2013–14 EHF Cup

EHF Cup

2013–14
The Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin, venue of the Final four tournament
Tournament information
Sport	Handball
Dates	7 September 2013–18 May 2014
Teams	63 (qualification stage) 16 (group stage) 7 (knockout stage)
Final positions
Champions	Pick Szeged (1st title)
Runner-up	Montpellier AHB
Tournament statistics
Matches played	58
Goals scored	3249 (56.02 per match)
Attendance	167,304 (2,885 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Dragan Gajić (72 goals)

The 2013–14 EHF Cup was the 33rd edition of the EHF Cup and the second edition since the merger of the EHF Cup with the EHF Cup Winners' Cup. In the present format, the tournament began in early September with three knockout qualifying rounds, which concluded by late November. The 16 surviving teams were then allocated into four groups of four, where teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The four group winners and four runners-up qualified to the quarter-finals, with each of the quarter-final winners proceeding to the Final 4 tournament played in May 2014. However, because the hosts of the Final 4 tournament, Füchse Berlin, finished the group stage among the group winners, they have clinched the direct ticket to the final weekend and decided that only three quarter-finals were played for the remaining spots in the final tournament as only the top three second-placed teams qualified to the quarter-finals. The final tournament was won by Hungarian side Pick Szeged.

Bids for the Final 4 venue

There were a total of seven bids submitted to the EHF for hosting the 2013–14 EHF Cup final four tournament that will take place in May 2014. The list of bidders consists of five clubs participating in the 2013–14 EHF Cup and two external stakeholders. In order to host the final four tournament a venue must fulfill a set of criteria that reflects the nature of a high-profile international club event such as the EHF Cup Finals. The decision who will host the tournament was decided by the EHF and its marketing arm EHF Marketing GmbH.

On 5 December 2013 in Vienna, Austria the EHF President Jean Brihault signed an official contract with Füchse Berlin's manager Bob Henning for organization of the final four tournament, which will take place between 17 and 18 May 2014. The four games of the finals will be organized in the Max-Schmeling-Halle in the German capital Berlin. The German organizers expect at least 10,000 people for each day of the final weekend.

Final four venue †

Team	Venue	City	Capacity
AEK Athens	Olympic Hall	Athens, Greece	18,500
Meshkov Brest	Minsk Arena	Minsk, Belarus	15,000
Montpellier	Park&Suites Arena	Montpellier, France	9,000
Füchse Berlin†	Max-Schmeling-Halle	Berlin, Germany	8,700
—	Porsche Arena	Stuttgart, Germany	6,500
London GD	Copper Box Arena	London, United Kingdom	6,000
—	Coque Arena	Luxembourg, Luxembourg	5,400

Overview

Team allocation

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

• 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
• ECL: Transferred from the EHF Champions League
  • QS: Losers from the qualification tournaments
  • WC: Losers from the wildcard matches

Round 3
TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (5th)	Tatran Prešov (ECL QS)	Alpla HC Hard (ECL QS)	Füchse Berlin (ECL WC)
Ademar León (4th)	AEK Athens (ECL QS)	HCM Constanța (ECL QS)	Pick Szeged (ECL WC)
Aarhus (3rd)	Vojvodina (ECL QS)	Elverum (ECL QS)	Montpellier (ECL WC)
Round 2
Aragón (5th)	Kaustik Volgograd (6th)	Benfica (2nd)	SKA Minsk (2nd)
Chambéry (4th)	Csurgó (3rd)	Sporting (3rd)	Diomidis Argous (2nd)
Nantes (5th)	Kadetten Schaffhausen (2nd)	IFK Kristianstad (2nd)	Handball Esch (ECL QS)
Skjern (4th)	Pfadi Winterthur (3rd)	Lugi HF (3rd)	Beşiktaş (ECL QS)
Mors-Thy (5th)	Nexe Našice (2nd)	Strumica (3rd)	Borac Banja Luka (ECL QS)
Maribor Branik (4th)	Poreč (3rd)	Partizan (2nd)	KRAS/Volendam (ECL QS)
SKIF Krasnodar (3rd)	SMD Bacău (2nd)	Portovik (2nd)
GK Permskie Medvedi (4th)	Caraș Severin Reșița (3rd)	ØIF Arendal (2nd)
Round 1
Tatabánya (4th)	Maccabi Tel Aviv (1st)	Handball Käerjeng (2nd)	Põlva Serviti (1st)
TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen (4th)	Maccabi Rishon LeZion (2nd)	Lovćen (1st)	HC Dobrudja (1st)
Fyllingen Håndball (3rd)	HC Sporta Hlohovec (2nd)	Haukar (1st)	Prishtina (1st)
Meshkov Brest (3rd)	Ankaraspor (2nd)	Ronal Jičín (1st)	London GD (1st)
Bregenz (2nd)	OCI-Lions (2nd)	HC Achilles Bocholt (CW)	Dragūnas Klaipėda (1st)

Qualification stage

Round 1

Teams listed first played the first leg at home. Some teams agreed to play both matches in the same venue. Highlighted teams qualified into the second round.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Meshkov Brest	59–43	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	25–19	34–24
HC Sporta Hlohovec	57–52	TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen	29–21	28–31
OCI-Lions	51–66	Haukar	33–36	18–30
Ronal Jičín	72–30	HC Dobrudja	35–15	37–15
Handball Käerjeng	56–57	Dragūnas Klaipėda	30–30	26–27
Tatabánya	65–52	HC Achilles Bocholt	30–22	35–30
London GD	32–82	Ankaraspor	14–44	18–38
Maccabi Tel Aviv	67–64	Lovćen	37–35	30–29
Põlva Serviti	49–62	Fyllingen Håndball	27–30	22–32
Prishtina	50–63	Bregenz	22–28	28–35

Notes

Round 2

Teams listed first played the first leg at home. Some teams agreed to play both matches in the same venue. Highlighted teams qualified into the third round.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
IFK Kristianstad	62–47	Handball Esch	32–19	30–28
Csurgói	58–52	Aragón	30–27	28–25
Kaustik Volgograd	57–54	Caraș Severin Reșița	31–26	26–28
Beşiktaş	59–56	Pfadi Winterthur	29–29	30–27
HC Sporta Hlohovec	63–49	Borac Banja Luka	36–23	27–26
Ronal Jičín	42–67	Skjern	21–38	21–29
Permskie Medvedi	51–59	Meshkov Brest	26–30	25–29
Nexe Našice	54–53	Diomidis Argous	26–22	28–31
Lugi HF	51–47	Tatabánya	27–27	24–20
SMD Bacău	65–49	Dragūnas Klaipėda	36–21	29–28
SKIF Krasnodar	47–58	Poreč	25–29	22–29
Benfica	68–41	Haukar	34–19	34-22
Chambéry	66–46	Ankaraspor	34–26	32–20
Kadetten Schaffhausen	66–54	Portovik	33–28	33–26
Mors-Thy	54–45	Fyllingen Håndball	26–18	28–27
SKA Minsk	53–55	ØIF Arendal	27–30	26–25
Sporting	65–50	KRAS/Volendam	30–18	35–32
Maccabi Tel Aviv	49–56	Strumica	26–26	23–30
Partizan	39–50	Nantes	15–22	24–28
Bregenz	49–62	Maribor Branik	26–25	23–37

Notes

Round 3

Before the draw, which took place on 22 October 2013 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, 32 teams from 20 countries were divided into two pots without the country protection rule, meaning that two teams from the same country could face each other. The first legs were played on 23–24 November and the second legs one week later.

Teams listed first played the first leg at home. Highlighted teams qualified into the group stage.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ØIF Arendal	47–52	HC Sporta Hlohovec	20–26	27–26
Füchse Berlin	43–40	Meshkov Brest	22–20	21–20
Chambéry	56–55	Alpla HC Hard	31-30	25–25
Mors-Thy	52–59	HCM Constanța	26–27	26–32
Poreč	49–54	Sporting	24–24	25–30
Aarhus	53–59	Strumica	29–26	24–33
Skjern	55–42	Vojvodina	31–24	24–18
Nantes	52–44	Elverum	28–21	24–23
Benfica	49–56	Pick Szeged	24–25	25–31
Beşiktaş	54–65	Csurgói	29–31	25–34
IFK Kristianstad	63–52	SMD Bacău	40–25	23–27
Nexe Našice	62–62 (a)	Ademar León	34–29	28–33
Kadetten Schaffhausen	55–69	TSV Hannover-Burgdorf	28–28	27–41
Tatran Prešov	62–56	Maribor Branik	34–26	28–30
Kaustik Volgograd	55–73	Montpellier	26–38	29–35
AEK Athens	45–49	Lugi HF	22–24	23–25

Group stage

Hannover

Szeged

Montpellier

Füchse Berlin

Ademar León

Tatran Prešov

Skjern

Constanța

Lugi HF

Nantes

Strumica

Chambéry

Csurgó

Kristianstad

Sporting

Hlohovec

class=notpageimage|

Location of teams of the 2013–14 EHF Cup group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Green: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

Draw and format

The draw of the EHF Cup group phase was carried out on 5 December 2013 in Vienna, Austria. The teams were positioned into four pots, with the country protection rule applied: two clubs from the same country may not face each other in the same group.

The group stage features 16 teams, which were allocated four groups of four. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays are 8–9 February, 15–16 February, 22–23 February, 15–16 March, 22–23 March, and 29–30 March 2014. The top two teams from each group qualified for the quarter-finals, which were scheduled in April 2013.

If Füchse Berlin, as the organiser of the Final 4 tournament, win their group or finish among top three second-ranked teams, they will receive a direct qualification to the Final 4 tournament. If the German side wins their group then the other three group winners and the three best second ranked team will qualify for the quarter-finals. If the Germans finish among the top three second-ranked teams, the quarter-finals will consist of four group winners and two best second-ranked teams. If Füchse Berlin finish as the worst second-ranked team, they will have to play the quarter-final match. Should the German club rank on the third or fourth position in their group, they will be out of the competition, but they will still organize the Final 4 tournament.

If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):

1. number of points in matches of all teams directly involved;
2. goal difference in matches of all teams directly involved;
3. greater number of plus goals in matches of all teams directly involved;
4. goal difference in all matches of the group;
5. greater number of plus goals in all matches of the group;

If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by drawing lots. Lots shall be drawn by the EHF, if possible in the presence of a responsible of each club.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Pick Szeged	Tatran Prešov	Lugi HF	IFK Kristianstad
Montpellier	Skjern	Chambéry	Csurgó
Füchse Berlin	Constanța	Nantes	HC Sporta Hlohovec
Hannover	Ademar León	Strumica	Sporting

Key to colours in group tables
Teams that have qualified to the next phase of the competition

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		LHF	ADE	CSK	HAN
Lugi HF	6	3	1	2	171	169	+2	7		—	30–30	28–26	32–28
Ademar León	6	2	2	2	173	164	+9	6		32–27	—	28–19	30–30
Csurgó	6	3	0	3	163	160	+3	6		25–22	31–27	—	36–28
TSV Hannover-Burgdorf	6	2	1	3	168	182	−14	5		28–32	27–26	27–26	—

Source:

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		MON	SPO	SKJ	STR
Montpellier	6	6	0	0	192	147	+45	12		—	36–31	27–25	41–22
Sporting	6	4	0	2	195	165	+30	8		27–30	—	30–28	39–22
Skjern	6	2	0	4	156	158	−2	4		23–26	25–32	—	31–20>
Strumica	6	0	0	6	130	203	−73	0		19–32	24–36	23–24	—

Source:

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		SZE	NAN	TAT	IFK
Pick Szeged	6	5	0	1	174	159	+15	10		—	28–27	37–31	29–18
Nantes	6	4	0	2	176	154	+22	8		31–23	—	37–27	25–23
Tatran Prešov	6	2	0	4	181	198	−17	4		29–31	30–29	—	37–30
IFK Kristianstad	6	1	0	5	151	171	−20	2		23–26	23–27	34–27	—

Source:

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		BER	CON	CHA	HLO
Füchse Berlin	6	4	2	0	181	164	+17	10		—	28–26	30–27	34–28
Constanța	6	3	2	1	173	160	+13	8		31–31	—	29–25	31–22
Chambéry	6	2	2	2	162	158	+4	6		25–25	29–29	—	27–21
HC Sporta Hlohovec	6	0	0	6	147	181	−34	0		27–33	25–27	24–29	—

Source:
Notes:

Ranking of the second-placed teams

The ranking of the second-placed teams is carried out on the basis of the team's results in the group stage. Because the German side Füchse Berlin, the organizers of the Final 4 tournament, finished on top of their group they qualified directly to the final tournament and only the top three second-placed teams qualified to the quarter-finals.

Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
B	Sporting	6	4	0	2	195	165	+30	8
C	Nantes	6	4	0	2	176	154	+22	8
D	Constanța	6	3	2	1	173	160	+13	8
A	Ademar León	6	2	2	2	173	164	+9	6

Source:

Knockout stage

Main article: 2013–14 EHF Cup knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Draw and format

Because the hosts of the Final 4 tournament, Füchse Berlin, finished the group stage among the group winners, they have clinched the direct ticket to the final weekend and decided that only three quarter-finals will be played for the remaining spots in the final tournament. The draw of the EHF Cup quarter-finals was carried out on Tuesday 1 April 2014 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Six teams were positioned into two pots with the country protection rule not applied: two clubs from the same country could face each other in the quarter-finals. However, teams from the same group cannot face each other in the quarter-finals. The first pot contained the three group winners and the second pot contained the top three second-placed teams.

In the quarter-finals, teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the teams from second pot playing the first leg at home. The first leg matches were played over 19–21 April, and the second leg matches were played over 26–27 April.

Pot 1
Lugi HF
Montpellier
Pick Szeged

Pot 2
Sporting
HBC Nantes
Constanța

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Constanța	59–55	Lugi HF	31–21	28–34
Sporting	51–56	Pick Szeged	29–27	22–28
HBC Nantes	49–59	Montpellier	25–26	24–33

Final four

The tournament was played at the 8,700 capacity Max-Schmeling-Halle in the German capital Berlin, the home of Füchse Berlin.

	Semi-finals				Final
	17 May
	Constanța	32
					18 May
	Montpellier	36
					Montpellier	28
	17 May
					Pick Szeged	29
	Füchse Berlin	22
	Pick Szeged	24
					Third place
					18 May
					Constanța	28
					Füchse Berlin	29

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Team	Goals
1	Dragan Gajić	Montpellier	72
2	Alexandru Șimicu	Constanța	66
3	Pedro Portela	Sporting	60
4	Zsolt Balogh	Pick Szeged	57
5	Alexandru Csepreghi	Constanța	52
6	Jonas Erik Larholm	Pick Szeged	49
7	Pedro Solha	Sporting	48
	Laurențiu Toma	Constanța	48
9	Jure Dolenec	Montpellier	45
10	Jorge Maqueda-Peño	Nantes	43

See also

• 2013–14 EHF Champions League
• 2013–14 EHF Challenge Cup

References

General

• "2013–14 EHF Cup statistics and results". EHF official website. Retrieved 12 October 2013.

Specific