2014–15 EHF Cup

EHF Cup

2014–15
The Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin, venue of the Final four tournament
Tournament information
Sport	Handball
Dates	5 September 2014–17 May 2015
Teams	69 (qualification stage) 16 (group stage) 7 (knockout stage)
Final positions
Champions	Füchse Berlin (1st title)
Runner-up	HSV Hamburg
Tournament statistics
Matches played	58
MVP	Kentin Mahé
Top scorer(s)	Staš Skube (81 goals)
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

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.

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:^[1]

• 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)

All draws were held at the European Handball Federation headquarters in Vienna, Austria.^[2]

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.

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.^[3]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Achilles Bocholt	59–63	Železničar 1949	31–30	28–33
Bregenz	64–50a	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	47–67b	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	30–72c	OCI-Lions	18–28	12–44
HC Olimpus-85 USEFS	56–62d	Orosháza	28–34	28–28
Maccabi Tel Aviv	55–67e	Potaissa Turda	25–32	30–35
ÍBV	50–57f	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	25–30	25–27
Talent M.A.T. Plzeň	50–43g	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	63–55h	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

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).^[4] The first legs were played on 11–12 October and the second legs were played on 18–19 October 2014.^[3]

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	62–55a	OCI-Lions	34–29	28–26
KH BESA Famiglia	51–83b	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	49–50c	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	65–52d	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	36–28	29–24

Notes

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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

Füchse

HSV

Melsungen

Granollers

Skjern

Holstebro

Gorenje

Balatonfüred

St. Petersburg

Pfadi

Nexe

Constanța

Guif

Porto

Haslum

Vojvodina

class=notpageimage|

Location of teams of the 2014–15 EHF Cup group stage.
Red: Group A; Green: Group B; Blue: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

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.^[7]

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):^[8]

1. number of points in matches of all teams directly involved;
2. goal difference in matches of all teams directly involved;
3. higher number of plus goals in matches of all teams directly involved;
4. goal difference in all matches of the group;
5. 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.^[8]

On 1 December 2014, EHF announced the composition of the group phase seeding pots.^[7]

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

Pos	Team v t e	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			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	—

Pos	Team v t e	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	—

Pos	Team v t e	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			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	—

Pos	Team v t e	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			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	—

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

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.^[9] The draw of the EHF Cup quarter-finals took place on Tuesday 24 March 2015 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria.^[9] 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.^[9] However, teams from the same group could not face each other in the quarter-finals.^[9] The first pot contained the three group winners and the second pot contained the top three second-placed teams.^[9]

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.^[10] The first leg matches were played over 11–12 April, and the second leg matches were played over 18–19 April.^[9]

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

The tournament was played at the 8,700 capacity Max-Schmeling-Halle in the German capital Berlin, the home of Füchse Berlin.^[11]

	Semi-finals				Final
	16 May
	Gorenje	24
					17 May
	Füchse Berlin	27
					Füchse Berlin	30
	16 May
					HSV Hamburg	27
	Skjern Håndbold	23
	HSV Hamburg	27
					Third place
					17 May
					Gorenje	22
					Skjern Håndbold	27

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
	Daniel Petterson	Eskilstuna Guif
	Mathias Tholin	Eskilstuna Guif
10	Morten Balling	Skjern	48

• 2014–15 EHF Champions League
• 2014–15 EHF Challenge Cup

• EHF Cup (official website)