First-ever national derby a possibility for EHF FINAL4 Women

0 teams arrive unbeaten at Budapest this year. Vipers were defeated twice, Györ and Esbjerg three times, and FTC lost seven matches on their way to the EHF FINAL4

0 draws occurred in the quarter-finals, but there were three home and five away victories

1 - for the first time ever since the implementation of the Women’s EHF FINAL4 in Budapest, two teams from the same country are part of it: Györ and FTC from Hungary

1 – for the first time, FTC qualified for the EHF FINAL4, which will take place next door to their home arena

1 team have won the EHF Champions League Women three times in a row: Györ, from 2017 until 2019. Vipers have the chance to do the same after winning the trophy in 2021 and 2022

1 goal was the closest overall margin in the quarter-finals: FTC beat Metz Handball 59:58 in aggregate

2 teams which qualified for the EHF FINAL4 made it through the play-offs (Esbjerg and FTC). Vipers and Györ directly qualified for the quarter-finals. Esbjerg won all four knock-out matches

2 former Champions League winners, representing seven trophies, are still part of the competition: Vipers (2021, 2022) and Györ (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019)

2 teams from Bucharest qualified for the quarter-finals, both failed to progress: CSM Bucuresti (against Esbjerg) and CS Rapid Bucuresti (against Vipers)

2 previous EHF FINAL4 participants were eliminated in the quarter-finals: 2016 winners CSM, and Metz

2 players – Jovanka Radicevic and Cristina Neagu – scored their 1,000th Champions League goals during the group phase

2 players still in the competition could win their seventh trophies: Katrine Lunde (Vipers) and Nora Mørk (Esbjerg). Last year, they tied the record for the largest number of titles in history for a single player with current WHC Buducnost BEMAX coach Bojana Popovic and Ausra Fridrikas

3 former or current female IHF World Players of the Year are part of the knock-out stage: Andrea Lekic (FTC/2013), Sandra Toft (2021) and Stine Oftedal (2019/both Györ)

3 teams won both quarter-final legs: Györ, Esbjerg and Vipers

3 of the four EHF FINAL4 participants were part of the event in 2022: Vipers, Györ and Esbjerg

3 quarter-final matches were attended by 5,000 or more fans: the home games of Györ, Rapid and CSM

4 countries and four clubs have been represented by the eight EHF FINAL4 winners so far: Hungary (four/Györ), Norway (two/Vipers), Montenegro (Buducnost) and Romania (CSM)

6 goals was the biggest deficit turned around by a team in the knockout phase since the introduction of the EHF FINAL4 format. FTC’s elimination of Metz with a seven-goal second-leg victory beat the five-goal margin turned around by CSKA against CSM in 2021

7 years – the length of time that Györ did not lose a Champions League home match, before the 24:28 defeat by Metz in September

7 matches of the 2022/23 season, but zero in the play-offs or the quarter-finals, ended with a margin of 20 or more goals

8 – Györ have qualified for the eighth time for the EHE FINAL4 in Budapest. They missed the event only once, in 2015. Vipers have their fourth straight appearance at Budapest, Esbjerg their second consecutive participation

8 of the 128 matches this season so far ended in draws

9 goals was the biggest margin in a single quarter-final match, twice: Györ vs Odense (37:28) and Vipers vs Rapid (40:31)

10 – 70 or more goals were scored in 10 matches this season, including one quarter-final

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

14 different clubs were or will be part of the EHF FINAL4 events: Györ (seven times including 2023), Vardar (five times), Buducnost (four), Vipers (four, including 2023), CSM (three), Esbjerg  (two, including 2023), Metz (two), Rostov-Don (two), FC Midtjylland, Volgograd, Larvik, CSKA, Brest and FTC (all once)

15 goals was the biggest overall margin in the quarter-finals: Vipers vs Rapid ended with an aggregate score of 71:56

16 times in 128 games – including one quarter-final (Vipers vs Rapid, 40:31) – a team scored 40 or more goals in a single game

25 goals was the biggest margin since the start of the group phase, when Metz beat HC Lokomotiva Zagreb 38:13

32 matches – three quarter-finals and play-offs and 26 group matches – were attended by 3,000 or more fans

41 goals in the group match between FTC and Brest Bretagne Handball (20:21) is the lowest score of the season

47 goals were scored by Bietigheim in the group match against DHK Banik Most (47:25) to level the all-time high score in this competition, when HC Vardar beat Krim Mercator Ljubljana 47:29 in 2015

51 times – five times in the quarter-finals, three times in the play-offs and 43 times in the group phase – the away team was the winner.

50 times – four times in the quarter-finals, once in the play-offs and 45 times in the group phase – the fans saw 60 and more goals

56 goals was the lowest score in the quarter-finals, when Vipers won 31:25 at Rapid and in Györ’s 29:27 away win at Odense

68 times – three times in the quarter-finals, four times in the play-offs and 61 times in the group phase – the home team was victorious

71 goals was the highest score in a single quarter-final match, when Vipers beat Rapid 40:31

130 goals (including nine in the quarter-finals) have been scored by Henny Reistad (Esbjerg) to be the current top scorer of the competition, ahead of Cristina Neagu (118/CSM) and Markéta Jerábková (107/Vipers)

204 victories in 270 matches lift Györ on top of the all-time Champions League table. The record winners also have 20 draws and 46 defeats on their tally. Györ became the first ever team with 200 wins in the competition in the 2022/23 season

300 – Krim and Buducnost became the first ever teams to play 300 Champions League matches in their club history in the 2022/23 season

489 goals were scored in the eight quarter-final matches, an average of 61.2 per match, compared to only 424 goals in the eight play-off matches

1,069 goals in 19 Champions League seasons were scored by Jovanka Radicevic (Krim) to be the all-time top scorer, ahead of Cristina Neagu (1,028). Both passed previous top scorer Anita Görbicz (Györ/1,016) in the 2022/23 season

7,701 goals were scored in the 128 matches since the start of the group phase, an average of 60.12 goals

19,000 fans is the spectator world record for women’s handball matches, at the final of the 2013 World Championship in Kombank Arena Belgrade, when hosts Serbia were defeated by Brazil. If the MVM Dome is sold-out for the EHF FINAL4 with 20,022 fans, it would set a new world record

29,564 fans attended the eight quarter-final matches, an average of 3,695 spectators

Biggest margins since the start of the group phase:

+25 goals: Metz Handball vs HC Lokomotiva Zagreb (38:13)
+24 goals: FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria vs DHK Banik Most (43:19)
+24 goals: Storhamar Handball Elite vs HC Lokomotiva Zagreb (37:13)
+23 goals: DHK Banik Most vs SG BB Bietigheim (23:46)
+22 goals: DHK Banik Most vs Vipers Kristiansand (21:43)
+22 goals: SG BBM Bietigheim vs DHK Banik Most (47:25)
+20 goals: SG BBM Bieitgheim vs FTC -Rail Cargo Hungaria (40:20)

Highest-scoring matches since the start of the group phase:

76 goals: DHK Banik Most vs Brest Bretagne Handball (30:46)
73 goals: DHK Banik Most vs FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (27:46)
73 goals: Krim Mercator Ljubljana vs DHK Banik Most (42:31)
72 goals: SG BBM Bietigheim vs DHK Banik Most (47:25)
71 goals: Vipers Kristiansand vs CS Rapid Bucuresti (40:31/QF)
71 goals: DHK Banik Most vs Krim Mercator Ljubljana (29:42)
71 goals: CSM Bucuresti vs Odense Håndbold (40:31)
70 goals: Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK vs Team Esbjerg (27:43)
70 goals: Team Esbjerg vs Kastamonu Belediyesi GSK (39:31)
70 goals: Metz Handball vs CS Rapid Bucuresti (36:34)

Lowest-scoring matches since the start of the group phase:

41 goals: FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria vs Brest Bretagne Handball (20:21)
43 goals: HC Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Györi Audi ETO KC (16:27)
43 goals: WHC Buducnost BEMAX vs HC Lokomotiva Zagreb (25:18)
45 goals: HC Lokomotiva Zagreb vs Metz Handball (18:27)
45 goals: Brest Bretagne Handball vs FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (24:21)
46 goals: Brest Bretagne Handball vs Odense Håndbold (21:25)
46 goals: Brest Bretagne Handball vs Krim Mercator Ljubljana (22:24)

(all matches from the group phase, except mentioned)

Top scorers:

130 goals: Henny Reistad (Team Esbjerg)
118 goals: Cristina Neagu (CSM Bucuresti)
107 goals: Markéta Jerábková (Vipers Kristiansand)
106 goals: Katrin Klujber (FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria)
92 goals: Jovanka Radicevic (Krim Mercator Ljubljana)

Top scorers still in competition:

130 goals: Henny Reistad (Team Esbjerg)
107 goals: Markéta Jerábková (Vipers Kristiansand)
106 goals: Katrin Klujber (FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria)
84 goals: Ana Gros (Györi Audi ETO KC)
83 goals: Angela Malestein (FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria)

Photos © Cédric Cedosa, Sabin Malisevschi, Aniko Kovacs, Terje Refsnes, Razvan Pasarica