Groups set for next EHF European League Women phase
The 16 remaining clubs in the EHF European League Women 2024/25 found out their group phase opponents after the draw event in Vienna on Thursday. The participants were divided into four groups, as the journey towards the title will resume in January 2025.
Eight countries will be represented in the group phase of the EHF European League Women 2024/25. Germany leads with four participating teams, followed by Norway with three teams. Spain, Romania and France go into the fight for the title with two clubs each, while only one team will represent Denmark, Poland and Hungary.
H.C. Dunarea Braila and Thüringer HC will share the group once again, after they faced each other last season. The Romanian team made it all the way to the EHF Finals 2024, while the German side stopped in the quarter-finals of the competition. The two clubs will now be joined in group A by EHF European Cup 2023/24 champions ATTICGO BM ELCHE and former EHF Champions League winners Larvik.
The fight in group B will heat up, as Ikast Håndbold — the winners of the 2022/23 edition — will face Sola HK, BV Borussia Dortmund and SCM Ramnicu Valcea. The Norwegian side Sola has reached the quarter-finals of the competition three times in a row and will now fight to take one step further.
The only Hungarian team in the competition, Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC, will bring their rich experience in group C, where they will have to get past debutants HSG Blomberg-Lippe and JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball, as well as the Polish club KGHM MKS Zaglebie Lubin. The latter are back in the second-tier competition after making an appearance in the EHF Champions League last season.
HSG Bensheim/Auerbach Flames were directly qualified in this stage of the competition and will share group D with Paris 92, Fredrikstad Ballklubb and Super Amara Bera Bera. While the French club has previous experience in the EHF European League, the other two find themselves in the group stage for the first time and will have to put on a great fight in order to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
The country protection rule applied to the draw, so no teams from the same nation could end up in the same group.
The group phase consists of six rounds, which will be played between 11/12 January and 22/23 February 2025. The exact playing schedule and throw-off times will be announced shortly.
The top two teams from each group advance to the quarter-finals in March 2025.
Main photo © Kolektiff Images
