# 2015–16 EHF Champions League

The 2015–16 EHF Champions League was the 56th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 23rd edition under the current EHF Champions League format. FC Barcelona Lassa was the defending champion.
Vive Tauron Kielce defeated MVM Veszprém in the final to capture their first title.

## Overview
### Team allocation

Twenty-seven teams were directly qualified for the group stage.
Groups A/B :
| Zagreb | KIF Kolding København | Montpellier | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Rhein-Neckar Löwen | Flensburg-Handewitt | THW Kiel | MOL-Pick Szeged |
| MVM Veszprém | Vardar | Vive Tauron Kielce | Wisła Płock |
| Celje | Barcelona Lassa | IFK Kristianstad | Beşiktaş |
| Groups C/D ||||
| Meshkov Brest | Skjern Håndbold | Metalurg Skopje | Porto |
| HC Baia Mare | Chekhovskiye Medvedi | Vojvodina | Tatran Prešov |
| Logroño | Kadetten Schaffhausen | Motor Zaporizhzhia |
| Qualification tournament ||||
| Alpla HC Hard | RK Banja Luka | Limburg Lions | Elverum Håndball |
* $^{TH=Titleholders}$

### Competition format

In March 2014, EHF introduced a new competition format.
Twenty-eight teams participated in the competition, divided in four groups. Groups A and B played with eight teams each, in a round robin, home and away format. The top team in each group qualified directly for the quarter-finals, the bottom two in each group dropped out of the competition and the remaining 10 teams qualified for the first knock-out phase.
In groups C and D, six teams played in each group in a round robin format, playing both home and away. The top two teams in each group then met in a 'semi-final' play-off, with the two winners going through to the first knock-out phase. The remaining teams dropped out of the competition.

#### Knock-out Phase 1 (Last 12)

12 teams played home and away in the first knock-out phase, with the 10 teams qualified from groups A and B and the two teams qualified from groups C and D.

#### Knock-out Phase 2 (Quarterfinals)

The six winners of the matches in the first knock-out phase joined with the winners of groups A and B to play home and away for the right to play in the VELUX EHF FINAL4.

#### Final four

The culmination of the season, the VELUX EHF FINAL4, with the four top teams from the competition competing for the title.

### Round and draw dates

All draws held at the European Handball Federation headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
| Phase | Draw date |
| Group stage | 26 June 2015 |
| Knockout stage | 26 June 2015 |
| Final Four (Cologne) | 3 May 2016 |

## Qualification stage

There was no draw held. The four teams played a semifinal and final to determine the last participant. Matches were played on 5 and 6 September 2015. RK Banja Luka organized the tournament.

### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| 5 September 2015 | 5 September 2015 |
| Elverum Håndball | 35 |
| Elverum Håndball | 35 | 6 September 2015 | 6 September 2015 |
| Limburg Lions | 30 | 6 September 2015 | 6 September 2015 |
| Limburg Lions | 30 | Elverum Håndball | 28 |
| 5 September 2015 | 5 September 2015 | | Elverum Håndball | 28 |
| 5 September 2015 | 5 September 2015 | Alpla HC Hard | 25 |
| Alpla HC Hard | 35 | Alpla HC Hard | 25 |
| RK Banja Luka | 33 | | |
| RK Banja Luka | 33 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 6 September 2015 | 6 September 2015 |
| | | Limburg Lions | 33 |
| | | RK Banja Luka | 29 |
All times are local (UTC+2).

### Semifinals

| 5 September 2015 17:30 | Elverum Håndball | 35–30 | Limburg Lions | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 500 Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA) |
| 5 September 2015 17:30 | Burud 9 | (14–15) | Baart, Steins 7 | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 500 Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA) |
| 5 September 2015 17:30 | 3× 3× | Report | 3× 4× | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 500 Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA) |
| 5 September 2015 20:00 | Alpla HC Hard | 35–33 | RK Banja Luka | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL) |
| 5 September 2015 20:00 | Zeiner 8 | (17–14) | Trivundža 13 | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL) |
| 5 September 2015 20:00 | 3× 7× 1× | Report | 3× 11× 1× | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL) |

### Third place game

| 6 September 2015 17:30 | Limburg Lions | 33–29 | RK Banja Luka | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 400 Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA) |
| 6 September 2015 17:30 | Heijnen 7 | (16–14) | Janković 8 | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 400 Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA) |
| 6 September 2015 17:30 | 3× 5× | Report | 3× 3× | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 400 Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA) |

### Final

| 6 September 2015 20:00 | Elverum Håndball | 28–25 | Alpla HC Hard | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 400 Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL) |
| 6 September 2015 20:00 | Stegavik 10 | (15–11) | Schlinger 8 | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 400 Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL) |
| 6 September 2015 20:00 | 3× 4× | Report | 2× 4× | Sportska dvorana Borik, Banja Luka Attendance: 400 Referees: Baranowski, Lemanowicz (POL) |

## Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 26 June 2015, 20:00 CEST, in the Vienna city centre. The 28 teams were drawn into four groups, two containing eight teams (Groups A and B) and two containing six teams (Groups C and D). The only restriction was that teams from the same national association could not face each other in the same group. Since Germany qualified three teams, the lowest seeded side (Flensburg-Handewitt) had necessarily to be drawn with one of the other two.
In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches. The matchdays are 16–20 September, 23–27 September, 30 September–4 October, 7–11 October, 14–18 October, 21–25 October, 11–15 November, 18–22 November, 25–29 November and 2–6 December 2015. For Groups A and B, additional matchdays include 10–14 February, 17–21 February, 24–28 February and 2–6 March 2016.
After completion of the group stage matches, the teams advancing to the knockout stage were determined in the following manner:
* Groups A and B – the top team qualified directly for the quarter-finals, and the five teams ranked 2nd–6th advanced to the first knockout round.
* Groups C and D – the top two teams from both groups contested a playoff to determine the last two sides joining the 10 teams from Groups A and B in the first knockout round.
* Tiebreakers
* In the group stage, teams are ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows (article 4.3.1, section II of regulations):
* Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;
* Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;
* Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved (or in the away match in case of a two-team tie);
* Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
* Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
* If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by EHF through drawing of lots.
* During the group stage, only criteria 4–5 apply to determine the provisional ranking of teams.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PAR | VES | FLE | KIE | ZAG | PLO | CEL | BES |
| 1 | Paris Saint-Germain | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 442 | 389 | +53 | 24 | Advanced to quarterfinals | — | 29–27 | 35–32 | 37–30 | 34–23 | 29–24 | 32–27 | 40–28 |
| 2 | MVM Veszprém | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 402 | 364 | +38 | 23 | Advanced to first knockout round | 28–20 | — | 28–24 | 29–27 | 27–25 | 27–25 | 34–28 | 33–25 |
| 3 | Flensburg-Handewitt | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 429 | 380 | +49 | 20 | Advanced to first knockout round | 39–32 | 28–29 | — | 37–27 | 28–27 | 27–25 | 30–20 | 33–25 |
| 4 | THW Kiel | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 400 | 388 | +12 | 17 | Advanced to first knockout round | 26–30 | 25–24 | 27–23 | — | 31–29 | 26–24 | 35–32 | 32–21 |
| 5 | Zagreb | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 358 | 367 | −9 | 11 | Advanced to first knockout round | 23–25 | 20–21 | 23–30 | 29–22 | — | 29–25 | 24–23 | 32–26 |
| 6 | Wisła Płock | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 372 | 397 | −25 | 8 | Advanced to first knockout round | 22–27 | 27–27 | 30–34 | 23–37 | 23–23 | — | 26–31 | 32–26 |
| 7 | Celje | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 385 | 398 | −13 | 7 | | 30–32 | 27–30 | 26–30 | 23–23 | 20–21 | 25–28 | — | 43–29 |
| 8 | Beşiktaş | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 382 | 487 | −105 | 2 | | 30–40 | 34–38 | 26–34 | 27–32 | 32–30 | 29–38 | 24–30 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BAR | KIE | VAR | RNL | SZE | MON | KRI | KOL |
| 1 | Barcelona Lassa | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 423 | 372 | +51 | 23 | Advanced to quarter-finals | — | 31–33 | 31–30 | 26–20 | 30–25 | 37–27 | 34–32 | 28–25 |
| 2 | Vive Tauron Kielce | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 425 | 399 | +26 | 21 | Advanced to first knockout round | 30–30 | — | 23–20 | 28–27 | 27–26 | 30–23 | 35–27 | 33–31 |
| 3 | Vardar | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 416 | 373 | +43 | 18 | Advanced to first knockout round | 25–27 | 34–24 | — | 25–19 | 27–23 | 34–26 | 38–31 | 34–24 |
| 4 | Rhein-Neckar Löwen | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 369 | 353 | +16 | 17 | Advanced to first knockout round | 22–21 | 32–32 | 28–27 | — | 30–25 | 25–21 | 29–20 | 24–20 |
| 5 | MOL-Pick Szeged | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 404 | 390 | +14 | 15 | Advanced to first knockout round | 28–30 | 31–30 | 29–31 | 30–24 | — | 28–27 | 35–28 | 34–23 |
| 6 | Montpellier | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 372 | 413 | −41 | 7 | Advanced to first knockout round | 23–31 | 27–32 | 25–30 | 28–30 | 29–29 | — | 30–26 | 30–25 |
| 7 | IFK Kristianstad | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 409 | 437 | −28 | 7 | | 24–31 | 35–35 | 25–30 | 32–29 | 32–34 | 29–30 | — | 33–26 |
| 8 | KIF Kolding København | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 348 | 429 | −81 | 4 | | 28–36 | 25–33 | 33–31 | 18–30 | 22–27 | 27–26 | 21–30 | — |
* 1 2 Montpellier 60–55 Kristianstad

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BRE | LOG | POR | MED | VOJ | PRE |
| 1 | Meshkov Brest | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 321 | 264 | +57 | 16 | Advanced to playoffs | — | 31–33 | 34–27 | 32–26 | 34–22 | 32–26 |
| 2 | Logroño | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 298 | 270 | +28 | 14 | Advanced to playoffs | 28–32 | — | 30–23 | 30–26 | 31–22 | 37–29 |
| 3 | Porto | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 296 | 265 | +31 | 14 | | 29–28 | 35–31 | — | 31–27 | 37–15 | 33–23 |
| 4 | Chekhovskiye Medvedi | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 271 | 292 | −21 | 8 | | 27–33 | 27–26 | 30–29 | — | 34–30 | 29–28 |
| 5 | Vojvodina | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 241 | 297 | −56 | 4 | | 26–35 | 26–31 | 23–27 | 26–24 | — | 24–25 |
| 6 | Tatran Prešov | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 240 | 279 | −39 | 4 | | 20–30 | 19–21 | 24–25 | 27–21 | 19–27 | — |
* 1 2 Logroño–Porto 61–58
* 1 2 Tatran Prešov–Vojvodina 44–51

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ZAP | SKJ | SCH | HCM | ELV | MET |
| 1 | Motor Zaporizhzhia | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 296 | 277 | +19 | 15 | Advanced to playoffs | — | 31–26 | 31–23 | 25–23 | 33–30 | 30–24 |
| 2 | Skjern Håndbold | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 293 | 271 | +22 | 14 | Advanced to playoffs | 36–36 | — | 25–29 | 32–28 | 34–29 | 20–19 |
| 3 | Kadetten Schaffhausen | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 270 | 270 | 0 | 11 | | 30–27 | 24–30 | — | 24–23 | 30–31 | 27–17 |
| 4 | HC Baia Mare | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 264 | 268 | −4 | 9 | | 35–30 | 28–28 | 31–31 | — | 24–29 | 21–20 |
| 5 | Elverum Håndball | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 274 | 289 | −15 | 7 | | 29–30 | 23–37 | 27–28 | 28–28 | — | 29–23 |
| 6 | Metalurg Skopje | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 219 | 241 | −22 | 4 | | 21–23 | 24–25 | 28–24 | 21–23 | 22–19 | — |

### Playoffs

The top two teams from Groups C and D contest a playoff to determine the two sides advancing to the knockout phase. The winners of each group will face the runners-up of the other group in a two-legged tie. The first leg will be played on 27–28 February 2016, and the second leg will be played on 5 March 2016.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Logroño | 67–70 | Motor Zaporizhzhia | 30–31 | 37–39 |
| Skjern Håndbold | 54–58 | Meshkov Brest | 31–31 | 23–27 |

## Knockout stage

The first-place team from the preliminary groups A and B advanced to the quarterfinals, while the second through sixth place teams advanced to the round 16 alongside the playoff winners.

### Round of 16

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Motor Zaporizhzhia | 52–70 | MVM Veszprém | 24–29 | 28–41 |
| Meshkov Brest | 58–65 | Vive Tauron Kielce | 28–32 | 30–33 |
| Montpellier | 57–59 | Flensburg-Handewitt | 27–28 | 30–31 |
| Wisła Płock | 54–55 | Vardar | 30–30 | 24–25 |
| Pick Szeged | 62–65 | THW Kiel | 33–29 | 29–36 |
| Zagreb | 54–53 | Rhein-Neckar Löwen | 23–24 | 31–29 |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Zagreb | 52–60 | Paris Saint-Germain | 20–28 | 32–32 |
| THW Kiel | 59–57 | Barcelona Lassa | 29–24 | 30–33 |
| Vardar | 56–59 | MVM Veszprém | 26–29 | 30–30 |
| Flensburg-Handewitt | 56–57 | Vive Tauron Kielce | 28–28 | 28–29 |

### Final four

The final four was held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on 28 and 29 May 2016. The draw was held on 3 May 2016 at 12:00.

### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| 28 May | 28 May |
| Vive Tauron Kielce | 28 |
| Vive Tauron Kielce | 28 | 29 May | 29 May |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 26 | 29 May | 29 May |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 26 | Vive Tauron Kielce (Pen) | 39 |
| 28 May | 28 May | | Vive Tauron Kielce (Pen) | 39 |
| 28 May | 28 May | MVM Veszprém | 38 |
| THW Kiel | 28 | MVM Veszprém | 38 |
| MVM Veszprém (ET) | 31 | | |
| MVM Veszprém (ET) | 31 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 29 May | 29 May |
| | | Paris Saint-Germain | 29 |
| | | THW Kiel | 27 |

### Final

| 29 May 2016 18:00 | Vive Tauron Kielce | 39–38 (ET) | MVM Veszprém | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,250 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP) |
| 29 May 2016 18:00 | Reichmann 9 | (13–17) | Ilić, Ugalde 6 | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,250 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP) |
| 29 May 2016 18:00 | 3× 5× | Report | 3× 6× | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,250 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP) |
| Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,250 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP) |||

## Top goalscorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Mikkel Hansen | Paris Saint-Germain | 141 |
| 2 | Momir Ilić | MVM Veszprém | 120 |
| 3 | Kiril Lazarov | Barcelona Lassa | 109 |
| 4 | Marko Vujin | THW Kiel | 103 |
| 5 | Dean Bombač | MOL-Pick Szeged | 101 |
| 6 | Domagoj Duvnjak | THW Kiel | 93 |
| 6 | Michał Jurecki | Vive Tauron Kielce | 93 |
| 8 | Anders Eggert | Flensburg-Handewitt | 90 |
| 8 | Nikola Karabatić | Paris Saint-Germain | 90 |
| 8 | Barys Pukhouski | Motor Zaporizhzhia | 90 |

## Awards

| Position | Player |
| Goalkeeper | Niklas Landin Jacobsen (THW Kiel) |
| Right wing | Gašper Marguč (MVM Veszprém) |
| Right back | Kiril Lazarov (Barcelona Lassa) |
| Centre back | Dean Bombač (MOL-Pick Szeged) |
| Left back | Momir Ilić (MVM Veszprém) |
| Left wing | Manuel Štrlek (Vive Tauron Kielce) |
| Pivot | Rastko Stojković (HC Meshkov Brest) |
| Best defender | Timuzsin Schuch (MVM Veszprém) |
| Best coach | Xavi Sabaté (MVM Veszprém) |
* Landin
* Štrlek
* Stojković
* Marguč
* Ilić
* Bombač
* Lazarov
* Best Defender : Timuzsin Schuch
* Best Coach: Xavi Sabaté