2022–23 EHF Champions League

The tournament will run using the same format as the previous two seasons. The competition begins with a group stage featuring sixteen teams divided into two groups. Matches are played in a double round-robin system with home-and-away fixtures, fourteen in total for each team. In Groups A and B, the top two teams automatically qualify for the quarter-finals, with teams ranked 3rd to 6th entering the playoff round.

The knockout stage includes four rounds: the playoffs, quarter-finals, and a final-four tournament comprising two semifinals and the final. In the playoffs, eight teams are paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches (third-placed in group A plays sixth-placed group B; fourth-placed group A plays fifth-placed group B, etc.). The four aggregate winners of the playoffs advance to the quarterfinals, joining the top-two teams of Groups A and B. The eight quarterfinalist teams are paired against each other in two-legged home-and-away matches, with the four aggregate winners qualifying to the final-four tournament.

In the final four tournament, the semifinals and the final are played as single matches at a pre-selected host venue. For this tournament, it will be the Lanxess Arena.

There are ten guaranteed places, with the six additional spots being awarded as wildcards by the EHF. The league winners of Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, Denmark, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal and Romania will qualify for the group stage automatically.[1][2] 22 teams applied for a place.[3] Teams which have qualified for the 2022–23 EHF European League will have the opportunity to apply for an upgrade to the EHF Champions League. The final list was announced in June 2022.[4]

Participating teams

SC Magdeburg (1st)	Barça (1st)	Paris Saint-Germain (1st)	OTP Bank - Pick Szeged (1st)
GOG Håndbold (1st)	Barlinek Industria Kielce (1st)	FC Porto (1st)	Dinamo București (1st)
THW Kiel (2nd)	HBC Nantes (WC)	Telekom Veszprém (WC)	Aalborg Håndbold (WC)
Orlen Wisła Płock (WC)	PPD Zagreb (WC)	Celje Pivovarna Laško (WC)	Elverum Håndball (WC)

• RK Vardar, who were originally to qualify as winners of the 2021–22 Macedonian Handball Super League, were removed from EHF competitions for this season due to financial issues.[5]

Wildcard rejection

BM Granollers	Sporting CP	CS Minaur Baia Mare	Kadetten Schaffhausen
Ystads IF	HC Motor Zaporizhzhia

Zagreb

GOG

Aalborg

PSG

Nantes

Magdeburg

Kiel

Szeged

Veszprém

Porto

Kielce

Płock

Elverum

Dinamo

Celje

Barcelona

Location of teams of the 2022–23 EHF Champions League group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B.

The draw for the group stage was held on 1 July 2022.[4][6] The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. From each pot, two teams were drawn into Group A and the other two in Group B. Teams from the same national association will not drawn into the same group.[7]

A total of 11 national associations were represented in the group stage.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PAR	MAG	VES	GOG	BUC	PLO	ZAG	POR
1	Paris Saint-Germain	14	12	0	2	492	439	+53	24	Quarterfinals		—	33–37	37–35	41–36	33–26	37–33	40–31	32–30
2	SC Magdeburg	14	9	2	3	453	419	+34	20			22–29	—	32–25	36–34	34–33	33–27	35–25	41–36
3	Telekom Veszprém	14	8	2	4	449	429	+20	18	Playoffs		36–35	35–35	—	36–37	33–30	32–22	32–28	32–30
4	GOG Håndbold	14	7	1	6	459	454	+5	15			30–35	33–32	30–31	—	38–38	31–24	33–29	34–33
5	Dinamo București	14	5	3	6	416	429	−13	13			29–36	28–30	31–31	30–27	—	32–27	27–27	32–27
6	Orlen Wisła Płock	14	4	1	9	374	412	−38	9			26–32	25–24	26–30	31–27	26–28	—	26–30	27–23
7	PPD Zagreb	14	3	2	9	390	420	−30	8			30–33	25–31	29–26	27–31	28–29	26–26	—	29–23
8	FC Porto	14	2	1	11	407	438	−31	5			33–35	31–31	28–35	26–33	32–23	27–28	28–26	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BAR	KIE	NAN	THW	AAL	SZE	CEL	ELV
1	Barça	14	13	1	0	484	404	+80	27	Quarterfinals		—	32–28	34–29	26–24	32–26	35–25	38–30	40–30
2	Barlinek Industria Kielce	14	11	0	3	465	427	+38	22			31–32	—	40–33	40–37	33–28	37–30	36–28	37–33
3	HBC Nantes	14	7	1	6	478	451	+27	15[lower-alpha 1]	Playoffs		33–37	30–33	—	38–30	35–28	35–30	31–32	41–30
4	THW Kiel	14	6	3	5	460	440	+20	15[lower-alpha 1]			30–30	32–29	37–33	—	36–36	34–29	39–27	36–26
5	Aalborg Håndbold	14	6	1	7	445	438	+7	13			33–39	28–30	33–34	26–30	—	33–27	36–32	31–24
6	OTP Bank - Pick Szeged	14	5	1	8	426	452	−26	11			28–35	28–31	28–28	36–33	29–41	—	36–27	30–23
7	Celje Pivovarna Laško	14	3	0	11	412	475	−63	6			27–28	30–33	24–35	38–36	31–34	28–36	—	29–26
8	Elverum Håndball	14	1	1	12	398	481	−83	3			30–46	26–27	36–42	26–26	25–33	32–34	31–29	—

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:

1. Nantes 71–67 Kiel

As of 11 May 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[8]
1	Emil Wernsdorf Madsen	GOG Håndbold	101
2	Simon Pytlick	GOG Håndbold	94
3	Arkadiusz Moryto	Barlinek Industria Kielce	89
4	Aleks Vlah	Celje Pivovarna Laško	88
5	Kamil Syprzak	Paris Saint-Germain	87
6	Lukas Jørgensen	GOG Håndbold	82
7	Rasmus Lauge	Telekom Veszprém	81
8	Timur Dibirov	PPD Zagreb	79
	Tin Lučin	Orlen Wisła Płock
10	Dika Mem	Barça	78

• Official website