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CLUB COMPETITIONS
for the main round, which was played in
two groups of four, with the winner finally
to be determined by knock-out matches
in the semi-finals and finals rounds. This
system survived until the 2013-14 season.
In the men’s competition, the best 16
teams of the preliminary round advanced
to the main round, which was played by
four groups of four, with only the group
winners entering the semi-finals which,
like the finals, were played as knock-out
matches. In the subsequent year, the EHF
already added a quarter-final after the
main round, which offered those placed
second in their respective groups another
chance to win the title.
The expansion of the EHF Champions
League, however, spelled the end of a competition
that the EHF had created in the
year 1996: the European Club Championships,
which had been open to the winners
of the four European Cup competitions.
The first men’s event hosted by TBV Lemgo,
the winner of the Cup Winners’ Cup
competition, in Bielefeld just before Christmas
1996, was won by FC Barcelona. In
the final tournament (known by that date
as the Champions Trophy) staged in Veszprém
in 2008, victory was taken by BM
Ciudad Real. For the women, the EHF had
organised the first European Club Championship
as early as 1994, with HYPO Niederösterreich
winning in Viborg. The final
event was then also conducted in 2008,
when Champions League winner Zwesda
Zwenigorod won the title at Chekhov.
From the 2015-16 series onwards, the
VELUX EHF Champions League has been
played by two groups of eight in the preliminary
round in close co-ordination with
the clubs, which have meanwhile been
integrated into the EHF organisation (see
chapter on Structure). Now, the two group
winners directly enter the quarter-finals.
Those in places 2 to 6 go on to the last sixteen
where they will encounter two further
clubs, winners from groups C and D. When
the plan for the FINAL4 tournament had
proven successful in the Men’s Champions
League, the EHF launched the same system
in the Women’s Champions League prior
to the 2013-14 season but left the qualification
round with 16 teams (four groups)
in place.
In the years after 2010, the EHF continued
fine-tuning the format of a number
of European Cup competitions. By abolishing
the Men’s Cupwinners’ Cup after
the 2011-12 season, the Federation also
streamlined competitions in the EHF Cup
below the premium product, the EHF
Champions League. As a next step, it was
decided to stage the Men’s EHF Cup finals
likewise in the Final 4 format, at the end
of the 2012-13 season. The inaugural
tournament played in Nantes was won by
Rhein Neckar-Löwen after a dramatic final
against hosts HBC Nantes.
Another major milestone in the Men’s
Champions League was the launch of
the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne in the
2009-10 season. The idea had been conceived
by EHF officers already years earlier
with the objective of developing better
marketing opportunities for the EHF
Champions League but had always been
thwarted by various circumstances. When
the EHF Executive finally adopted the final
tournament in Cologne, it also approved
a new playing system for the preliminary
round. Henceforth, 24 teams were to play
in four groups of six for the places in the last
sixteen, which, like the quarter finals, were
to be played as knock-out matches. The reduction
from 32 to 24 teams streamlined
the event and, thereby, raised the level of
sporting performance.
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