Eight teams from eight nations and high-scoring Last 16
For the first time since the EHF Cup merged in the 2012/13 season, eight different nations are represented by the eight quarter-finalists in the second tier men’s club competition.
Only one German side survived the Last 16 — defending champions SC Magdeburg. They will face the only team in the European League Men quarter-finals that has been part of EHF FINAL4 before: HBC Nantes.
The Last 16 was a pure goal fest, with more than 900 goals in 16 matches, but the overall lowest scoring game of the season also took place in this stage. Here, we bring you the main facts and figures of the Last 16 and the quarter-finals.
0 goals was the difference in the pairing Kadetten versus Sävehof. Only the higher number of away goals confirmed Schaffhausen as quarter-finalists.
0 teams from the same country will face each other on the way to the EHF Finals on 28–29 May.
1 German team made it to the quarter-finals: defending champions Magdeburg. Berlin and Lemgo lost in the Last 16. Last season, three German clubs were among the last eight teams and even made it to the EHF Finals.
1 goal decided Magdeburg’s fate: Lukas Mertens scored the winning strike for 36:35 right before the final buzzer against Sporting.
1 team that previously contested the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne is still in contention for the European League Men 2021/22 title: HBC Nantes (EHF FINAL4 participants in 2018 and 2021).
1 former EHF Champions League winner is still part of the competition: Magdeburg, winners in 2002. Nantes were finalists in 2018.
2 teams won both legs of their Last 16 ties: GOG against Irun and Nexe against Pelister Eurofarm.
2 teams that were part of the EHF Finals 2021 in Mannheim are still part of the competition: defending champions Magdeburg and Plock.
2 times in the 16 Last 16 matches, more than 70 goals were scored.
2 coaches still in the competition are parallel national team coaches: Chema Rodriguez (Benfica/Hungary) and Javier Sabate (Plock/Czech Republic).
3 teams that were quarter-finalists in the 2020/21 season are back in this competition stage: defending champions Magdeburg, GOG and Plock.
3 players still in the competition were part of the EHF EURO 2022 All-Star Team, all from GOG: Danish right back Mathias Gidsel (currently injured), Viktor Hallgrímsson (Iceland/goalkeeper) and Oscar Bergendahl (Sweden/best defender). In addition, Magdeburg’s Icelander Omar Ingi Magnusson was top scorer, with 59 goals.
4 teams made it from the first qualification round to the quarter-finals: GOG, Schaffhausen, Benfica and Nexe.
4 goals were the biggest aggregate margin of the eight Last 16 pairings, which underlines how close the competition is.
4 of the eight teams still in the competition qualified for previous EHF Finals: Magdeburg, Nantes, Velenje and Plock. Magdeburg and Nantes were finalists and will now face each other in two direct duels.
7 goals were the biggest gap in a single Last 16 match, when Velenje beat Nimes 29:22 at home, ahead of three matches with a six-goal difference — twice in the pairing Schaffhausen versus Sävehof (32:26; 28:34) and once between Benfica and Toulouse (36:30).
8 countries — a number never seen since the competition was merged in the 2012/13 season — are represented by the eight quarter-final participants: Germany, Poland, Denmark, Slovenia, Switzerland, Portugal, France and Croatia, compared to six countries in 2020/21.
8 times in the 16 Last 16 matches, 60 or more goals were scored.
9 matches since the start of the group phase ended with 70 or more goals.
10 times in the 16 Last 16 matches, the home side was victorious. Two matches ended in a draw and four away victories occurred.
13 of the 134 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase ended in a draw.
15 was the lowest score of a team since the start of the group phase — Presov at 15:29 against Plock. The lowest score of a single team in the Last 16 was 21 goals, by Pelister Eurofarm against Nexe (21:22).
16 goals were the biggest gap since the start of the group phase, when GOG beat Cocks 46:30 in the group phase.
20 times in the old and merged format of the EHF Cup, German clubs won the trophy, including six from seven times in the new format with final tournaments (held in 2013–2019)
27 goals (13 in the first leg and 14 in the second leg) were scored by Benfica’s Serbian back Petar Djordjic, making him the top scorer of the Last 16 ahead of Mohammad Sanad (Nimes/21) and Jerry Tollbring (GOG/20).
43 goals represented the lowest score of the Last 16 matches — and even the lowest score since the start of the group phase. That tally came in Nexe’s 22:21 away win at Bitola.
45 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase were won by away teams.
46 was the highest score of a team in a single match since the start of the group phase, when GOG beat Cocks 46:30. The highest score in the Last 16 was 38 goals, scored by Toulouse against Benfica (38:34).
56 matches since the start of the group phase ended with 60 or more goals.
72 goals, in the match Toulouse versus Benfica (38:34), was the highest score of the Last 16, ahead of Magdeburg versus Sporting (71) and Benfica versus Toulouse (36:30).
76 of the 134 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase were won by home teams.
79 goals were scored by Jerry Tollbring (GOG) since the start of the group phase for him to be the top scorer still in the competition, ahead of Petar Djordjic (Benfica/77), Halil Jaganjac (Nexe/76) and Samuel Zehnder (Kadetten/72).
99 goals were scored by Mohamed Sanad (Nimes) since the start of the group phase, making him the current top scorer of the competition.
406 goals were scored by Benfica since the start of the group phase, making theirs the most efficient attack ahead of GOG (403).
950 goals were scored in the 16 Last 16 matches, which means an outstanding average of 59.38 goals per match.
7,906 goals were scored in the 134 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase.
Top lists:
Highest-scoring matches since the start of the group phase:
77 goals: GOG vs Benfica 39:38 (GP)
76 goals: GOG vs Cocks 46:30 (GP)
74 goals: Lemgo vs Nantes 37:37 (GP)
74 goals: Lemgo vs GOG 39:35 (GP)
74 goals: Sävehof vs La Rioja 43:31 (GP)
…
72 goals: Toulouse vs Benfica 38:34 (L16)
71 goals: Magdeburg vs Sporting 36:35 (L16)
Lowest-scoring matches since the start of the group phase:
43 goals: Pelister vs Nexe 21:22 (L16)
44 goals: Presov vs Plock 15:29 (GP)
46 goals: Tatabanya vs Pelister 25:21 (GP)
46 goals: Nimes vs Tatabanya 24:22 (GP)
47 goals: Pelister vs Nimes 21:26 (GP)
Biggest score lines since the start of the group phase:
+16 goals: GOG vs Cocks 46:30 (GP)
+14 goals: Tatabanya vs Sporting 23:37 (GP)
+14 goals: Presov vs Plock 15:29 (GP)
+14 goals: Winterthur vs Irun 23:37 (GP)
+14 goals: Toulouse vs Presov 34:20 (GP)
Top scorers still in competition:
79 goals: Jerry Tollbring (GOG)
77 goals: Petar Djordjic (Benfica)
76 goals: Halil Jaganjac (Nexe)
72 goals: Samuel Zehnder (Kadetten)
