# 2021–22 Women's EHF Champions League

The 2021–22 Women's EHF Champions League was the 29th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 11 September 2021 to 5 June 2022.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, each local health department allowed a different number of spectators.
Vipers Kristiansand defended their title after a finals win over Győri Audi ETO KC.

## Format

The competition began with a group stage featuring 16 teams divided in two groups. Matches were played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures. In Groups A and B, the top two teams qualified for the quarterfinals, with teams ranked third to sixth entering the playoffs.
The knockout stage included four rounds: the round of 16, quarterfinals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. The teams were paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches, with the aggregate winners qualifying to the next round.
In the final four tournament, the semifinals and the final were played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue.

## Team allocation

A total of 21 teams from 15 countries submitted their application for a place in the competition's group stage before the deadline of 21 June 2021. The final list of 16 participants was revealed by the EHF Executive Committee on 29 June 2021.
| HC Podravka Vegeta | Odense Håndbold | Team Esbjerg | Brest Bretagne Handball |
| Metz Handball | BV Borussia 09 Dortmund$^1$ | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | Győri Audi ETO KC |
| Budućnost BEMAX | Vipers Kristiansand | CSM București | CSKA Moscow |
| Rostov-Don | RK Krim Mercator | IK Sävehof | Kastamonu Bld. GSK |
Wildcard rejection :
| DHK Baník Most | SG BBM Bietigheim | Storhamar Håndball Elite | CS Minaur Baia Mare |
* 1: As the German club did not play the play-off matches vs Metz in the previous season, a deposit of an amount of €140,000 in two instalments was requested from Dortmund to cover any financial damages or requests for refunds in case the club would not play certain matches or drop out of the competition again. In case no payments were requested neither from the club nor from the EHF in this relation the deposit was transferred back to the club. The receipt of the two instalments (the first by 13 and the second by 27 July) was a precondition to uphold the participation of the club in the DELO EHF Champions League 2021/22, otherwise, the substitute club (DHK Banik Most) would have replaced Borussia Dortmund.

## Group stage

The draw took place on 2 July 2021.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ESB | ROS | FER | BRE | BUC | DOR | BUD | POD |
| 1 | Team Esbjerg | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 412 | 346 | +66 | 23 | Quarterfinals | — | 25–18 | 33–27 | 28–28 | 22–21 | 34–24 | 35–20 | 30–17 |
| 2 | Rostov-Don | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 362 | 302 | +60 | 21 | Quarterfinals | 25–27 | — | 19–20 | 26–24 | 10–0 | 37–27 | 30–20 | 34–23 |
| 3 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 378 | 372 | +6 | 19 | Playoffs | 31–31 | 25–25 | — | 28–27 | 31–30 | 23–21 | 26–22 | 33–27 |
| 4 | Brest Bretagne Handball | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 392 | 365 | +27 | 17 | Playoffs | 26–23 | 18–29 | 30–25 | — | 24–21 | 31–25 | 25–21 | 35–22 |
| 5 | CSM București | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 365 | 342 | +23 | 15 | Playoffs | 29–29 | 27–30 | 27–21 | 29–30 | — | 33–29 | 30–22 | 29–21 |
| 6 | BV Borussia 09 Dortmund | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 391 | 399 | −8 | 9 | Playoffs | 29–32 | 25–31 | 25–25 | 30–27 | 22–25 | — | 30–34 | 38–14 |
| 7 | Budućnost BEMAX | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 337 | 407 | −70 | 6 | | 25–36 | 19–25 | 26–30 | 30–28 | 20–28 | 29–34 | — | 27–21 |
| 8 | HC Podravka Vegeta | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 334 | 438 | −104 | 2 | | 26–27 | 22–23 | 29–33 | 28–39 | 31–36 | 24–32 | 29–22 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | GYO | VIP | MET | MOS | ODE | KRI | SÄV | KAS |
| 1 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 471 | 354 | +117 | 26 | Quarterfinals | — | 35–29 | 39–30 | 32–22 | 27–26 | 40–27 | 41–19 | 37–20 |
| 2 | Vipers Kristiansand | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 435 | 370 | +65 | 20 | Quarterfinals | 30–29 | — | 25–31 | 24–27 | 31–27 | 37–20 | 34–25 | 39–25 |
| 3 | Metz Handball | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 413 | 375 | +38 | 19 | Playoffs | 29–33 | 23–18 | — | 24–32 | 38–31 | 27–27 | 35–21 | 33–25 |
| 4 | CSKA Moscow | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 375 | 372 | +3 | 16 | Playoffs | 23–27 | 28–32 | 27–26 | — | 21–28 | 21–21 | 29–28 | 34–27 |
| 5 | Odense Håndbold | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 405 | 386 | +19 | 15 | Playoffs | 26–31 | 27–32 | 21–27 | 27–27 | — | 26–24 | 37–24 | 37–29 |
| 6 | RK Krim Mercator | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 362 | 381 | −19 | 10 | Playoffs | 26–31 | 26–27 | 28–29 | 24–21 | 19–24 | — | 32–18 | 36–28 |
| 7 | IK Sävehof | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 351 | 461 | −110 | 6 | | 25–31 | 23–42 | 28–31 | 23–32 | 31–37 | 29–28 | — | 28–26 |
| 8 | Kastamonu Bld. GSK | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 349 | 462 | −113 | 0 | | 22–38 | 24–35 | 20–30 | 29–31 | 25–31 | 23–24 | 26–29 | — |

## Knockout stage
### Playoffs

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| RK Krim Mercator | 55–52 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 33–26 | 22–26 |
| BV Borussia 09 Dortmund | 41–62 | Metz Handball | 22–30 | 19–32 |
| Odense Håndbold | 51–53 | Brest Bretagne Handball | 25–24 | 26–29 |
| CSM București | 20–0 | CSKA Moscow | 10–0 | 10–0 |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| CSM București | 52–53 | Team Esbjerg | 25–26 | 27–27 |
| Brest Bretagne Handball | 44–56 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 21–21 | 23–35 |
| Metz Handball | 20–0 | Rostov-Don | 10–0 | 10–0 |
| RK Krim Mercator | 49–65 | Vipers Kristiansand | 25–32 | 24–33 |

### Final four

The final four will held at the MVM Dome in Budapest, Hungary on 4 and 5 June 2022.

#### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 4 June | 4 June |
| Győri Audi ETO KC | 32 |
| Győri Audi ETO KC | 32 | 5 June | 5 June |
| Team Esbjerg | 27 | 5 June | 5 June |
| Team Esbjerg | 27 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 31 |
| 4 June | 4 June | | Győri Audi ETO KC | 31 |
| 4 June | 4 June | Vipers Kristiansand | 33 |
| Metz Handball | 27 | Vipers Kristiansand | 33 |
| Vipers Kristiansand | 33 | | |
| Vipers Kristiansand | 33 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 5 June | 5 June |
| | | Team Esbjerg | 26 |
| | | Metz Handball | 32 |

#### Final

| 5 June 2022 18:00 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 31–33 | Vipers Kristiansand | MVM Dome, Budapest Attendance: 15,400 Referees: Merz, Kuttler (GER) |
| 5 June 2022 18:00 | Hansen 6 | (13–15) | Jeřábková 7 | MVM Dome, Budapest Attendance: 15,400 Referees: Merz, Kuttler (GER) |
| 5 June 2022 18:00 | 1× 1× | Report | 1× 2× | MVM Dome, Budapest Attendance: 15,400 Referees: Merz, Kuttler (GER) |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Cristina Neagu | CSM București | 110 |
| 2 | Nora Mørk | Vipers Kristiansand | 107 |
| 3 | Ana Gros | CSKA Moscow/ RK Krim Mercator | 104 |
| 3 | Henny Reistad | Team Esbjerg | 104 |
| 5 | Grâce Zaadi | Rostov-Don/ Metz Handball | 91 |
| 6 | Helene Gigstad Fauske | Brest Bretagne Handball | 87 |
| 6 | Jamina Roberts | IK Sävehof | 87 |
| 8 | Jovanka Radičević | Kastamonu Bld. GSK | 86 |
| 9 | Alina Grijseels | BV Borussia 09 Dortmund | 84 |
| 10 | Kristine Breistøl | Team Esbjerg | 83 |

## Awards

The all-star team was announced on 3 June 2022.
| Position | Player |
| Goalkeeper | Laura Glauser (Győri Audi ETO KC) |
| Right wing | Angela Malestein (FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria) |
| Right back | Nora Mørk (Vipers Kristiansand) |
| Centre back | Stine Bredal Oftedal (Győri Audi ETO KC) |
| Left back | Cristina Neagu (CSM Bucureşti) |
| Left wing | Sanna Solberg-Isaksen (Team Esbjerg) |
| Pivot | Linn Blohm (Győri Audi ETO KC) |
| Final four MVP | Markéta Jeřábková (Vipers Kristiansand) |
| Best defender | Kari Brattset Dale (Győri Audi ETO KC) |
| Best young player | Pauletta Foppa (Brest Bretagne Handball) |
| Best coach | Ambros Martín (Győri Audi ETO KC) |