One debutant, father vs daughter, and an impressive top scorer

EHF / Björn Pazen

21 May 2025, 12:00

After 123 matches in the EHF Champions League Women 2024/25, the four participants in the season-ending EHF FINAL4 in Budapest were confirmed.

On 31 May, the only previous winners among the four semi-finalists, Györi Audi ETO KC, will play Team Esbjerg for a chance to retain their title. The second semi-final will see a clash between Metz Handball and debutants Odense Håndbold.

Here are the most important facts and figures of the EHF Champions League Women 2024/25.

0 Danish teams have won the EHF FINAL4 Women or even made it to the final since the format was introduced in 2014

1 goal was the closest overall margin of victory in the quarter-finals, in Odense’s 52:51 aggregate win against FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria. In 2023/24, Odense lost the closest of all the quarter-finals 58:60 to SG BBM Bietigheim (now HC Ludwigsburg)

1 — for the first time, a father and daughter duo have qualified for the EHF FINAL4 Women, but with different clubs. Tomas Axnér is Esbjerg’s head coach and his daughter Tyra plays for Metz. 10 years ago, the Akopian family was in Budapest for the same club: Olga as a player for Dinamo Volgograd, and her father Eduard as part of Dinamo’s coaching staff

1 team who had to go through the play-offs made it to Budapest: Odense. Györ and Metz skipped the play-offs as group winners, as did Esbjerg as runners-up

1 team is unbeaten since the start of the season: Metz Handball with 15 consecutive wins after an opening draw

1 quarter-final match ended in a draw: Odense vs FTC (27:27)

1 team — Esbjerg — turned a defeat in the first leg of the quarter-finals against CSM Bucuresti into a ticket to Budapest

1 — for the first time ever, two Danish teams have qualified for the EHF FINAL4 Women

1 past EHF Champions League champion — defending title holders Györ — qualified for the 11th edition of the EHF FINAL4 Women; they are record champions with six trophies, five of which (2014, 2017–2019, 2024) were won in Budapest

1 player has won the EHF Champions League Women seven times, and has a chance for an eighth trophy: 45-year-old goalkeeper Katrine Lunde, who took the title with Viborg (2009, 2010), Györ (2013, 2014) and Vipers Kristiansand (2021–2023). After Vipers went bankrupt earlier this season, she moved to Odense ahead of the play-offs

1 past EHF Champions League top scorer will be on court in Budapest: Henny Reistad (2023 with Esbjerg). Reistad also leads the current top scorer standings with 139 goals this season

1 past EHF Champions League winner — CSM (2016) — and three former finalists — FTC (2023), Ludwigsburg (2024) and Brest (2021) — were eliminated in the quarter-finals

20250425 CLW MOTW Feature Odense Erevik Main

2 — for two legends, the quarter-finals were their last European matches: all-time EHF Champions League top scorer Cristina Neagu (CSM) finished her career on 1,232 goals, including 11 in the quarter-finals and 101 for the season; Andrea Lekic (FTC), ranked third in the club of 1,000, ended her career on 1,073 goals. After Krim’s elimination in the play-offs, the second-highest scorer of all time in the EHF Champions League, Jovanka Radicevic (1,181 goals), also said farewell

2 teams won both legs of the quarter-finals: Metz and Györ

2 times since the start of the group phase, 70 or more goals in total were scored in a single match

2 — for the second time since its premiere in 2010, two teams from the same country have clinched their place for the EHF FINAL4 Women. The first time was in 2023, when Györ and FTC made it the (short) journey to Budapest. Nine times, four different nations were represented at the final tournament

2 teams have defended their trophy at the EHF FINAL4 in Budapest: Györ in 2018 and 2019, after winning in 2017, and Vipers in 2022 and 2023, following their first title in 2021. By winning the 2019 edition of the tournament, Györ were the first women’s side to win the EHF Champions League three times in a row, and then Vipers followed suit

2 of the four head coaches at the EHF FINAL4 have won the EHF Champions League: Per Johansson steered Györ to their 2024 trophy; Ole Gustav Gjekstad (Odense) won the title three consecutive times with Vipers (2021, 2022, 2023) and was assistant coach when Larvik took the title in 2011; Emmanuel Mayonnade will be at Budapest for the fourth time with Metz; while Tomas Axnér makes his debut at the Women‘s EHF FINAL 4

2 past or current female IHF World Players of the Year have made it to Budapest: Sandra Toft (Györ/2021) and Henny Reistad (Esbjerg/2023 and 2024)

3 countries have been represented twice among EHF Champions League Women winners since 1994: Norway by Larvik and Vipers, Hungary by Györ and Dunaferr, and Denmark by Slagelse and Viborg. The remaining countries to have celebrated the title victory have been represented by one winner each since 1994

3 teams that were part of the EHF FINAL4 2024 are back in Budapest: winners Györ, third-placed Team Esbjerg and fourth-placed Metz. The finalists from Bietigheim (now Ludwigsburg) were eliminated by Györ in the quarter-finals

4 quarter-final matches were attended by 4,000 or more fans — in Györ (4,955), Metz (4,935), Bucharest (4,300) and Brest (4,149)

4 — for the fourth time, Esbjerg (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and Metz (2019, 2022, 2024, 2025) have made it to Budapest. Neither have ever reached the final

4 countries and four clubs are represented by the 10 EHF FINAL4 Women winners so far: Hungary (six), Norway (three), Montenegro, and Romania

6 times in 123 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase, the two teams scored 45 or fewer goals

7 goals was the biggest margin in a single quarter-final match: Györ’s 29:22 win against Ludwigsburg

8 goals was the biggest overall margin of victory in the quarter-finals, when Györ beat Ludwigsburg 54:46 on aggregate

10 — for the 10th time, Györ have qualified for the EHF FINAL4; the only time they missed out was in 2015

10 of 123 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase ended in draws, including one in the quarter-finals

10 of the 123 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase ended with a margin of 10 or more goals: None in the quarter-finals, three in the play-offs

11 goals were scored by Esbjerg’s Henny Reistad in the first leg against CSM Bucuresti, making her the individual top scorer of a single quarter-final match

11 nations represent the previous winners of the EHF Champions League Women: Hungary (seven titles), Denmark (six), Austria (four), Norway (four), Slovenia (two), Montenegro (two), North Macedonia, Spain, Croatia, Russia and Romania (one title each)

20252302 Team Esbjerg Györi Audu ETO KC 25 Reistad

16 different clubs have been part of the 11 EHF FINAL4 events including 2025: Györ (10 times), Vardar (five times), Metz (four), Esbjerg (four), Buducnost (four), Kristiansand (four), CSM (three), Rostov-Don (two), Midtjylland, Volgograd, Larvik, CSKA, Brest, FTC and Bietigheim, Odense (all once each)

16 goals is the biggest margin of victory since the start of the group phase, when Odense won 40:24 at Ludwigsburg, ahead of four matches with a 13-goal margin

17 times (including 2024/25) Györ have made it to at least the semi-finals

17 goals were scored over both legs by Henny Reistad (Esbjerg), making her the top scorer of the quarter-finals ahead of Crina Pintea (CSM/16)

34 times in the 123 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase, the fans saw 60 and more goals, including in one quarter-final

37 matches since the start of the group phase were attended by 3,000 or more fans, including four in the quarter-finals

42 goals in the match Buducnost vs Rapid (21:21) is the lowest score since the start of the group phase, ahead of 43 goals in the match between Metz and FTC (24:19), and three matches with 44 goals each

42 goals were scored by Odense against Rapid — the highest number of goals scored by a single team. The all-time record is 47 goals (Bietigheim vs Most, 47:25 in 2022; and Vardar vs Krim, 47:29 in 2015)

45 times in 123 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase, the away team were the winners, including in three of the quarter-finals

48 goals was the lowest score in a single quarter-final match, when Esbjerg beat CSM 26:22

65 goals was the highest score of a single quarter-final match, when Metz beat Brest 33:32

67 times in the 123 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase, the home team were victorious, including four quarter-finals

74 goals in the Brest vs Odense (36:38) match was the highest score since the start of the group phase, ahead of 71 goals in Esbjerg vs Rapid (39:32)

78 goals have been scored by Henny Reistad in 10 matches across five EHF FINAL4 appearances, making her the overall top scorer of the final tournament

139 goals have been scored by Henny Reistad in only 16 matches in this EHF Champions League season. Reistad is only 11 goals shy of the all-time season record in the competition, held by Natalia Morskova, who scored 150 goals in the 1996/97 season for eventual winners Mar Valencia. The second top scorer of the current season is CSM’s Elizabeth Omoregie, who netted 109 times — eight more than her teammate Cristina Neagu. The next player still in the competition is Metz’s Sarah Bouktit with 96 goals

233 victories, including both quarter-finals in 306 Champions League matches mean Györ are number one in the all-time ranking of the competition. They have also recorded 22 draws and 51 defeats

430 goals were scored in the eight quarter-final matches (two more than in the previous season), at an average of 53.75

5,005 spectators is the highest attendance of the season so far, at the group match between Metz and CSM

6,918 goals were scored in the 123 matches decided on court since the start of the group phase (an average of 56.24 per match) — 6,065 of them in the group phase, 423 in the play-offs and 430 in the quarter-finals

9,084 fans in total saw the two quarter-final matches between Metz and Brest