# 2022–23 Women's EHF Champions League

The 2022–23 Women's EHF Champions League was the 30th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 10 September 2022 to 4 June 2023.
Vipers Kristiansand won their third title in a row by defeating FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria in the final.

## Format

The tournament was using the same format as the previous two 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 plays 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. For this tournament, it was the MVM Dome.

## Team allocation

17 teams applied for a place, with nine having a fixed place. The final list was released on 27 June 2022.
Storhamar HE and CS Rapid București will make their debut appearances in the Champions League group stage, while RK Lokomotiva, DHK Baník Most and SG BBM Bietigheim make their return.
| RK Lokomotiva Zagreb | DHK Baník Most | Odense Håndbold | Team Esbjerg |
| Brest Bretagne Handball | Metz Handball | SG BBM Bietigheim | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria |
| Győri Audi ETO KC | WHC Budućnost BEMAX | Vipers Kristiansand | Storhamar HE |
| CS Rapid București | CSM București | RK Krim Mercator | Kastamonu Bld. GSK |
Wildcard rejection :
* Borussia Dortmund

## Group stage

The draw took place on 1 July 2022.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VKR | BUC | ODE | FTC | KRI | BBR | BIE | MOS |
| 1 | Vipers Kristiansand | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 456 | 373 | +83 | 23 | Quarterfinals | — | 35–29 | 34–27 | 27–26 | 36–31 | 31–24 | 34–32 | 39–24 |
| 2 | CSM București | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 439 | 386 | +53 | 22 | Quarterfinals | 27–24 | — | 40–31 | 30–24 | 30–28 | 30–30 | 28–28 | 40–25 |
| 3 | Odense Håndbold | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 398 | 373 | +25 | 16 | Playoffs | 24–34 | 27–31 | — | 25–28 | 26–22 | 25–24 | 31–24 | 41–22 |
| 4 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 407 | 374 | +33 | 15 | Playoffs | 26–26 | 29–33 | 27–23 | — | 37–26 | 20–21 | 28–23 | 43–19 |
| 5 | RK Krim Mercator | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 399 | 405 | −6 | 12 | Playoffs | 21–27 | 28–26 | 23–29 | 30–32 | — | 24–22 | 35–28 | 42–31 |
| 6 | Brest Bretagne Handball | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 377 | 378 | −1 | 12 | Playoffs | 29–36 | 26–33 | 21–25 | 24–21 | 22–24 | — | 32–28 | 31–26 |
| 7 | SG BBM Bietigheim | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 432 | 388 | +44 | 12 | | 32–30 | 25–27 | 24–27 | 40–20 | 30–23 | 25–25 | — | 47–25 |
| 8 | DHK Baník Most | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 347 | 578 | −231 | 0 | | 21–43 | 26–35 | 19–37 | 27–46 | 29–42 | 30–46 | 23–46 | — |
* 1 2 3 Krim 6 Pts, +4 GD; Brest 3 Pts, 0 GD; Bietigheim 3 Pts, −4 GD

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MET | GYO | ESB | BUC | BUD | SHE | KAS | LOK |
| 1 | Metz Handball | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 429 | 352 | +77 | 25 | Quarterfinals | — | 29–28 | 26–24 | 36–34 | 29–23 | 31–22 | 35–24 | 38–13 |
| 2 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 444 | 347 | +97 | 22 | Quarterfinals | 24–28 | — | 29–28 | 32–30 | 32–19 | 39–26 | 44–25 | 32–16 |
| 3 | Team Esbjerg | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 455 | 367 | +88 | 20 | Playoffs | 35–28 | 29–31 | — | 35–30 | 30–20 | 35–25 | 39–31 | 33–20 |
| 4 | CS Rapid București | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 441 | 404 | +37 | 20 | Playoffs | 32–32 | 30–27 | 34–32 | — | 39–29 | 27–25 | 28–22 | 27–22 |
| 5 | WHC Budućnost BEMAX | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 346 | 366 | −20 | 13 | Playoffs | 28–36 | 22–25 | 23–28 | 30–30 | — | 24–23 | 10–0 | 25–18 |
| 6 | Storhamar Håndball Elite | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 377 | 406 | −29 | 8 | Playoffs | 24–26 | 21–35 | 25–34 | 29–36 | 25–27 | — | 31–29 | 37–13 |
| 7 | Kastamonu Bld. GSK | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 341 | 452 | −111 | 3 | | 23–28 | 27–39 | 27–43 | 26–33 | 27–40 | 28–33 | — | 26–23 |
| 8 | RK Lokomotiva Zagreb | 14 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 276 | 415 | −139 | 1 | | 18–27 | 16–27 | 18–30 | 27–31 | 24–25 | 22–31 | 26–26 | — |
* 1 2 Esbjerg 67–64 Rapid București

## Knockout stage
### Playoffs

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Storhamar Håndball Elite | 52–60 | Odense Håndbold | 22–30 | 30–30 |
| Brest Bretagne Handball | 49–55 | Team Esbjerg | 25–28 | 24–27 |
| WHC Budućnost BEMAX | 46–55 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 24–28 | 22–27 |
| RK Krim Mercator | 53–54 | CS Rapid București | 29–24 | 24–30 |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| CS Rapid București | 56–71 | Vipers Kristiansand | 25–31 | 31–40 |
| FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 59–58 | Metz Handball | 26–32 | 33–26 |
| Team Esbjerg | 65–59 | CSM București | 32–28 | 33–31 |
| Odense Håndbold | 55–66 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 27–29 | 28–37 |

### Final four

The final four will be held at the MVM Dome in Budapest, Hungary on 3 and 4 June 2023.

#### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 3 June | 3 June |
| Győri Audi ETO KC | 35 |
| Győri Audi ETO KC | 35 | 4 June | 4 June |
| Vipers Kristiansand | 37 | 4 June | 4 June |
| Vipers Kristiansand | 37 | Vipers Kristiansand | 28 |
| 3 June | 3 June | | Vipers Kristiansand | 28 |
| 3 June | 3 June | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 24 |
| FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 30 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 24 |
| Team Esbjerg | 29 | | |
| Team Esbjerg | 29 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 4 June | 4 June |
| | | Győri Audi ETO KC | 28 |
| | | Team Esbjerg | 27 |

#### Final

| 4 June 2023 18:00 | Vipers Kristiansand | 28–24 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | MVM Dome, Budapest Attendance: 20,022 Referees: Praštalo, Balvan (BIH) |
| 4 June 2023 18:00 | Næs Andersen, Vyakhireva 6 | (14–13) | Bölk, Lekić 5 | MVM Dome, Budapest Attendance: 20,022 Referees: Praštalo, Balvan (BIH) |
| 4 June 2023 18:00 | 1× 4× | Report | 1× 2× 1× | MVM Dome, Budapest Attendance: 20,022 Referees: Praštalo, Balvan (BIH) |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Henny Reistad | Team Esbjerg | 142 |
| 2 | Markéta Jeřábková | Vipers Kristiansand | 118 |
| 2 | Cristina Neagu | CSM București | 118 |
| 4 | Katrin Klujber | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 114 |
| 5 | Ana Gros | Győri Audi ETO KC | 99 |
| 6 | Emily Bölk | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 92 |
| 6 | Angela Malestein | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 92 |
| 6 | Jovanka Radičević | RK Krim Mercator | 92 |
| 9 | Anniken Obaidli | Storhamar Håndball Elite | 91 |
| 10 | Milena Raičević | WHC Buducnost BEMAX | 88 |