# 2020–21 Women's EHF Champions League

The 2020–21 Women's EHF Champions League was the 28th edition of Europe's premier club handball tournament, running from 12 September 2020 to 30 May 2021.
There was no defending champion, after the season before was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vipers Kristiansand defeated Brest Bretagne Handball to win their first title.
Because of this 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, originally the top two teams would have qualified for the quarterfinals, with teams ranked third to sixth entering the playoffs. After a decision by the EHF, all teams advanced.
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 10 June 2020. The final list of 16 participants was revealed by the EHF Executive Committee on 19 June.
| Podravka Vegeta | Team Esbjerg | Odense Håndbold | Metz Handball |
| Brest Bretagne Handball | Borussia Dortmund | SG BBM Bietigheim | Győri Audi ETO KC |
| FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | ŽRK Budućnost | Vipers Kristiansand | SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea |
| CSM Bucureşti | Rostov-Don | CSKA Moscow | Krim Mercator |
Wildcard rejection :
| DHK Baník Most | ŽRK Kumanovo | Storhamar Håndball Elite | H 65 Höör |
| Kastamonu Bld. GSK | | | |

## Group stage

The draw was held on 1 July 2020 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The 16 teams were drawn into two groups of eight, with the restriction that teams from the same national association could not be drawn into the same group.
In each group, teams play against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches. After completion of the group stage matches, the top two teams from each group would have qualified directly for the quarterfinals, and the four teams ranked 3rd–6th advance to the playoffs, but on 10 February 2021, it was announced that all 16 teams advance from the group stage.
* Tiebreakers
* In the group stage, teams are 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 will be 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 (or in the away match in case of a two-team tie);
* Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
* Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
* If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by EHF through drawing of lots.
* During the group stage, only criteria 4–5 apply to determine the provisional ranking of teams.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | ROS | MET | BUC | FER | VIP | ESB | KRI | BIE |
| 1 | Rostov-Don | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 331 | 308 | +23 | 21 | — | 30–26 | 0–10 | 26–24 | 10–0 | 28–24 | 23–23 | 27–21 |
| 2 | Metz Handball | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 389 | 354 | +35 | 20 | 27–26 | — | 25–22 | 30–29 | 28–29 | 31–29 | 33–27 | 36–27 |
| 3 | CSM Bucureşti | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 331 | 309 | +22 | 17 | 22–27 | 31–26 | — | 25–19 | 22–29 | 28–26 | 22–22 | 10–0 |
| 4 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 386 | 378 | +8 | 16 | 25–26 | 32–30 | 31–27 | — | 30–28 | 24–28 | 32–25 | 24–35 |
| 5 | Vipers Kristiansand | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 327 | 320 | +7 | 16 | 23–24 | 0–10 | 30–25 | 26–31 | — | 28–28 | 37–30 | 10–0 |
| 6 | Team Esbjerg | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 374 | 351 | +23 | 12 | 24–25 | 25–28 | 29–30 | 21–24 | 27–27 | — | 33–23 | 37–29 |
| 7 | RK Krim Mercator | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 325 | 375 | −50 | 7 | 28–27 | 22–26 | 23–25 | 26–32 | 26–27 | 0–10 | — | 28–26 |
| 8 | SG BBM Bietigheim | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 318 | 386 | −68 | 3 | 31–32 | 25–33 | 22–32 | 25–29 | 29–33 | 26–33 | 22–22 | — |
* 1 2 FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria 61–54 Vipers Kristiansand

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | GYO | MOS | BRE | ODE | BUD | VAL | DOR | KOP |
| 1 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 457 | 353 | +104 | 24 | — | 31–24 | 27–27 | 32–25 | 34–29 | 38–31 | 38–25 | 43–28 |
| 2 | CSKA Moscow | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 404 | 350 | +54 | 23 | 27–27 | — | 25–24 | 27–23 | 27–23 | 30–20 | 35–28 | 30–26 |
| 3 | Brest Bretagne Handball | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 384 | 349 | +35 | 17 | 25–25 | 28–30 | — | 32–21 | 28–28 | 28–21 | 33–33 | 32–25 |
| 4 | Odense Håndbold | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 384 | 370 | +14 | 13 | 32–32 | 26–25 | 24–31 | — | 30–21 | 25–26 | 32–27 | 35–20 |
| 5 | Budućnost | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 363 | 377 | −14 | 12 | 21–26 | 22–25 | 22–22 | 27–24 | — | 29–28 | 31–27 | 33–26 |
| 6 | SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 263 | 319 | −56 | 10 | 20–37 | 24–34 | 10–0 | 21–30 | 25–23 | — | 0–10 | 0–10 |
| 7 | Borussia Dortmund | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 347 | 391 | −44 | 9 | 24–34 | 28–29 | 29–41 | 32–24 | 26–28 | 0–10 | — | 32–31 |
| 8 | HC Podravka Vegeta | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 326 | 419 | −93 | 4 | 15–33 | 20–26 | 29–33 | 17–33 | 29–26 | 25–27 | 25–26 | — |
Note All matches ending with a 10–0 results were assessed by the EHF.

## Knockout stage

Originally, the top six teams advanced but on 10 February 2021, after a decision by the EHF Executive Committee, it was announced that all 16 teams advance from the group stage.

### Round of 16

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea | 51–54 | CSM Bucureşti | 24–33 | 27–21 |
| Team Esbjerg | 54–63 | Brest Bretagne Handball | 27–33 | 27–30 |
| ŽRK Budućnost | 50–48 | FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria | 22–19 | 28–29 |
| Vipers Kristiansand | 65–62 | Odense Håndbold | 35–36 | 30–26 |
| Podravka Vegeta | 44–71 | Rostov-Don | 20–29 | 24–42 |
| SG BBM Bietigheim | 48–69 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 20–37 | 28–32 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 0–20 | Metz Handball | 0–10 | 0–10 |
| Krim Mercator | 46–47 | CSKA Moscow | 25–20 | 21–27 |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| CSM București | 51–51 (a) | CSKA Moscow | 32–27 | 19–24 |
| Brest Bretagne Handball | 60–50 | Metz Handball | 34–24 | 26–26 |
| ŽRK Budućnost | 40–54 | Győri Audi ETO KC | 19–30 | 21–24 |
| Vipers Kristiansand | 57–50 | Rostov-Don | 34–27 | 23–23 |

### Final four

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 29 May | 29 May |
| Győri Audi ETO KC | 23 (2) |
| Győri Audi ETO KC | 23 (2) | 30 May | 30 May |
| Brest Bretagne Handball (Pen) | 23 (4) | 30 May | 30 May |
| Brest Bretagne Handball (Pen) | 23 (4) | Brest Bretagne Handball | 28 |
| 29 May | 29 May | | Brest Bretagne Handball | 28 |
| 29 May | 29 May | Vipers Kristiansand | 34 |
| Vipers Kristiansand | 33 | Vipers Kristiansand | 34 |
| CSKA Moscow | 30 | | |
| CSKA Moscow | 30 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 30 May | 30 May |
| | | Győri Audi ETO KC | 32 |
| | | CSKA Moscow | 21 |

#### Final

| 30 May 2021 18:00 | Brest Bretagne Handball | 28–34 | Vipers Kristiansand | László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest Attendance: 2,300 Referees: Năstase, Stancu (ROU) |
| 30 May 2021 18:00 | Gros 8 | (14–18) | Reistad 12 | László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest Attendance: 2,300 Referees: Năstase, Stancu (ROU) |
| 30 May 2021 18:00 | 1× 2× | Report | 3× 6× | László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest Attendance: 2,300 Referees: Năstase, Stancu (ROU) |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Ana Gros | Brest Bretagne Handball | 135 |
| 2 | Cristina Neagu | CSM Bucureşti | 115 |
| 3 | Veronica Kristiansen | Győri Audi ETO KC | 97 |
| 4 | Jovanka Radičević | ŽRK Budućnost | 94 |
| 5 | Dejana Milosavljević | RK Podravka Koprivnica | 88 |
| 5 | Henny Reistad | Vipers Kristiansand | 88 |
| 7 | Stine Bredal Oftedal | Győri Audi ETO KC | 87 |
| 8 | Lois Abbingh | Odense Håndbold | 84 |
| 8 | Estelle Nze Minko | Győri Audi ETO KC | 84 |
| 10 | Mette Tranborg | Team Esbjerg | 77 |

## Awards

The all-star team was announced on 28 May 2021.
| Position | Player |
| Goalkeeper | Amandine Leynaud (Győri Audi ETO KC) |
| Right wing | Viktória Lukács (Győri Audi ETO KC) |
| Right back | Nora Mørk (Vipers Kristiansand) |
| Centre back | Stine Bredal Oftedal (Győri Audi ETO KC) |
| Left back | Cristina Neagu (CSM Bucureşti) |
| Left wing | Majda Mehmedović (ŽRK Budućnost) |
| Pivot | Pauletta Foppa (Brest Bretagne Handball) |
| Final four MVP | Henny Reistad (Vipers Kristiansand) |
| Best defender | Eduarda Amorim (Győri Audi ETO KC) |
| Best young player | Henny Reistad (Vipers Kristiansand) |
| Best coach | Ole Gustav Gjekstad (Vipers Kristiansand) |