# 2015–16 EHF Cup

The 2015–16 EHF Cup was the 35th edition of the EHF Cup, the second most important European handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF), and the fourth edition since the merger with the EHF Cup Winners' Cup.

## Qualification stage

The qualification stage consisted of three rounds, which were played as two-legged ties using a home-and-away system. In the draws for each round, teams were allocated into two pots, with teams from Pot 1 facing teams from Pot 2. The winners of each pairing (highlighted in bold) qualified for the following round.
For each round, teams listed first played the first leg at home. In some cases, teams agreed to play both matches at the same venue.

### Round 1

A total of 24 teams entered the draw for the first qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 22 July 2015. The first legs were played on 6–7 September and the second legs were played on 13–14 September 2015.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Dinamo București | 62–48 | Energia Lignitul Pandurii Târgu Jiu | 38–24 | 24–24 |
| Hubo Initia Hasselt | 70–45 | Merzifon Belediye Hentbol SK | 37–21 | 33–24 |
| RK Poreč | 46–42 | Maccabi Rishon Lezion | 20–18 | 26–24 |
| HC Fregata-Burgas | 38–54 | KH BESA Famiglia | 18–24 | 20–30 |
| GRK Varaždin 1930 | 47–36 | A.S.D. Romagna Handball | 26–16 | 21–20 |
| PGU-Kartina TV Tiraspol | 50–76 | NMC Górnik Zabrze | 25–40 | 25–36 |
| Põlva Serviti | 53–49 | Dragūnas Klaipėda | 29–26 | 24–23 |
| Ystad IF HF | 76–48 | Handball Käerjeng | 41–28 | 35–20 |
| HB Dudelange | 50–68 | Haslum Handballklubb | 27–34 | 23–34 |
| KRAS/Volendam | 64–41 | HC Lovćen | 34–23 | 30–18 |
| TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen | 67–55 | Riihimäki Cocks | 34–24 | 33–21 |
| SSV Bozen Loacker | 50–50 (a) | Haukar | 30–24 | 20–26 |

#### Notes
### Round 2

A total of 32 teams entered the draw for the second qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 22 July 2015. Among these teams were 12 winners of the previous round.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| AC Diomidis Argous | 41–61 | Dinamo București | 21–26 | 20–35 |
| Csurgói KK | 59–46 | Pogoń Szczecin | 29–19 | 30–27 |
| ØIF Arendal | 65–43 | KH BESA Famiglia | 34–18 | 31–25 |
| Talent M.A.T. Plzeň | 54–49 | RK Poreč | 27–24 | 27–25 |
| Pfadi Winterthur | 52–44 | Põlva Serviti | 31–24 | 21–20 |
| Hubo Initia Hasselt | 48–43 | RK Spartak Vojput | 27–20 | 21–23 |
| Permskie Medvedi | 54–55 | Ystads IF | 30–28 | 24–27 |
| CSM București | 50–47 | Bregenz | 28–24 | 22–23 |
| TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen | 53–52 | Alingsås HK | 27–25 | 26–27 |
| RK Nexe | 62–41 | GRK Varaždin 1930 | 30–20 | 32–31 |
| Haukar | 63–44 | HC Zomimak-M | 34–20 | 29–24 |
| Team Tvis Holstebro | 64–63 | Sporting CP | 36–31 | 28–32 |
| NMC Górnik Zabrze | 54–52 | ZTR Zaporizhia | 28–25 | 26–27 |
| Haslum Handballklubb | 53–60 | RK Borac m:tel | 28–29 | 25–31 |
| KRAS/Volendam | 55–64 | SKA Minsk | 25–32 | 30–32 |
| Chambery Savoie Handball | 66–40 | HC Sporta Hlohovec | 35–12 | 31–28 |

#### Notes
### Round 3

A total of 32 teams entered the draw for the third qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 21 October 2015. Among these teams 16 winners of the previous round.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Pfadi Winterthur | 59–48 | KS Azoty-Puławy | 29–25 | 30–23 |
| Ystads IF | 59–48 | Grundfos Tatabanya KC | 28–28 | 31–20 |
| Maribor Branik | 52–57 | Dinamo București | 27–26 | 25–31 |
| Alpla HC Hard | 46–68 | SKA Minsk | 23–33 | 23–35 |
| RK Gorenje Velenje | 52–61 | Team Tvis Holstebro | 25–29 | 27–32 |
| Aalborg Handball | 62–48 | TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen | 30–20 | 32–28 |
| Hubo Initia Hasselt | 46–52 | Helvetia Anaitasuna | 20–28 | 26–24 |
| RK Borac m:tel | 52–58 | OCI-LIONS | 29–31 | 23–27 |
| Talent M.A.T. Plzeň | 51–66 | Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | 28–31 | 23–35 |
| RK Nexe | 44–48 | HBC Nantes | 26–26 | 18–22 |
| Füchse Berlin | 61–65 | Chambery Savoie Handball | 31–31 | 30–34 |
| NMC Górnik Zabrze | 58–77 | Frisch Auf Göppingen | 29–39 | 29–38 |
| CSM București | 60–53 | Frigoríficos del Morrazo | 31–24 | 29–29 |
| SC Magdeburg | 65–61 | Csurgói KK | 42–37 | 23–24 |
| Haukar | 46–59 | Saint-Raphael Var Handball | 28–29 | 18–30 |
| Fraikin BM. Granollers | 55–49 | ØIF Arendal | 29–21 | 26–28 |

## Group stage
### Draw and format

The draw of the EHF Cup group phase took place on Thursday, 3 December 2015, at 11:00 CET. The 16 teams allocated into four pots were drawn into four groups of four teams. The country protection rule was applied, i.e. two clubs from the same country could not face each other in the same group.
In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 13–14 February, 20–21 February, 27–28 February, 5–6 March, 19–20 March, and 26–27 March 2016.
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):
* number of points in matches of all teams directly involved;
* goal difference in matches of all teams directly involved;
* higher number of plus goals in matches of all teams directly involved;
* goal difference in all matches of the group;
* higher 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.

### Seeding

On 3 December 2015, EHF announced the composition of the group phase seeding pots.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Fraikin BM. Granollers | SC Magdeburg | Dinamo București | Aalborg Handball |
| OCI-Lions | Team Tvis Holstebro | HBC Nantes | Frisch Auf Göppingen |
| SKA Minsk | Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | Pfadi Winterthur | Saint-Raphael Var Handball |
| Chambery Savoie Handball | Helvetia Anaitasuna | Ystads IF | CSM București |

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MAG | GRA | DIN | AAL |
| 1 | SC Magdeburg (A) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 184 | 162 | +22 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 32–28 | 39–22 | 25–19 |
| 2 | Fraikin BM. Granollers (A) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 172 | 165 | +7 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage | 34–29 | — | 28–29 | 24–24 |
| 3 | Dinamo Bucuresti (E) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 166 | 181 | −15 | 5 | | 33–34 | 26–27 | — | 28–23 |
| 4 | Aalborg Handball (E) | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 147 | 161 | −14 | 4 | | 26–25 | 25–31 | 28–28 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | NAN | GÖP | HOL | OCI |
| 1 | HBC Nantes (A) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 176 | 151 | +25 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 27–24 | 32–23 | 30–24 |
| 2 | Frisch Auf Göppingen (A) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 198 | 161 | +37 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage | 27–26 | — | 36–23 | 40–20 |
| 3 | Team Tvis Holstebro (E) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 167 | 180 | −13 | 6 | | 27–28 | 34–31 | — | 29–24 |
| 4 | OCI-Lions (E) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 154 | 203 | −49 | 0 | | 26–33 | 31–40 | 29–31 | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SIL | RAP | WIN | MIN |
| 1 | Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (A) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 168 | 155 | +13 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 31−26 | 27–27 | 32–26 |
| 2 | Saint-Raphael Var Handball (A) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 165 | 165 | 0 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage | 23–25 | — | 28–28 | 31–29 |
| 3 | Pfadi Winterthur (E) | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 160 | 162 | −2 | 4 | | 25–28 | 21–24 | — | 32–24 |
| 4 | SKA Minsk (E) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 169 | 180 | −11 | 4 | | 28–25 | 31–33 | 31−27 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | CHA | YST | BUC | HEL |
| 1 | Chambery Savoie Handball (A) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 161 | 141 | +20 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 32–22 | 23–23 | 26–23 |
| 2 | Ystads IF (E) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 159 | 167 | −8 | 7 | | 26–27 | — | 29–28 | 32–31 |
| 3 | CSM Bucuresti (E) | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 152 | 156 | −4 | 5 | | 25–25 | 27–27 | — | 27–24 |
| 4 | Helvetia Anaitasuna (E) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 150 | 158 | −8 | 2 | | 22–28 | 22–23 | 28–22 | — |

### Ranking of the second-placed teams

The ranking of the second-placed teams was carried out on the basis of the team's results in the group stage. Because the French side HBC Nantes, 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 | Frisch Auf Göppingen | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 198 | 161 | +37 | 8 |
| A | Fraikin BM. Granollers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 172 | 165 | +7 | 7 |
| C | Saint-Raphael Var Handball | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 165 | 165 | 0 | 7 |
| D | Ystads IF | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 159 | 167 | −8 | 7 |

## Knockout stage
### Quarter-finals
#### Draw and format

Because the hosts of the Final 4 tournament, HBC Nantes, 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. The draw of the EHF Cup quarter-finals took place on Tuesday 29 March 2016 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Six teams were positioned into two pots. Teams from the same group could not face each other in the quarter-finals. The country protection rule was not applied for the quarter-finals. Therefore, there were two national duels in this round.
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 pot contained the three group winners and the second pot contained the top three second-placed teams.
* Pot 1
* SC Magdeburg
* Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
* Chambery Savoie Handball
* Pot 2
* Fraikin BM Granollers
* Frisch Auf Göppingen
* Saint-Raphael Var Handball
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Fraikin Granollers | 56–56 | Bjerringbro-Silkeborg | 30–24 | 26–32 |
| Saint-Raphael Var Handball | 52–54 | Chambery Savoie Handball | 30–25 | 22–29 |
| Frisch Auf Göppingen | 58–54 | SC Magdeburg | 31–25 | 27–29 |

### Final four

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 14 May | 14 May |
| Chambery Savoie | 25 |
| Chambery Savoie | 25 | 15 May | 15 May |
| FA Göppingen | 28 | 15 May | 15 May |
| FA Göppingen | 28 | FA Göppingen | 32 |
| 14 May | 14 May | | FA Göppingen | 32 |
| 14 May | 14 May | HBC Nantes | 26 |
| BM Granollers | 26 | HBC Nantes | 26 |
| HBC Nantes | 27 | | |
| HBC Nantes | 27 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 15 May | 15 May |
| | | Chambery Savoie | 21 |
| | | BM Granollers | 25 |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Ferran Solé | Fraikin BM. Granollers | 70 |
| 2 | Marcel Schiller | Frisch Auf Göppingen | 69 |
| 3 | Robert Weber | SC Magdeburg | 66 |
| 4 | Valero Rivera Folch | HBC Nantes | 59 |
| 5 | Javier Humet | CSM Bucuresti | 58 |
| 5 | Michael Damgaard | SC Magdeburg | 58 |