# 2021–22 EHF Champions League

The 2021–22 EHF Champions League was the 62nd edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament and the 29th edition under the current EHF Champions League format, running from 15 September 2021 to 19 June 2022. Barça won the competition, defeating Łomza Vive Kielce on penalties in the final.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, each local health department allowed a different number of spectators.

## 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 playoffs, quarterfinals, 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. 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.

## Teams

The final list of 16 participants was revealed by the EHF Executive Committee in June 2021. Ten teams were registered according to fixed places, while six were granted wild cards. On 29 June, the final list was revealed. Although, in the final list announcement, the EHF said that if RK Vardar did not pay a fine for failing to play Champions League games in the previous season, they would be disqualified and replaced with RK Gorenje Velenje, who was the standby team. However, this never materialised.
Participating teams :
| THW Kiel (1st) | Paris Saint-Germain (1st) | Barça (1st) | Pick Szeged (1st) |
| RK Vardar (1st) | Łomża Vive Kielce (1st) | Aalborg Håndbold (1st) | FC Porto (1st) |
| PPD Zagreb (1st) | SG Flensburg-Handewitt (2nd) | Meshkov Brest (WC) | Montpellier Handball (WC) |
| Telekom Veszprém (WC) | Elverum Håndball (WC) | Dinamo București (WC) | Motor (WC) |
Wildcard rejection :
| IK Sävehof | GOG Håndbold | Orlen Wisła Płock | Sporting CP |
| RK Gorenje Velenje | Kadetten Schaffhausen | | |

## Group stage

The draw took place on 2 July 2021.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AAL | KIE | SZE | MON | VAR | ELV | ZAG | BRE |
| 1 | Aalborg Håndbold | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 453 | 410 | +43 | 22 | Quarterfinals | — | 35–33 | 34–30 | 36–28 | 33–29 | 32–27 | 31–25 | 34–33 |
| 2 | THW Kiel | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 427 | 395 | +32 | 21 | Quarterfinals | 31–27 | — | 32–32 | 35–26 | 32–30 | 41–36 | 36–28 | 10–0 |
| 3 | Pick Szeged | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 412 | 392 | +20 | 19 | Playoffs | 31–28 | 30–26 | — | 29–29 | 34–31 | 30–34 | 30–21 | 28–26 |
| 4 | Montpellier Handball | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 424 | 409 | +15 | 17 | Playoffs | 31–33 | 37–30 | 29–29 | — | 25–28 | 39–32 | 24–23 | 32–26 |
| 5 | RK Vardar | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 379 | 368 | +11 | 13 | Playoffs | 30–28 | 26–29 | 27–30 | 25–31 | — | 39–30 | 20–19 | 35–27 |
| 6 | Elverum Håndball | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 417 | 449 | −32 | 8 | Playoffs | 28–34 | 30–31 | 24–27 | 30–37 | 27–27 | — | 30–25 | 32–33 |
| 7 | PPD Zagreb | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 351 | 385 | −34 | 8 | | 24–34 | 27–28 | 26–24 | 22–25 | 23–22 | 27–27 | — | 31–24 |
| 8 | Meshkov Brest | 14 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 342 | 397 | −55 | 4 | | 30–33 | 30–33 | 25–28 | 31–31 | 0–10 | 27–30 | 30–30 | — |
* 1 2 Elverum 57–52 Zagreb

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KIE | BAR | PAR | VES | POR | FLE | BUC | MOT |
| 1 | Łomża Vive Kielce | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 449 | 415 | +34 | 20 | Quarterfinals | — | 29–27 | 38–33 | 32–29 | 39–33 | 37–29 | 34–29 | 33–27 |
| 2 | Barça | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 420 | 369 | +51 | 20 | Quarterfinals | 30–32 | — | 30–27 | 35–30 | 38–31 | 29–22 | 36–32 | 36–25 |
| 3 | Paris Saint-Germain | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 452 | 396 | +56 | 18 | Playoffs | 32–27 | 28–28 | — | 39–40 | 33–19 | 33–30 | 41–30 | 40–32 |
| 4 | Telekom Veszprém | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 449 | 423 | +26 | 17 | Playoffs | 35–33 | 29–28 | 34–31 | — | 28–28 | 28–23 | 47–32 | 36–29 |
| 5 | FC Porto | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 375 | 408 | −33 | 11 | Playoffs | 29–27 | 33–33 | 30–39 | 23–30 | — | 28–27 | 31–32 | 10–0 |
| 6 | SG Flensburg-Handewitt | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 381 | 401 | −20 | 10 | Playoffs | 25–33 | 21–25 | 27–27 | 30–27 | 26–26 | — | 37–30 | 34–27 |
| 7 | Dinamo București | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 415 | 470 | −55 | 8 | | 32–29 | 30–35 | 31–39 | 31–29 | 26–27 | 20–28 | — | 33–29 |
| 8 | Motor | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 312 | 371 | −59 | 8 | | 25–26 | 0–10 | 0–10 | 29–27 | 30–27 | 31–22 | 28–27 | — |
* 1 2 Kielce 61–57 Barça
* 1 2 Dinamo 60–57 Motor

## Knockout stage
### Playoffs

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| SG Flensburg-Handewitt | 60–57 | Pick Szeged | 25–21 | 35–36 |
| Elverum Håndball | 60–67 | Paris Saint-Germain | 30–30 | 30–37 |
| FC Porto | 56–64 | Montpellier Handball | 29–29 | 27–35 |
| RK Vardar | 53–61 | Telekom Veszprém | 22–30 | 31–31 |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Telekom Veszprém | 71–66 | Aalborg Håndbold | 36–29 | 35–37 |
| Montpellier Handball | 50–61 | Łomża Vive Kielce | 28–31 | 22–30 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 62–63 | THW Kiel | 30–30 | 32–33 |
| SG Flensburg-Handewitt | 53–60 | Barça | 29–33 | 24–27 |

### Final four

The final four was held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany on 18 and 19 June 2022.

#### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 18 June | 18 June |
| THW Kiel | 30 |
| THW Kiel | 30 | 19 June | 19 June |
| Barça | 34 | 19 June | 19 June |
| Barça | 34 | Barça (Pen.) | 32 (5) |
| 18 June | 18 June | | Barça (Pen.) | 32 (5) |
| 18 June | 18 June | Łomża Vive Kielce | 32 (3) |
| Telekom Veszprém | 35 | Łomża Vive Kielce | 32 (3) |
| Łomża Vive Kielce | 37 | | |
| Łomża Vive Kielce | 37 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 19 June | 19 June |
| | | THW Kiel (Pen.) | 34 (3) |
| | | Telekom Veszprém | 34 (1) |

#### Final

| 19 June 2022 18:00 | Barça | 37–35 (ET) | Łomża Vive Kielce | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,250 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO) |
| 19 June 2022 18:00 | Gómez 10 | (14–13) | Moryto 6 | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,250 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO) |
| 19 June 2022 18:00 | 3× | Report | 4× | Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,250 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO) |
| Lanxess Arena, Cologne Attendance: 19,250 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO) |||

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Aleix Gómez | Barça | 104 |
| 2 | Dika Mem | Barça | 100 |
| 3 | Petar Nenadić | Telekom Veszprém | 93 |
| 4 | Felix Claar | Aalborg Håndbold | 88 |
| 4 | Gašper Marguč | Telekom Veszprém | 88 |
| 6 | Kamil Syprzak | Paris Saint-Germain | 86 |
| 7 | Yahia Omar | Telekom Veszprém | 83 |
| 8 | Tobias Grøndahl | Elverum Håndball | 81 |
| 8 | Hampus Wanne | SG Flensburg-Handewitt | 81 |
| 10 | Arkadiusz Moryto | Łomża Vive Kielce | 79 |

## Awards

| Position | Player |
| Goalkeeper | Niklas Landin Jacobsen (THW Kiel) |
| Right wing | Aleix Gómez (Barça) |
| Right back | Dika Mem (Barça) |
| Centre back | Kentin Mahé (Telekom Veszprém) |
| Left back | Petar Nenadić (Telekom Veszprém) |
| Left wing | Hampus Wanne (SG Flensburg-Handewitt) |
| Pivot | Kamil Syprzak (Paris Saint-Germain) |
| Final four MVP | Artsem Karalek (Łomża Vive Kielce) |
| Best defender | Hendrik Pekeler (THW Kiel) |
| Best young player | Tobias Grøndahl (Elverum Håndball) |
| Best coach | Talant Dujshebaev (Łomża Vive Kielce) |
* Landin
* Wanne
* Syprzak
* Gómez
* Nenadić
* Mahé
* Mem
* Best Defender : Hendrik Pekeler
* Best Coach: Talant Dujshebaev