# 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League

The 2024–25 Women's EHF Champions League is the 32nd edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 7 September 2024 to June 2025.
Győri Audi ETO KC are the defending champions.

## Format

The tournament will run using the same format as the previous three seasons. The competition begins with a group stage featuring sixteen teams divided into two groups. Matches are 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 qualify for the quarter-finals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th entering the playoff round.
The knockout stage includes four rounds: the playoffs, quarter-finals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the playoffs, eight teams are paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches (third-placed in group A plays sixth-placed group B; fourth-placed group A plays fifth-placed group B, etc.). The four aggregate winners of the playoffs advance to the quarterfinals, joining the top-two teams of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams are 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 are played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue.

## Rankings

The rankings are based on the performances from the three most recent seasons.
* Associations 1–9 had their league champion qualify for the Group Stage and apply up to two wildcards.
* The best-ranked association in the Women's EHF European League can have its league champion and runner-up qualified for the Group Stage and can apply for one wildcard.
* Associations below the top 9 had their league champion apply for a wildcard.
| Rank | Association | Average points | Teams |
| 1 | Norway | 240.00 | 2 |
| 2 | Hungary | 182.00 | 2 |
| 3 | France | 155.33 | 2 |
| 4 | Russia | 133.00 | 0 |
| 5 | Denmark | 128.33 | 3 |
| 6 | Romania | 113.00 | 3 |
| 7 | Slovenia | 85.00 | 1 |
| 8 | Montenegro | 71.67 | 1 |
| 9 | Germany | 61.33 | 1 |
| Rank | Association | Average points | Teams |
| 10 | Croatia | 53.50 | 1 |
| 11 | Sweden | 49.00 | 0 |
| 12 | Turkey | 48.00 | 0 |
| 13 | Czech Republic | 46.00 | 0 |
| 14 | Everyone else | 0.00 | 0 |

## Teams

19 teams applied for a place, with nine having a fixed place. The final list was announced on 21 June 2024.
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 :
| Team Esbjerg (1st) | Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub (2nd) | Metz Handball (1st) | HB Ludwigsburg (1st) |
| FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (1st) | WHC Budućnost BEMAX (1st) | Vipers Kristiansand (1st) | CSM București (1st) |
| RK Krim Mercator (1st) | HC Podravka Vegeta (1st) $^{WC}$ | Odense Håndbold (3rd) $^{WC}$ | Brest Bretagne Handball (2nd) $^{WC}$ |
| Győri Audi ETO KC (2nd) $^{WC}$ | Storhamar HE (2nd) $^{WC}$ | CS Rapid București (2nd) $^{WC}$ | CS Gloria Bistrița (3rd) $^{WC}$ |
* $^{WC}$ Accepted wildcards
Rejected upgrades :
| Borussia Dortmund (4th) | DVSC Schaeffler (4th) | Sola HK (3rd) |

## Draw

The draw was held on 27 June 2024.

## Group stage

The 16 teams were drawn into 2 groups of eight. In regards to Denmark and Romania, who have three clubs in the Group Stage, a maximum of two clubs from those countries could 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 was 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
This season, nine national associations were present. Poland and Sweden both miss out while Croatia return after a one season absence. CS Gloria Bistrița make their debut in the Champions League.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MET | FER | BUC | KRI | KOP | STO | BIS | NYK |
| 1 | Metz Handball | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 413 | 361 | +52 | 27 | Quarterfinals | — | 24–19 | 27–24 | 34–30 | 35–31 | 24–20 | 28–26 | 30–22 |
| 2 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 395 | 351 | +44 | 24 | Quarterfinals | 23–26 | — | 31–28 | 28–27 | 33–24 | 26–25 | 32–28 | 31–22 |
| 3 | CSM București | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 414 | 383 | +31 | 18 | Playoffs | 31–32 | 26–28 | — | 36–23 | 31–30 | 32–28 | 32–23 | 27–26 |
| 4 | RK Krim Mercator | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 390 | 404 | −14 | 13 | Playoffs | 25–34 | 22–27 | 29–31 | — | 30–29 | 25–23 | 28–25 | 35–25 |
| 5 | HC Podravka Vegeta | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 383 | 392 | −9 | 11 | Playoffs | 26–28 | 29–30 | 28–29 | 23–24 | — | 25–24 | 26–25 | 27–27 |
| 6 | Storhamar HE | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 351 | 377 | −26 | 8 | Playoffs | 29–29 | 21–27 | 21–32 | 29–28 | 23–25 | — | 25–23 | 22–22 |
| 7 | CS Gloria Bistrița | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 378 | 410 | −32 | 6 | | 28–34 | 23–26 | 30–26 | 30–35 | 25–29 | 31–28 | — | 37–29 |
| 8 | Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 372 | 418 | −46 | 5 | | 27–28 | 27–34 | 27–29 | 30–30 | 28–31 | 28–33 | 32–24 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | GYO | ESB | ODE | BRE | LUD | BUC | BUD | VIP |
| 1 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 397 | 333 | +64 | 25 | Quarterfinals | — | 28–26 | 28–35 | 28–27 | 32–19 | 31–20 | 33–21 | 27–22 |
| 2 | Team Esbjerg | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 414 | 360 | +54 | 21 | Quarterfinals | 23–29 | — | 39–30 | 36–27 | 30–30 | 39–32 | 26–19 | 30–29 |
| 3 | Odense Håndbold | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 434 | 376 | +58 | 20 | Playoffs | 32–34 | 20–31 | — | 36–33 | 28–22 | 32–24 | 31–29 | 10–0 |
| 4 | Brest Bretagne Handball | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 414 | 383 | +31 | 15 | Playoffs | 34–35 | 33–32 | 36–38 | — | 26–28 | 33–21 | 23–23 | 30–27 |
| 5 | HB Ludwigsburg | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 391 | 411 | −20 | 13 | Playoffs | 26–31 | 31–36 | 24–40 | 26–33 | — | 30–24 | 26–18 | 33–29 |
| 6 | CS Rapid București | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 350 | 412 | −62 | 6 | Playoffs | 25–28 | 26–28 | 25–42 | 31–34 | 29–37 | — | 32–27 | 10–0 |
| 7 | WHC Budućnost BEMAX | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 324 | 398 | −74 | 5 | | 23–23 | 23–27 | 24–33 | 22–35 | 25–36 | 21–21 | — | 26–20 |
| 8 | Vipers Kristiansand | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 245 | 296 | −51 | 7 | | 0–10 | 0–10 | 26–24 | 0–10 | 30–23 | 30–30 | 32–23 | — |
* ↑ Vipers Kristiansand declared bankruptcy on 13 January 2025 with the results that every game scheduled after that date was counted as a 10–0 win for the opponent.

## Knockout stage
### Playoffs

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| CS Rapid București | M1 | CSM București | 22–23 Mar | 29–30 Mar |
| Storhamar HE | M2 | Odense Håndbold | 22–23 Mar | 29–30 Mar |
| HB Ludwigsburg | M3 | RK Krim Mercator | 22–23 Mar | 29–30 Mar |
| HC Podravka Vegeta | M4 | Brest Bretagne Handball | 22–23 Mar | 29–30 Mar |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| M4 | – | Metz Handball | 19–20 Apr | 26–27 Apr |
| M3 | – | Győri Audi ETO KC | 19–20 Apr | 26–27 Apr |
| M2 | – | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 19–20 Apr | 26–27 Apr |
| M1 | – | Team Esbjerg | 19–20 Apr | 26–27 Apr |

### Final four

The final four will be held at the MVM Dome in Budapest, Hungary on 31 May and 1 June 2025.

#### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 31 May | 31 May |
| | | 1 June | 1 June |
| 31 May | 31 May | | |
| | | Third place | Third place |
| | | 1 June | 1 June |

#### Final

| 1 June 2024 | WSF1 | v | WSF2 | MVM Dome, Budapest |

## Top goalscorers

    As of 23 February 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Henny Reistad | Team Esbjerg | 122 |
| 2 | Elizabeth Omoregie | CSM București | 90 |
| 3 | Sarah Bouktit | Metz Handball | 87 |
| 4 | Cristina Neagu | CSM București | 80 |
| 5 | Jelena Vukčević | WHC Budućnost BEMAX | 78 |
| 6 | Ana Gros | RK Krim Mercator | 77 |
| 7 | Dione Housheer | Győri Audi ETO KC | 70 |
| 8 | Daria Dmitrieva | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 69 |
| 8 | Matea Pletikosić | HC Podravka Vegeta | 69 |
| 10 | Clarisse Mairot | Brest Bretagne Handball | 68 |
| 10 | Angela Malestein | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 68 |