All you need to know about the group phase draw

The 24 participants in the inaugural season of the EHF European League Men will learn their opponents in the group phase when the draw divides the clubs into four groups of six teams on Friday 1 October 11:00 CEST in Vienna.

The list of teams for the group phase was completed just two days before the draw as HC CSKA joined another 11 sides who also successfully advanced from the last qualification round. Another dozen of clubs were directly seeded for the group phase which will start on 20 October 2020.

EHF European League Men
Group phase draw pots:

Pot 1
Abanca Ademar Leon (ESP)
USAM Nimes Gard (FRA)
SC Magdeburg (GER)
Grundfos Tatabanya KC (HUN)

Pot 2
Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
C.S. Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU)
Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI)
Alingsas HK (SWE)

Pot 3
HC Eurofarm Pelister (MKD)
Chekhovskie medvedi (RUS)
TATRAN Presov (SVK)
Besiktas Aygaz (TUR)

Pot 4
Fenix Toulouse Handball (FRA)
Montpellier HB(FRA)
Füchse Berlin (GER)
Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER)

Pot 5
Fivers (AUT)
RK Nexe (CRO)
GOG (DEN)
Sporting CP (POR)

Pot 6
HC Metalurg (MKD)
RK Trimo Trebnje (SLO)
IFK Kristianstad (SWE)
HC CSKA (RUS)

Breaking down the draw

From each of the six pots, one team will be drawn into each group.
Country protection will be applied, therefore, the teams from France, Germany, Russia, North Macedonia and Sweden will not meet their opponents from the national leagues.

The group phase will be played in a round-robin format and, after 10 rounds, the top four teams in each group will qualify for the Last 16 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, B1, C1, D1 (four times)
Step 2 = a team from Pot 2 will be drawn to one of the positions A2, B2, C2, D2 (four times)
Step 3 = a team from Pot 3 will be drawn to one of the positions A3, B3, C3, D3 (four times)
Step 4 = one of the two German teams from Pot 4 will be drawn into a group with USAM Nimes Gard
Step 5 = one of the two French teams from Pot 4 will be drawn into a group with SC Magdeburg
Step 6 = remaining two teams in Pot 4 will be drawn to the two vacant fourth positions
Step 7 = a team from Pot 5 will be drawn to one of the positions A5, B5, C5, D5 (four times)
Step 8 = IFK Kristianstad from Pot 6 will be drawn to a sixth position so they avoid a group with Alingsas HK
Step 9 = HC Metalurg from Pot 6 will be drawn to a sixth position so they avoid a group with HC Eurofarm Pelister
Step 10 = HC CSKA from Pot 6 will be drawn or allocated to a sixth position so they avoid a group with Chekhovskie medvedi
Step 11 = RK Trimo Trebnje from Pot 6 will be drawn or allocated to the last vacant sixth position

Follow the draw live

The group phase draw will be streamed on EHFTV, The Home of Handball YouTube channel and the EHF European League Facebook page. Additionally, live coverage will be available on the @ehfel_official Twitter account.