vs A1 playing system A2 B2 B1 bye M5 vs B1 A3 B3 M1 K1 vs A2 M4 vs M1 A4 B4 M2 K2 vs B2 M3 vs M2 Semi-nals (draw) A5 B5 M3 B6 vs A3 vs A6 B6 M4 A6 vs B3 vs A7 B7 M5 B5 vs A4 rd A8 B8 M6 A5 vs B4 3 place match vs Group Phase Group Phase Groups C & D (draw) KO Matches (no draw) Final C1 D1 K1 C2 vs D1 7 vs C2 D2 K2 D2 vs C1 C3 D3 Qualication Tournament (no draw) C4 D4 C5 D5 C6 D6 Season 2015/16 playing schedule Qualication Tournament Group Phase Last 16 Quarter-nals FINAL4 05.-06.09.2015 16.-20.09.2015 25.-29.11.2015 first leg first leg 28.-29.05.2016 23.-27.09.2015 02.-06.12.2015 16.03.-20.03.2016 20.-24.04.2016 30.09.-04.10.2015 10.-14.02.2016 Group A & B only 07.-11.10.2015 17.-21.-02.2016 Group A & B only 14.-18.10.2015 24.-28.02.2016 Group A & B and second leg second leg 21.-25.10.2015 KO Group C & D 23.03.-27.03.2016 27.04-01.05.2016 11.-15.11.2015 02.-06.03.2016 Group A & B and 18.-22.11.2015 KO Group C & D 8 Media Accreditation for the VELUX EHF FINAL4 With 15 weeks to go before the start of VELUX EHF FINAL4, the final Media accreditation is only open to professional media round of the VELUX EHF Champions League, the media accreditation representatives working at the event. Freelance media started. representatives may be asked to provide additional evidence of their work. There are limited places and it may not be possible to accept all The event will take place for the seventh time in the LANXESS arena, requests for accreditations. Cologne on 28/29 May 2016 and will see the continent’s top four teams battling it out over two days to lift the coveted VELUX EHF By applying for a media accreditation, media representatives also Champions League trophy. agree to the Media Terms and Conditions (EHF Events). Please read them carefully before making your application Journalists, photographers, TV and radio representatives can now submit their request for accreditation via an online form at Click here to enter the media accreditation page ehfFINAL4.com, the event’s official website.