2014–15 EHF Champions League

The 2014–15 VELUX EHF Champions League was the 55th edition of Europe's premier club handball competition and the 22nd edition under the current EHF Champions League format. SG Flensburg-Handewitt were the defending champions.

EHF Champions League
2014–15
The Lanxess Arena hosts the final
Tournament information
SportHandball
Dates2014–2015
Teams33 (qualification stage)
24 (group stage)
16 (knockout stage)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Barcelona
Runner-upHungary MKB-MVM Veszprém
Tournament statistics
Matches played148
Goals scored7932 (53.59 per match)
Attendance691,601 (4,673 per match)
Top scorer(s)Serbia Momir Ilić
(114 goals)

FC Barcelona Handbol defeated Veszprém KC 28–23 in the final to win their eighth EHF Champions League title. The record winners of the European top flight also claimed one trophy of the Champions Cup (the EHF Champions League forerunner) in 1991.[1]

Overview

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Team allocation

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League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Title holders). 21 teams were directly qualified for the group stage.[2]

Group stage
Flensburg-HandewittTH (3rd) Paris Saint-Germain (2nd) MOL-Pick Szeged (2nd) Vive Tauron Kielce (1st)
THW Kiel (1st) Montpellier (3rd) Chekhovskiye Medvedi (1st) Wisła Płock (2nd)
Rhein-Neckar Löwen (2nd) KIF Kolding København (1st) Kadetten Schaffhausen (1st) Alingsås HK (1st)
Barcelona (1st) Aalborg (2nd) Zagreb (1st)
Logroño (2nd) Celje (1st) Metalurg Skopje (1st)
Dunkerque (1st) MKB-MVM Veszprém (1st) Vardar (2nd)
Qualification tournament
Meshkov Brest (1st) Haslum HK (CW) Beşiktaş (1st) Targos Bevo HC (1st)
HCM Constanța (1st) Vojvodina (1st) Tatran Prešov (1st) Initia Hasselt (1st)
Porto (1st) Motor Zaporizhzhia (1st) Alpla HC Hard (1st) Junior Fasano (1st)

Round and draw dates

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Draws were held at the European Handball Federation headquarters in Vienna, Austria and the only exception was the VELUX EHF FINAL4 draw in the Botanic Garden of Cologne, Germany.

PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
QualifyingQualification tournaments26 June 20145–7 September 2014
Group stageMatchday 127 June 201424–28 September 2014
Matchday 21–5 October 2014
Matchday 38–12 October 2014
Matchday 415–19 October 2014
Matchday 512–16 November 2014
Matchday 619–23 November 2014
Matchday 726–30 November 2014
Matchday 83–6 December 2014
Matchday 911–15 February 2015
Matchday 1018–22 February 2015
Knockout stageLast 1624 February 201511–15 March 201518–22 March 2015
Quarter-final24 March 20158–12 April 201515–19 April 2015
Final Four
(Cologne)
Semifinals21 April 201530 May 2015 at Lanxess Arena
Final31 May 2015 at Lanxess Arena

Qualification stage

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Twelve teams took part in the qualification tournaments. They were drawn into three groups of four teams, where they played a semifinal and a final or third place match. The winners of the qualification tournaments, played on 6–7 September 2014, qualified for the group stage, while the eliminated teams were transferred to the 2014–15 EHF Cup. The draw took place on 26 June 2014, at 14:00 local time, in Vienna, Austria.[2][3]

Seedings

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The seedings were published on 23 June 2014.[4]

Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Motor Zaporizhzhia
Meshkov Brest
HCM Constanța
Vojvodina
Porto
Haslum HK
Tatran Prešov
Alpla HC Hard
Beşiktaş
Targos Bevo HC
Initia Hasselt
Junior Fasano

Qualification tournament 1

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
6 September
 
 
Meshkov Brest36
 
7 September
 
Targos Bevo HC23
 
Meshkov Brest26
 
6 September
 
Tatran Prešov24
 
Vojvodina21
 
 
Tatran Prešov25
 
Third place game
 
 
7 September
 
 
Targos Bevo HC25
 
 
Vojvodina30

Qualification tournament 2

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
5 September
 
 
Motor Zaporizhzhia36
 
6 September
 
Junior Fasano20
 
Motor Zaporizhzhia30
 
5 September
 
Porto26
 
Porto29
 
 
Alpla HC Hard25
 
Third place game
 
 
6 September
 
 
Junior Fasano26
 
 
Alpla HC Hard35

Qualification tournament 3

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
6 September
 
 
HCM Constanța29
 
7 September
 
Initia Hasselt20
 
HCM Constanța25
 
6 September
 
Beşiktaş34
 
Haslum HK22
 
 
Beşiktaş29
 
Third place game
 
 
7 September
 
 
Initia Hasselt26
 
 
Haslum HK35

Group stage

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Location of teams of the 2014–15 EHF Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Green: Group B; Blue: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

24 teams were drawn into four groups of six teams, where they played each other twice. The top four teams advanced to the knockout stage. The draw took place on 27 June 2014, at 18:00 local time, in Vienna, Austria.[2][5]

Seedings

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The seedings were published on 23 June 2014.[4]

Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3
THW Kiel
Barcelona
MKB-MVM Veszprém
Vive Tauron Kielce
KIF Kolding København
Metalurg Skopje
Celje
Dunkerque
Zagreb
Chekhovskiye Medvedi
Kadetten Schaffhausen
Alingsås HK
Pot 4Pot 5Pot 6
Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Logroño
MOL-Pick Szeged
Wisła Płock
Flensburg-Handewitt
Aalborg
Vardar
Paris Saint-Germain
Montpellier
Meshkov Brest
Motor Zaporizhzhia
Beşiktaş
Key to colours in group tables
Top four placed teams advanced to the last 16

Group A

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TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts KIE PSG ZAG LOG MSH MET
THW Kiel10901322259+631833–2934–2734–3233–2235–16
Paris Saint-Germain10604297266+311225–2727–2232–2536–2535–24
Zagreb10604241248−71227–2525–2431–3025–2319–17
Logroño104153053050930–3435–3322–2139–3131–26
Meshkov Brest10226267293−26624–2528–2926–2233–3328–24
Metalurg Skopje10118233294−61327–4222–2720–2229–2827–27
Source: [citation needed]

Group B

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TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts BAR KOL PŁO FLE ALI BJK
Barcelona10811338280+581733–2730–2536–2742–2935–25
KIF Kolding København10622292273+191427–2730–3035–2134–3334–31
Wisła Płock10613288280+81334–3128–2931–2928–2528–19
Flensburg-Handewitt10604288277+111233–3727–2035–2831–2131–27
Alingsås HK10109252298−46228–3819–2322–2322–2727–24
Beşiktaş10109253303−50225–2924–3330–3320–2728–26
Source: [citation needed]

Group C

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TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts VES VAR RNL MON CEL CHE
MKB-MVM Veszprém10901300262+381832–2427–2430–2929–2638–31
Vardar10712313289+241523–2428–2530–2634–3239–28
Rhein-Neckar Löwen10604302282+201232–2528–3535–2431–2734–29
Montpellier10325293317−24820–3434–3429–3335–2932–32
Celje10307284293−9621–2426–2732–2827–3029–25
Chekhovskiye Medvedi10019300349−49132–3734–3926–3233–3430–35
Source: [citation needed]

Group D

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TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts KSK SZE DUN AAL ZAP KAD
Vive Tauron Kielce101000312271+412037–3236–3233–2630–2633–24
MOL-Pick Szeged10613276264+121326–2723–2123–2327–2634–24
Dunkerque10406257263−6825–2824–2521–2631–2929–25
Aalborg10235256269−13725–2725–2825–2830–3623–23
Motor Zaporizhzhia10307283284−1627–2825–2921–2325–2831–26
Kadetten Schaffhausen10226264297−33628–3332–2925–2325–2532–37
Source: [citation needed]

Knockout stage

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The top four placed teams of each group advance to the knockout stage. In the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, the teams will play a home-and away series to determine the four participants of the final four, which then determines the winner.

Last 16

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The draw was held on 24 February 2015 at 12:30 in Vienna, Austria. The first legs were played on 11–15 March and the second legs on 18–22 March 2015.[6]

Seedings

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The seedings were published on 23 February 2015.[7]

A team from Pot 1 will face a team from Pot 4, a Pot 2 team will play against a team from Pot 3.

Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
THW Kiel
Barcelona
MKB-MVM Veszprém
Vive Tauron Kielce
Paris Saint-Germain
KIF Kolding København
Vardar
MOL-Pick Szeged
Zagreb
Wisła Płock
Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Dunkerque
Logroño
Flensburg-Handewitt
Montpellier
Aalborg

Matches

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Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Logroño 54–68 MKB-MVM Veszprém23–3131–37
Montpellier 58–60 Vive Tauron Kielce25–2933–31
Aalborg 33–60 Barcelona11–3122–29
Flensburg-Handewitt 49–63 THW Kiel21–3028–33
Dunkerque 43–46 Paris Saint-Germain21–2322–23
Wisła Płock 52–57 Vardar32–2620–31
Rhein-Neckar Löwen 59–65 MOL-Pick Szeged30–3429–31
Zagreb 43–40 KIF Kolding København22–1721–23

Quarterfinals

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The draw was held on 24 March 2015 at 11:30 in Vienna, Austria. The first legs were played on 8–12 April and the second legs on 15–19 April 2015.[8][9]

Seedings

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The seedings were published on 23 March 2015.[8]

Pot 1Pot 2
THW Kiel
Barcelona
MKB-MVM Veszprém
Vive Tauron Kielce
Paris Saint-Germain
Zagreb
MOL-Pick Szeged
Vardar

Matches

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Team 1Agg.Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Zagreb 44–68 Barcelona23–2521–43
Vardar 51–55 Vive Tauron Kielce20–2231–33
Paris Saint-Germain 52–58 MKB-MVM Veszprém24–2428–34
MOL-Pick Szeged 54–60 THW Kiel31–2923–31

Final four

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The draw was held on 21 April 2015.[10][11]

The final four will be held on 30–31 May 2015 at the Lanxess Arena, Cologne.

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
30 May
 
 
Barcelona33
 
31 May
 
Vive Tauron Kielce28
 
Barcelona28
 
30 May
 
MKB-MVM Veszprém23
 
THW Kiel27
 
 
MKB-MVM Veszprém31
 
Third place
 
 
31 May
 
 
Vive Tauron Kielce28
 
 
THW Kiel26

Top goalscorers

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Statistics exclude qualifying round.[12]

RankPlayerTeamGoals
1 Momir Ilić Veszprém114
2 Kiril Lazarov Barcelona106
3 Mikkel Hansen Paris103
4 Karol Bielecki Kielce92
5 Timur Dibirov Vardar78
6 Zsolt Balogh Szeged76
Marko Vujin Kiel
8 Nikola Karabatić Barcelona75
9 Igor Karačić Vardar74
10 Alex Dujshebaev Vardar73

Awards

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FC Barcelona claim eighth title". ehfcl.com. 31 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "New season line-up for the VELUX EHF Champions League". ehfcl.com. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Junior to test Motor after qualification draw". ehfcl.com. 2014-06-26.
  4. ^ a b "Seeding for Qualification and Group Phase draws confirmed". ehfcl.com. 2014-06-23.
  5. ^ "Draw reunites Flensburg with Barcelona". ehfcl.com. 2014-06-27.
  6. ^ "Last 16 draw reunites the finalists: Flensburg vs Kiel". ehfcl.com. 24 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Defending champions lurk in the fourth pot before the Last 16 draw". ehfcl.com. 23 February 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Last eight await Tuesday's quarter-final fate". ehfcl.com. 23 March 2015.
  9. ^ "Barcelona take on Zagreb, Kiel meet Szeged". ehfcl.com. 24 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Four favourites face the FINAL4 fate". ehfcl.com. 20 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Barcelona vs Kielce, Kiel vs Veszprem". ehfcl.com. 21 April 2015.
  12. ^ "EHF Champions League 2014/15 - Scorers". Archived from the original on June 9, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  13. ^ "All-star team vote reaches new heights with 44,000 fans". ehfcl.com. 29 May 2015.
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