# 2023–24 EHF Champions League

The 2023–24 EHF Champions League was the 64th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 13 September 2023 to 9 June 2024.
SC Magdeburg were the reigning champions but lost in the semifinals. Barça defeated Aalborg Håndbold in the final to win their 12th title.

## Format

The tournament used the same format as the previous three seasons. The competition began with a group stage featuring sixteen teams divided into two groups. Matches were played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures, fourteen in total for each team. In Groups A and B, the top two teams automatically qualified for the quarter-finals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th entering the playoff round.
The knockout stage included four rounds: the playoffs, quarter-finals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the playoffs, eight teams were paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches (third-placed in group A played sixth-placed group B; fourth-placed group A plays fifth-placed group B, etc.). The four aggregate winners of the playoffs advanced to the quarterfinals, joining the top-two teams of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams were paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches, with the four aggregate winners qualifying to the final-four tournament.
In the final four tournament, the semifinals and the final were played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue.

## Rankings

This season, the EHF decided to make separate rankings for each club competition.
* Associations 1–9 had their league champion qualify for the group stage and apply for a wildcards.
* The Association that won the past season's EHF European League gad their league champion and runner up qualify for the group stage but cannot apply for a wildcard.
* Associations below the top 9 had their league champion apply for a wildcard.
| Rank | Association | Average points | Teams |
| 1 | Spain | 230.00 | 1 |
| 2 | Germany | 170.33 | 2 |
| 3 | France | 134.33 | 2 |
| 4 | Hungary | 132.67 | 2 |
| 5 | Denmark | 131.67 | 2 |
| 6 | Poland | 124.33 | 2 |
| 7 | Portugal | 82.00 | 1 |
| 8 | North Macedonia | 80.00 | 1 |
| 9 | Slovenia | 78.00 | 1 |
| 10 | Romania | 66.50 | 0 |
| Rank | Association | Average points | Teams |
| 11 | Belarus | 57.67 | 0 |
| 12 | Norway | 57.00 | 1 |
| 13 | Ukraine | 48.00 | 0 |
| 14 | Croatia | 43.00 | 1 |
| 15 | Sweden | 38.00 | 0 |
| 16 | Russia | 34.00 | 0 |
| 17 | Slovakia | 33.00 | 0 |
| 18 | Finland | 32.00 | 0 |
| 18 | Switzerland | 32.00 | 0 |
| 20 | Everyone else | 0.00 | 0 |

## Teams

20 teams applied for a place, with ten having a fixed place. The final list was announced in June 20, 2023.
The fixed place for Russia was vacant since the country and its clubs were not admitted to participate in the EHF competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Participating teams :
| GOG Håndbold (1st) | Paris Saint-Germain (1st) | Barcelona (1st) | THW Kiel (1st) |
| SC Magdeburg (2nd) | Telekom Veszprém (1st) | RK Eurofarm Pelister (1st) | Industria Kielce (1st) |
| FC Porto (1st) | Celje Pivovarna Laško (1st) | RK Zagreb (1st) $^{WC}$ | Aalborg Håndbold (1st) $^{WC}$ |
| Montpellier Handball (2nd) $^{WC}$ | OTP Bank - Pick Szeged (2nd) $^{WC}$ | Kolstad Håndball (1st) $^{WC}$ | Orlen Wisła Płock (2nd) $^{WC}$ |
* $^{WC}$ Accepted wildcards
Wildcard rejection :
| Sporting CP (2nd) | Dinamo București (1st) | Kadetten Schaffhausen (1st) | IFK Kristianstad (1st) |
* ↑ Regular season winner while final runner-up losing to GOG Håndbold

## Draw

The draw took place on 27 June 2023.

## Group stage

The 16 teams were drawn into two groups of eight. Teams from the same national association could not be drawn into the same group.
In the group stage, teams were 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:
* 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;
* Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
* Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
* Drawing of Lots
A total of 11 national associations will be represented in the group stage. North Macedonia are the only returnees, after Vardar 1961 was disqualified last season. Kolstad Håndball are the only debutants.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | THW | AAL | PAR | KIE | ZAG | SZE | KOL | PEL |
| 1 | THW Kiel | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 410 | 379 | +31 | 22 | Quarterfinals | — | 18–27 | 26–24 | 35–31 | 33–22 | 35–32 | 26–25 | 29–23 |
| 2 | Aalborg Håndbold | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 430 | 382 | +48 | 19 | Quarterfinals | 27–27 | — | 30–32 | 35–35 | 32–22 | 31–26 | 27–25 | 38–23 |
| 3 | Paris Saint-Germain | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 431 | 412 | +19 | 17 | Playoffs | 28–34 | 33–30 | — | 35–26 | 35–31 | 37–33 | 28–28 | 31–26 |
| 4 | Industria Kielce | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 413 | 402 | +11 | 16 | Playoffs | 36–36 | 31–34 | 30–29 | — | 28–24 | 27–27 | 31–23 | 35–25 |
| 5 | RK Zagreb | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 373 | 373 | 0 | 14 | Playoffs | 23–30 | 30–30 | 28–26 | 22–22 | — | 30–25 | 31–20 | 27–18 |
| 6 | OTP Bank - Pick Szeged | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 401 | 414 | −13 | 13 | Playoffs | 27–28 | 34–27 | 29–31 | 26–25 | 27–26 | — | 29–27 | 34–26 |
| 7 | Kolstad Håndball | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 393 | 401 | −8 | 11 | | 34–30 | 18–29 | 36–31 | 30–34 | 25–34 | 37–24 | — | 34–27 |
| 8 | RK Eurofarm Pelister | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 333 | 421 | −88 | 0 | | 20–23 | 28–33 | 25–31 | 21–24 | 22–23 | 27–28 | 22–31 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MAG | BAR | VES | MON | GOG | PLO | POR | CEL |
| 1 | SC Magdeburg | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 439 | 384 | +55 | 24 | Quarterfinals | — | 29–28 | 28–33 | 28–24 | 35–27 | 28–22 | 37–33 | 39–23 |
| 2 | Barça | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 473 | 409 | +64 | 22 | Quarterfinals | 32–20 | — | 36–41 | 34–37 | 38–30 | 32–25 | 40–33 | 39–30 |
| 3 | Telekom Veszprém | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 489 | 436 | +53 | 20 | Playoffs | 28–30 | 30–31 | — | 33–31 | 34–31 | 28–21 | 44–34 | 41–31 |
| 4 | Montpellier Handball | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 411 | 396 | +15 | 14 | Playoffs | 25–28 | 25–30 | 31–37 | — | 36–25 | 30–28 | 35–24 | 32–21 |
| 5 | GOG Håndbold | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 429 | 445 | −16 | 13 | Playoffs | 25–32 | 23–30 | 36–30 | 32–27 | — | 32–32 | 35–27 | 38–36 |
| 6 | Orlen Wisła Płock | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 376 | 386 | −10 | 11 | Playoffs | 26–28 | 25–28 | 37–30 | 22–18 | 26–30 | — | 29–28 | 30–25 |
| 7 | FC Porto | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 409 | 480 | −71 | 8 | | 31–40 | 30–38 | 26–40 | 25–29 | 32–31 | 24–23 | — | 32–30 |
| 8 | Celje Pivovarna Laško | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 400 | 490 | −90 | 0 | | 27–37 | 31–37 | 33–40 | 29–31 | 30–34 | 25–30 | 29–30 | — |

## Knockout stage
### Playoffs

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Orlen Wisła Płock | 59–64 | Paris Saint-Germain | 26–30 | 33–34 |
| OTP Bank - Pick Szeged | 62–76 | Telekom Veszprém | 30–37 | 32–39 |
| GOG Håndbold | 53–66 | Industria Kielce | 25–33 | 28–33 |
| RK Zagreb | 51–57 | Montpellier Handball | 27–27 | 24–30 |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Montpellier Handball | 60–61 | THW Kiel | 39–30 | 21–31 |
| Industria Kielce | 49–49 3–4 (p) | SC Magdeburg | 27–26 | 22–23 |
| Telekom Veszprém | 60–64 | Aalborg Håndbold | 32–31 | 28–33 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 53–62 | Barça | 22–30 | 31–32 |

### Final four

The final four was held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on 8 and 9 June 2024.

#### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 8 June | 8 June |
| SC Magdeburg | 26 |
| SC Magdeburg | 26 | 9 June | 9 June |
| Aalborg Håndbold | 28 | 9 June | 9 June |
| Aalborg Håndbold | 28 | Aalborg Håndbold | 30 |
| 8 June | 8 June | | Aalborg Håndbold | 30 |
| 8 June | 8 June | Barça | 31 |
| Barça | 30 | Barça | 31 |
| THW Kiel | 18 | | |
| THW Kiel | 18 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 9 June | 9 June |
| | | SC Magdeburg | 28 |
| | | THW Kiel | 32 |

#### Final

| 9 June 2024 18:00 | Aalborg Håndbold | 30–31 | Barça | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,750 Referees: Nikolov, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 9 June 2024 18:00 | Hansen 8 | (15–15) | Richardson 8 | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,750 Referees: Nikolov, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 9 June 2024 18:00 | 2× 3× | Report | 3× | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,750 Referees: Nikolov, Nachevski (MKD) |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Kamil Syprzak | Paris Saint-Germain | 112 |
| 2 | Dika Mem | Barça | 106 |
| 3 | Emil Wernsdorf Madsen | GOG Håndbold | 98 |
| 3 | Ómar Ingi Magnússon | SC Magdeburg | 98 |
| 5 | Mads Hoxer Hangaard | Aalborg Håndbold | 96 |
| 6 | Aaron Mensing | GOG Håndbold | 93 |
| 7 | Niclas Ekberg | THW Kiel | 92 |
| 8 | Mario Šoštarič | OTP Bank - Pick Szeged | 88 |
| 9 | Mitja Janc | Celje Pivovarna Laško | 87 |
| 9 | Elohim Prandi | Paris Saint-Germain | 87 |