2020–21 EHF European League

EHF European League

2020–21
Tournament information
Sport	Handball
Dates	28 August 2020–23 May 2021
Teams	51 (qualification stage) 24 (group stage)
Website	ehfel.com
Final positions
Champions	SC Magdeburg
Runner-up	Füchse Berlin
Tournament statistics
MVP	Jannick Green
Top scorer(s)	Emil Jakobsen (111 goals)
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 EHF European League was the 1st edition of the EHF European League, replacing the EHF Cup as the second most important European handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF), which had been in existence for 39 years.^[1]

Team allocation

A total of 51 teams from 21 countries participated in the 2020–21 EHF European League.^[2]

Teams

Group stage
CB Ademar León	USAM Nîmes Gard	SC Magdeburg	Grundfos Tatabanya KC
RK Eurofarm Pelister	Orlen Wisła Płock	Dinamo București	Chekhovskiye Medvedi
Kadetten Schaffhausen	HT Tatran Prešov	Alingsås HK	Besiktas Aygaz
Second qualifying round
RK Nexe	GOG Håndbold	BM Benidorm	Fenix Toulouse Handball
Montpellier HB	Füchse Berlin	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	Balatonfüredi KSE
Sporting CP
First qualifying round
Fivers	SKA Minsk	HRK Gorica	RK Dubrava
RK Spacva Vinkovci	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	Skjern Håndbold	TTH Holstebro
Bidasoa Irun	PAUC Handball	MT Melsungen	B. Braun Gyöngyös
Valur	Handball Esch	HC Butel Skopje	RK Metalurg Skopje
Haslum HK	ØIF Arendal	KS Azoty-Puławy	CF Os Belenenses
SL Benfica	HC Dobrogea Sud Constanta	AHC Potaissa Turda	HC CSKA
HC Victor	RK Trimo Trebnje	HC Kriens-Luzern	Pfadi Winterthur
HK Malmö	IFK Kristianstad

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition was as follows.

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualification	First qualifying round	28 July 2020	29-30 August 2020	5-6 September 2020
	Second qualifying round	8 September 2020	22 September 2020	29 September 2020
Group stage	Matchday 1	1 October 2020	20 October 2020
	Matchday 2		27 October 2020
	Matchday 3		17 November 2019
	Matchday 4		24 November 2020
	Matchday 5		1 December 2020
	Matchday 6		8 December 2020
	Matchday 7		9 February 2021
	Matchday 8		16 February 2021
	Matchday 9		23 February 2021
	Matchday 10		2 March 2021
Knockout phase	Round of 16	No draw	23 March 2021	30 March 2021
	Quarter-finals		13 April 2021	20 April 2021
	Final four	27 April 2021	22–23 May 2021

Qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

Seeding

A total of 30 teams were involved in the first qualifying round draw, they were divided into three geographical zones, each one with two pots of five teams, to limit travel distances and to reduce possible travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] Teams from the same country could not be drawn into the same tie.^[4]

Zone 1		Zone 2		Zone 3
Seeded	Unseeded	Seeded	Unseeded	Seeded	Unseeded
SKA Minsk HC Butel Skopje RK Metalurg Skopje AHC Potaissa Turda HC Victor	HRK Gorica RK Spacva Vinkovci B. Braun Gyöngyös HC Dobrogea Sud Constanta HC CSKA	TTH Holstebro MT Melsungen ØIF Arendal KS Azoty-Puławy HK Malmö	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg Skjern Håndbold Valur Haslum HK IFK Kristianstad	RK Dubrava Bidasoa Irun SL Benfica RK Trimo Trebnje Pfadi Winterthur	Fivers PAUC Handball Handball Esch CF Os Belenenses HC Kriens-Luzern

Matches

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
AHC Potaissa Turda	56–53	HRK Gorica	24–26	32–27
HC Dobrogea Sud Constanta	54–45	HC Victor	26–18	28–27
SKA Minsk	50–56	HC CSKA	25–25	25–31
B. Braun Gyöngyös	58–46	HC Butel Skopje	34–21	24–25
RK Metalurg Skopje	60–57	RK Spacva Vinkovci	35–28	25–29
TTH Holstebro	Cancelled[note 1]	Valur	Cancelled	Cancelled
IFK Kristianstad	Cancelled[note 2]	ØIF Arendal	Cancelled	Cancelled
Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	57–51	MT Melsungen	31–27	26–24
Skjern Håndbold	53–51	HK Malmö	27–26	26–25
KS Azoty-Puławy	Cancelled[note 2]	Haslum HK	Cancelled	Cancelled
SL Benfica	62–64	Fivers	28–26	34–38
Pfadi Winterthur	33–30	Handball Esch	33–30	Cancelled
PAUC Handball	25–30[note 3]	Bidasoa Irun	Cancelled	25–30
CF Os Belenenses	49–56	RK Trimo Trebnje	23–28	26–28
HC Kriens-Luzern	57–46	RK Dubrava	29–27	28–19

Second qualifying round

Seeding

A total of 24 teams were involved in the second qualifying round draw, 15 advancing from the previous round and 9 teams entering this round. Teams were divided in two pots and were drawn without any restrictions.^[8]

Seeded	Unseeded
RK Nexe Bjerringbro-Silkeborg GOG Håndbold BM Benidorm Montpellier HB Fenix Toulouse Handball Füchse Berlin Rhein-Neckar Löwen Balatonfüredi KSE RK Metalurg Skopje KS Azoty-Puławy Sporting CP	Fivers Skjern Håndbold TTH Holstebro Bidasoa Irun B. Braun Gyöngyös AHC Potaissa Turda HC Dobrogea Sud Constanta HC CSKA RK Trimo Trebnje Pfadi Winterthur HC Kriens-Luzern IFK Kristianstad

Matches

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
HC Dobrogea Sud Constanta	48–49	Sporting CP	27–27	21–22
KS Azoty-Puławy	46–49	IFK Kristianstad	24–25	22–24
BM Benidorm	Cancelled[note 4]	Fivers	34–31	Cancelled
TTH Holstebro	49–54	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	22–28	27–26
Bjerringbro-Silkeborg	50–55	HC CSKA	26–23	24–32
AHC Potaissa Turda	62–66	Fenix Toulouse Handball	35–35	27–31
Bidasoa Irun	54–56	RK Nexe	30–27	24–29
RK Metalurg Skopje	47–46	HC Kriens-Luzern	26–24	21–22
GOG Håndbold	64–59	Pfadi Winterthur	33–24	31–35
Skjern Håndbold	60–63	Montpellier HB	31–30	29–33
B. Braun Gyöngyös	47–61	Füchse Berlin	23–25	24–36
RK Trimo Trebnje	23–22[note 5]	Balatonfüredi KSE	23–22	Cancelled

Group stage

Seeding

The 24 teams were divided into six pots of four teams, with a team from each pot being drawn to each group. Teams from the same country could not be drawn into the same group.^[11]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
CB Ademar León USAM Nîmes Gard SC Magdeburg Grundfos Tatabanya KC	Orlen Wisła Płock Dinamo București Kadetten Schaffhausen Alingsås HK	RK Eurofarm Pelister Chekhovskiye Medvedi HT Tatran Prešov Besiktas Aygaz	Fenix Toulouse Handball Montpellier HB Füchse Berlin Rhein-Neckar Löwen	Fivers RK Nexe GOG Håndbold Sporting CP	RK Metalurg Skopje RK Trimo Trebnje IFK Kristianstad HC CSKA

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

1. Points in matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in matches among tied teams;
3. Away goals scored in matches among tied teams;
4. Goal difference in all group matches;
5. Goals scored in all group matches;
6. If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
7. Drawing lots.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Orlen Wisła Płock	10	8	0	2	297	242	+55	16	Knockout stage
2	CB Ademar León	10	5	4	1	307	296	+11	14
3	Chekhovskiye Medvedi	10	7	0	3	301	264	+37	14
4	Fivers	10	2	2	6	301	311	−10	6
5	Fenix Toulouse Handball	10	2	2	6	227	250	−23	6
6	RK Metalurg Skopje	10	1	2	7	259	329	−70	4

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Füchse Berlin	10	6	2	2	247	223	+24	14	Knockout stage
2	USAM Nîmes Gard	10	5	2	3	279	263	+16	12
3	IFK Kristianstad	10	5	1	4	273	276	−3	11
4	Sporting CP	10	5	0	5	244	241	+3	10
5	Dinamo București	10	3	1	6	279	298	−19	7
6	HT Tatran Prešov	10	3	0	7	233	254	−21	6

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	SC Magdeburg	10	9	0	1	321	230	+91	18	Knockout stage
2	HC CSKA	10	7	0	3	263	219	+44	14
3	Montpellier HB	10	6	0	4	231	197	+34	12
4	RK Nexe	10	5	0	5	269	284	−15	10
5	Alingsås HK	10	3	0	7	262	304	−42	6
6	Besiktas Aygaz	10	0	0	10	238	350	−112	0

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	10	8	1	1	296	256	+40	17	Knockout stage
2	Kadetten Schaffhausen	10	6	2	2	261	251	+10	14
3	GOG Håndbold	10	6	0	4	306	305	+1	12
4	RK Eurofarm Pelister	10	5	1	4	244	237	+7	11
5	RK Trimo Trebnje	10	3	0	7	250	273	−23	6
6	Grundfos Tatabanya KC	10	0	0	10	263	298	−35	0

Knockout stage

The pairings for the last 16 and the quarter-finals are based on group stage standings, according to the following bracket.^[12] This assures teams from the same group can only play each other again in the final four.

	Last 16						Quarter-finals
	23/30 March
	3D GOG Håndbold	33	35	68
							13/20 April
	2C HC CSKA	31	30	61
							3D GOG Håndbold	30	26	56
	23/30 March
							1A Orlen Wisła Płock	27	31	58
	4B Sporting CP	25	28	53
	1A Orlen Wisła Płock	29	25	54
	23/30 March
	3C Montpellier HB	27	32	59
							13/20 April
	2D Kadetten Schaffhausen	27	25	52
							3C Montpellier HB	32	23	55
	23/30 March
							1B Füchse Berlin	29	31	60
	4A Fivers	27	0	27
	1B Füchse Berlin	35	10	45
	23/30 March
	3B IFK Kristianstad	34	34	68
							13/20 April
	2A CB Ademar León	27	31	58
							3B IFK Kristianstad	28	31	59
	23/30 March
							1C SC Magdeburg	34	39	73
	4D RK Eurofarm Pelister	24	24	48
	1C SC Magdeburg	32	35	67
	23/30 March
	3A Chekhovskiye Medvedi	30	24	54
							13/20 April
	2B USAM Nîmes Gard	25	24	49
							3A Chekhovskiye Medvedi	33	27	60
	23/30 March
							1D Rhein-Neckar Löwen	32	37	69
	4C RK Nexe	25	27	52
	1D Rhein-Neckar Löwen	27	27	54

Last 16

The last 16 first legs were scheduled for 23 March 2021, while the second legs followed on 30 March 2021.^[13]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
GOG Håndbold	68–61	HC CSKA	33–31	35–30
Sporting CP	53–54	Orlen Wisła Płock	25–29	28–25
Montpellier HB	59–52	Kadetten Schaffhausen	27–27	32–25
Fivers	27–45	Füchse Berlin	27–35	0–10
IFK Kristianstad	68–58	CB Ademar León	34–27	34–31
RK Eurofarm Pelister	48–67	SC Magdeburg	24–32	24–35
Chekhovskiye Medvedi	54–49	USAM Nîmes Gard	30–25	24–24
RK Nexe	52–54	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	25–27	27–27

Quarterfinals

The quarter-finals first legs were scheduled for 13 April 2021, while the second legs followed on 20 April 2021.^[14]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
GOG Håndbold	56–58	Orlen Wisła Płock	30–27	26–31
Montpellier HB	55–60	Füchse Berlin	32–29	23–31
IFK Kristianstad	59–73	SC Magdeburg	28–34	31–39
Chekhovskiye Medvedi	60–69	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	33–32	27–37

Final four

The EHF Finals Men 2021 was played on 22 and 23 May 2021 in Mannheim, Germany and comprised one leg semifinals, final and third-place match. The pairings for the semifinals were decided by drawing of lots.^[15]

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	22 May
	SC Magdeburg	30
					23 May
	Orlen Wisła Płock	29
					SC Magdeburg	28
	22 May
					Füchse Berlin	25
	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	32
	Füchse Berlin	35
					Third place
					23 May
					Orlen Wisła Płock	27
					Rhein-Neckar Löwen	32

Semifinals

22 May 2021 18:00	SC Magdeburg	30–29	Orlen Wisła Płock	SAP Arena, Mannheim Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
	Damgaard, Magnússon 6	(13–15)	Krajewski, Szita 7
	4×	Report	2× 7×

---

22 May 2021 20:45	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	32–35	Füchse Berlin	SAP Arena, Mannheim Referees: Brkic, Jusufhodzic (AUT)
	Tollbring 7	(16–19)	Andersson 11
	2× 6× 1×	Report	2× 5×

Third-place game

23 May 2021 18:00	Orlen Wisła Płock	27–32	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	SAP Arena, Mannheim Referees: Bíró, Kiss (HUN)
	Krajewski, Szita 6	(12–15)	Tollbring 11
	2× 3×	Report	1× 3×

Final

23 May 2021 20:30	SC Magdeburg	28–25	Füchse Berlin	SAP Arena, Mannheim Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Hornke, Magnússon 7	(15–8)	Lindberg 8
	1× 4×	Report	2× 3×

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[16]
1	Emil Jakobsen	GOG Håndbold	111
2	Ómar Ingi Magnússon	SC Magdeburg	94
3	Halil Jaganjac	RK Nexe	80
4	Adam Nyfjäll	IFK Kristianstad	74
	Jerry Tollbring	Rhein-Neckar Löwen
6	Alexander Kotov	Chekhovskiye Medvedi	72
7	Hugo Descat	Montpellier HB	71
8	Mathias Gidsel	GOG Håndbold	69
9	Hans Lindberg	Füchse Berlin	68
	Gonzalo Pérez Arce	CB Ademar León
	Zoltán Szita	Orlen Wisła Płock

See also

• 2020–21 EHF Champions League

Notes

References

External links

• Official website