All you need to know about the DELO EHF Champions League draw
Europe’s premier club competition opens a new chapter after the EHF has teamed up with Infront and DAZN for the next decade and the DELO EHF Champions League gets a fresh look across several layers, including the format.
On Wednesday 1 July 18:00 CEST in Vienna, the 16 participants in the 28th season of the competition will learn their opponents when the draw divides the clubs into two groups of eight teams.
Breaking down the draw
From each of the four pots, two teams will be drawn into group A, while the other two will be placed in group B.
Country protection will be applied, therefore, the teams from France, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Romania and Russia will not meet their opponents from the national leagues.
The group phase will be played in a round-robin format and, after 14 rounds, the top two teams in each group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals. Teams ranked third, fourth, fifth and sixth will contest the play-offs, and the last two clubs in each group will be eliminated from the competition.
Step 1 = a team from Pot 1 will be drawn to one of the positions A1, A2, B1, B2 (four times)
Step 2 = a team from Pot 2 will be drawn to one of the positions A3, A4, B3, B4 (four times)
Step 3 = FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria from Pot 3 will be allocated a different group to Györi Audi ETO KC
Step 4 = CSKA from Pot 3 will be allocated a different group to Rostov-Don
Step 5 = Brest Bretagne Handball from Pot 3 will be allocated a different group to Metz Handball
Step 6 = CSM Bucuresti from Pot 3 will be allocated a different group to SCM Ramnicu Valcea
Step 7 = Odense Handbold from Pot 4 will be allocated a different group to Team Esbjerg
Step 8 = SG BBM Bietigheim from Pot 4 will be allocated a different group to BV 09 Borussia Dortmund
Step 9 = a team from Pot 4 will be drawn either to group A or group B (two times)
Follow the draw live
The group phase draw will be streamed on EHFTV, The Home of Handball YouTube channel and the EHF Champions League Facebook page. Additionally, live coverage will be available on the @ehfcl Twitter account and shortly after the draw, players will share their reactions with EHFTV commentator Chris O’Reilly live on the @ehfcl Instagram account.
