# 2014–15 EHF Cup

The 2014–15 EHF Cup was the 34th edition of the EHF Cup, the second most important European handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF), and the third edition since the merger with the EHF Cup Winners' Cup.

## Overview
### Team allocation

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
* TH: Title holders
* CW: Cup winners
* CR: Cup runners-up
* 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
* ECL: Transferred from the EHF Champions League
** QS: Losers from the qualification tournaments
Round 3 :
| Füchse Berlin (CW) | Huesca (4th) | Tatran Prešov (ECL QS) | Vojvodina (ECL QS) |
| HSV Hamburg (4th) | Gorenje (2nd) | Porto (ECL QS) | Alpla HC Hard (ECL QS) |
| Fraikin Granollers (3rd) | St. Petersburg (2nd) | HCM Constanța (ECL QS) | Haslum HK (ECL QS) |
| Round 2 ||||
| MT Melsungen (6th) | SønderjyskE (5th) | Pfadi Winterthur (2nd) | Elverum (1st) |
| Ademar León (5th) | Maribor Branik (3rd) | Nexe Našice (2nd) | Portovik (2nd) |
| Nantes (4th) | Balatonfüred (3rd) | SKA Minsk (2nd) | Targos Bevo HC (ECL QS) |
| Fenix Toulouse (5th) | Tatabánya (CR) | SMD Bacău (2nd) | Junior Fasano (ECL QS) |
| Skjern (3rd) | GK Permskie Medvedi (CW) | Eskilstuna Guif (3rd) | Initia Hasselt (ECL QS) |
| Tvis Holstebro (4th) | Kaustik Volgograd (4th) | Sporting CP (2nd) |
| Round 1 ||||
| Orosháza (7th) | Potaissa Turda (3rd) | Topoľčany (2nd) | Lovćen (1st) |
| Dinamo Astrakhan (5th) | IFK Kristianstad (4th) | HC Sporta Hlohovec (3rd) | ÍBV (1st) |
| Kriens-Luzern (3rd) | Železničar 1949 (CW) | Bregenz (CW) | Haukar (2nd) |
| BSV Bern Muri (4th) | Diomidis Argous (1st) | OCI-Lions (2nd) | Dragūnas Klaipėda (1st) |
| GRK Varaždin 1930 (3rd) | Nilüfer Belediyespor (CW) | KRAS/Volendam (3rd) | KH BESA Famiglia (1st) |
| Dubrava (4th) | Handball Käerjeng (1st) | Achilles Bocholt (2nd) | HC Olimpus-85 USEFS (1st) |
| Strumica (3rd) | Handball Esch (2nd) | SSV Bozen Loacker (2nd) | London GD (1st) |
| NMC Górnik Zabrze (3rd) | Maccabi Tel Aviv (1st) | Talent M.A.T. Plzeň(1st) |
| HC Gomel (3rd) | Maccabi Rishon LeZion (2nd) | HC Kehra (1st) |

### Round and draw dates

All draws were held at the European Handball Federation headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
| Qualifying | Qualification round 1 | 22 July 2014 | 6–7 September 2014 | 13–14 September 2014 |
| Qualifying | Qualification round 2 | 22 July 2014 | 11–12 October 2014 | 18–19 October 2014 |
| Qualifying | Qualification round 3 | 21 October 2014 | 22–23 November 2014 | 29–30 November 2014 |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 4 December 2014 | 14–15 February 2015 | 14–15 February 2015 |
| Group stage | Matchday 2 | 4 December 2014 | 21–22 February 2015 | 21–22 February 2015 |
| Group stage | Matchday 3 | 4 December 2014 | 28 February–1 March 2015 | 28 February–1 March 2015 |
| Group stage | Matchday 4 | 4 December 2014 | 7–8 March 2015 | 7–8 March 2015 |
| Group stage | Matchday 5 | 4 December 2014 | 14–15 March 2015 | 14–15 March 2015 |
| Group stage | Matchday 6 | 4 December 2014 | 21–22 March 2015 | 21–22 March 2015 |
| Knockout stage | Quarterfinal | 24 March 2015 | 11–12 April 2015 | 18–19 April 2015 |
| Final 4 (Berlin) | Semifinal | 21 April 2015 | 16 May 2015 | 16 May 2015 |
| Final 4 (Berlin) | Final | 21 April 2015 | 17 May 2015 | 17 May 2015 |

## 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 34 teams entered the draw for the first qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 22 July 2014. The first legs were played on 6–7 September and the second legs were played on 13–14 September 2014.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Achilles Bocholt | 59–63 | Železničar 1949 | 31–30 | 28–33 |
| Bregenz | 64–50 | Dragūnas Klaipėda | 28–24 | 36–26 |
| Diomidis Argous | 36–60 | IFK Kristianstad | 19–30 | 17–30 |
| HC Sporta Hlohovec | 56–48 | Nilüfer Belediyespor | 35–25 | 21–23 |
| Lovćen | 47–67 | Kriens-Luzern | 22–30 | 25–37 |
| KRAS/Volendam | 52–55 | Topoľčany | 29–32 | 23–23 |
| Dubrava | 55–63 | GRK Varaždin 1930 | 26–30 | 29–33 |
| London GD | 30–72 | OCI-Lions | 18–28 | 12–44 |
| HC Olimpus-85 USEFS | 56–62 | Orosháza | 28–34 | 28–28 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 55–67 | Potaissa Turda | 25–32 | 30–35 |
| ÍBV | 50–57 | Maccabi Rishon LeZion | 25–30 | 25–27 |
| Talent M.A.T. Plzeň | 50–43 | SSV Bozen Loacker | 26–26 | 24–17 |
| BSV Bern Muri | 55–38 | HC Gomel | 29–15 | 26–23 |
| Haukar | 53–54 | Dinamo Astrakhan | 27–29 | 26–25 |
| KH BESA Famiglia | 63–55 | HC Kehra | 31–32 | 32–23 |
| NMC Górnik Zabrze | 70–52 | Strumica | 36–25 | 34–27 |
| Handball Käerjeng | 48–59 | Handball Esch | 23–34 | 25–25 |

#### Notes
### Round 2

A total of 40 teams entered the draw for the second qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 22 July 2014. Among these teams were the fourth-placed teams from the 2014–15 EHF Champions League qualification tournaments (Pot 1) and the 17 winners of the previous round (Pot 2). The first legs were played on 11–12 October and the second legs were played on 18–19 October 2014.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Eskilstuna Guif | 55–52 | SønderjyskE | 29–27 | 26–25 |
| SKA Minsk | 64–63 | NMC Górnik Zabrze | 34–30 | 30–33 |
| SMD Bacău | 62–55 | OCI-Lions | 34–29 | 28–26 |
| KH BESA Famiglia | 51–83 | Nexe Našice | 25–40 | 26–43 |
| Balatonfüred | 46–43 | Dinamo Astrakhan | 21–23 | 25–20 |
| Bregenz | 59–72 | Skjern | 27–36 | 32–36 |
| Nantes | 72–53 | GRK Varaždin 1930 | 42–27 | 30–26 |
| Topoľčany | 59–49 | Targos Bevo HC | 32–25 | 27–24 |
| Tvis Holstebro | 71–59 | Kriens-Luzern | 35–23 | 36–36 |
| Pfadi Winterthur | 65–55 | Železničar 1949 | 35–26 | 30–29 |
| Kaustik Volgograd | 20–0 | Portovik | 10–0 | 10–0 |
| Sporting CP | 62–57 | HC Sporta Hlohovec | 34–24 | 28–33 |
| Maribor Branik | 50–61 | IFK Kristianstad | 26–25 | 24–36 |
| Junior Fasano | 53–67 | Potaissa Turda | 27–28 | 26–39 |
| BSV Bern Muri | 51–67 | Ademar León | 30–38 | 21–29 |
| Handball Esch | 49–50 | Tatabánya | 24–25 | 25–25 |
| Talent M.A.T. Plzeň | 48–55 | Permskie Medvedi | 23–25 | 25–30 |
| MT Melsungen | 57–53 | Fenix Toulouse | 34–27 | 23–26 |
| Initia Hasselt | 46–56 | Orosháza | 25–26 | 21–30 |
| Elverum | 65–52 | Maccabi Rishon LeZion | 36–28 | 29–24 |

#### Notes
### Round 3

A total of 32 teams entered the draw for the third qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 21 October 2014. Among these teams were the runners-up and third-placed teams from the 2014–15 EHF Champions League qualification tournaments (Pot 1) and the 20 winners of the previous round. The first legs were played on 11–12 October and the second legs were played on 18–19 October 2014. The 16 winners qualified for the group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Porto | 54–52 | Ademar León | 29–24 | 25–28 |
| Tvis Holstebro | 61–55 | SMD Bacău | 32–27 | 29–28 |
| Nexe Našice | 58–46 | Potaissa Turda | 35–20 | 23–26 |
| Füchse Berlin | 46–46 (a) | Nantes | 23–18 | 23–28 |
| Kaustik Volgograd | 57–64 | Haslum HK | 31–28 | 26–36 |
| MT Melsungen | 56–50 | Tatran Prešov | 31–24 | 25–26 |
| IFK Kristianstad | 55–55 (a) | HSV Hamburg | 27–29 | 28–26 |
| Alpla HC Hard | 49–52 | Balatonfüred | 31–26 | 18–26 |
| HCM Constanța | 57–50 | Elverum | 27–21 | 30–29 |
| Tatabánya | 47–54 | St. Petersburg | 23–22 | 24–32 |
| Topoľčany | 51–60 | Pfadi Winterthur | 26–28 | 25–32 |
| Eskilstuna Guif | 55–50 | Huesca | 32–24 | 23–26 |
| Sporting CP | 50–50 (a) | Fraikin Granollers | 27–25 | 23–25 |
| Permskie Medvedi | 63–76 | Gorenje | 34–37 | 29–39 |
| Skjern | 72–45 | Orosháza | 40–20 | 32–25 |
| Vojvodina | 52–50 | SKA Minsk | 27–22 | 25–28 |

## Group stage
### Draw and format

The draw of the EHF Cup group phase took place on Thursday, 4 December 2014, 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 14–15 February, 21–22 February, 28 February – 1 March, 7–8 March, 14–15 March, and 21–22 March 2015.
If Füchse Berlin, as the organiser of the Final 4 tournament, win their group or finish among top three second-ranked teams, they will receive a direct qualification to the Final 4 tournament. If the German side wins their group then the other three group winners and the three best second ranked team will qualify for the quarter-finals. If the Germans finish among the top three second-ranked teams, the quarter-finals will consist of four group winners and two best second-ranked teams. If Füchse Berlin finish as the worst second-ranked team, they will have to play the quarter-final match. Should the German club rank on the third or fourth position in their group, they will be out of the competition, but they will still organize the Final 4 tournament.
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 1 December 2014, EHF announced the composition of the group phase seeding pots.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| HSV Hamburg | Fraikin Granollers | Füchse Berlin | Nexe Našice |
| MT Melsungen | Balatonfüred | St. Petersburg | Skjern |
| Porto | Haslum HK | Gorenje | Tvis Holstebro |
| HCM Constanța | Vojvodina | Eskilstuna Guif | Pfadi Winterthur |

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HSV | GOR | HAS | WIN |
| 1 | HSV Hamburg (A) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 189 | 169 | +20 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 33–28 | 36–26 | 30–28 |
| 2 | Gorenje (A) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 192 | 160 | +32 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage | 31–32 | — | 34–21 | 30–26 |
| 3 | Haslum HK (E) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 160 | 194 | −34 | 4 | | 34–32 | 22–34 | — | 23–27 |
| 4 | Pfadi Winterthur (E) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 160 | 178 | −18 | 2 | | 22–26 | 26–35 | 31–34 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HOL | GRA | CON | PET |
| 1 | Tvis Holstebro (A) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 185 | 168 | +17 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 29–24 | 34–28 | 28–24 |
| 2 | Fraikin Granollers (E) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 159 | 154 | +5 | 7 | | 28–28 | — | 23–21 | 30–26 |
| 3 | HCM Constanța (E) | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 163 | 178 | −15 | 4 | | 34–34 | 28–27 | — | 25–25 |
| 4 | St. Petersburg (E) | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 162 | 169 | −7 | 3 | | 30–32 | 22–27 | 35–27 | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BER | SKJ | POR | VOJ |
| 1 | Füchse Berlin (A) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 175 | 143 | +32 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 29–24 | 25–20 | 37–22 |
| 2 | Skjern (A) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 164 | 147 | +17 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | 32–28 | — | 27–21 | 32–23 |
| 3 | Porto (E) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 142 | 152 | −10 | 4 | | 20–26 | 23–24 | — | 29–23 |
| 4 | Vojvodina (E) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 143 | 182 | −39 | 0 | | 25–30 | 23–25 | 27–29 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MEL | GUI | NEX | BAL |
| 1 | MT Melsungen (A) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 177 | 152 | +25 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 31–27 | 34–26 | 29–23 |
| 2 | Eskilstuna Guif (A) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 165 | 156 | +9 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage | 27–25 | — | 33–24 | 24–24 |
| 3 | Nexe Našice (E) | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 161 | 170 | −9 | 3 | | 25–28 | 29–29 | — | 26–27 |
| 4 | Balatonfüred (E) | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 140 | 165 | −25 | 3 | | 24–30 | 23–25 | 19–31 | — |

### 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 German side Füchse Berlin, 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.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Skjern Håndbold | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 164 | 147 | +17 | 10 |
| 2 | Gorenje | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 192 | 160 | +32 | 8 |
| 3 | Eskilstuna Guif | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 165 | 156 | +9 | 8 |
| 4 | Fraikin Granollers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 159 | 154 | +5 | 7 |

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

Because the hosts of the Final 4 tournament, Füchse Berlin, 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 will be played for the remaining spots in the final tournament. The draw of the EHF Cup quarter-finals took place on Tuesday 24 March 2015 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Six teams were positioned into two pots with the country protection rule not applied: two clubs from the same country could face each other in the quarter-finals. However, teams from the same group could not face each other in the quarter-finals. The first pot contained the three group winners and the second pot contained the top three second-placed teams.
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 leg matches were played over 11–12 April, and the second leg matches were played over 18–19 April.
* Pot 1
* HSV Hamburg
* Team Tvis Holstebro
* MT Melsungen
* Pot 2
* Gorenje
* Skjern Håndbold
* Eskilstuna Guif
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Eskilstuna Guif | 51–53 | HSV Hamburg | 29–26 | 22-27 |
| Skjern Håndbold | 48–48 | MT Melsungen | 25–20 | 23-28 |
| Gorenje | 59–57 | Team Tvis Holstebro | 28–27 | 31-30 |

### Final four

The tournament was played at the 8,700 capacity Max-Schmeling-Halle in the German capital Berlin, the home of Füchse Berlin.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 16 May | 16 May |
| Gorenje | 24 |
| Gorenje | 24 | 17 May | 17 May |
| Füchse Berlin | 27 | 17 May | 17 May |
| Füchse Berlin | 27 | Füchse Berlin | 30 |
| 16 May | 16 May | | Füchse Berlin | 30 |
| 16 May | 16 May | HSV Hamburg | 27 |
| Skjern Håndbold | 23 | HSV Hamburg | 27 |
| HSV Hamburg | 27 | | |
| HSV Hamburg | 27 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 17 May | 17 May |
| | | Gorenje | 22 |
| | | Skjern Håndbold | 27 |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Staš Skube | Gorenje | 81 |
| 2 | Kentin Mahé | HSV Hamburg | 69 |
| 3 | Mario Šoštarič | Gorenje | 58 |
| 4 | Adrian Pfahl | HSV Hamburg | 55 |
| 5 | Viktor Östlund | Eskilstuna Guif | 54 |
| 6 | Michael Damgaard | Tvis Holstebro | 51 |
| 7 | Patrick Wiesmach | Tvis Holstebro | 49 |
| 7 | Daniel Petterson | Eskilstuna Guif | 49 |
| 7 | Mathias Tholin | Eskilstuna Guif | 49 |
| 10 | Morten Balling | Skjern | 48 |