Two Scandinavian debutants, 2,647 goals and unbeaten defending champions

Two Scandinavian debutants, 2,647 goals and unbeaten defending champions

After 36 matches, the main round of the Women’s EHF Champions League came to an end on Sunday night. Now, only eight quarter-final games separate the remaining teams from the DELO WOMEN’S EHF FINAL4 in Budapest on 11/12 May.

Defending champions Györi Audi ETO KC are the only unbeaten team, with 10 victories and two draws (against FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria) on their account. Eight teams from seven different countries progressed to the quarter-finals, including two debutants from Scandinavia.

Here are the most important facts and figures at this stage of the Women’s EHF Champions League.

0 quarter-final pairings are composed of teams from the same country.

0 teams which entered the competition in the qualification stage have made it to the quarter-finals.

0 teams ended with zero main round points. The lowest total was Thüringer HC’s two points from one main round win.

0 former Women’s EHF Champions League winners clash in the quarter-final duels.

1 team has defended its title at the Women’s EHF FINAL4 in Budapest, after five editions: Györ, who won in 2017 and again in 2018.

1 club has been part of all previous five editions of the WOMEN’S EHF FINAL4: Vardar. Györ and Buducnost made it to four tournaments each, and both are still in the competition, while Vardar are not. Despite being the record participants, Vardar never took the trophy.

1 nation is represented twice among the quarter-finalists – and just like in the previous season, it is Hungary (Györ and FTC).

2 quarter-final pairings were also played in the 2017/18 season: Metz vs CSM Bucuresti and FTC vs Rostov. One year ago, it was Rostov and Bucharest that qualified for the WOMEN’S EHF FINAL4.

2 teams are debutants in the quarter-finals: Odense HC and Vipers Kristiansand.

3 of 36 main round matches (and six of those 24 games from the group phase, which were carried to the next stage) ended with draws, for an overall of nine.

3 former Champions League winners, representing seven trophies, are still in the race for the 2018/19 title: Györ (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018), CSM (2016) and Buducnost (2012, 2015).

4 teams that have reached the previous WOMEN’S EHF FINAL4 events have qualified for the quarter-finals: Györ (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018), Buducnost (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), CSM (2016, 2017, 2018) and Rostov (2018).

5 victories in a row in their first five main round matches was the best run this season, recorded by Metz.

6 – for the sixth straight time since 2014, Papp Laszlo Budapest Sportarena will host the DELO WOMEN’S EHF FINAL4.

6 of 36 main round matches (plus the respective 24 group matches) ended with a difference of 10 or more goals. Last season, there were 10 matches with such results.

6 of eight quarter-finalists from the previous season are back: Györ, Rostov, CSM (all WOMEN’S EHF FINAL4 participants in 2018), Buducnost, Metz and FTC. Odense and Vipers replace Vardar and FC Midtjylland.

7 – which means all – Champions League winners since 2012 (Györ – four titles, Buducnost – two, and Bucuresti) are part of the quarter-finals.

7 nations are represented by the eight quarter-finalists: Hungary (two clubs), Romania, Norway, France, Denmark, Russia and Montenegro.

4 main round matches were attended by 5,000 fans or more.

10 from 12 points in their six main round matches was the best outcome of the 12 teams, achieved by group winners Metz (five victories, one defeat) and Györ (four victories, two draws).

13 goals was the biggest final score line in the 36 main round matches, when Metz won the all-French duel against Brest 39:26. Including the 24 group matches carried into the next stage, the biggest gap was (twice) 16 goals. Both records were from Györ – 39:23 against Krim and 38:22 against Thüringer HC.

15 times, including the 2018/19 season, Buducnost are or were part of the Champions League Quarter-finals. Györ follow in that ranking, with 13 participations, ahead of FTC on 10.

16 main round matches, including the games brought forward from the group matches, ended with 60 or more goals.

18  victories for the away team this season, compared to 17 by this stage last season.

18 main round matches were attended by 3,000 or more spectators.

18 from 20 possible points were taken by Györ in the six main round matches plus four group matches which carried over, ahead of Metz and Rostov  on 15 points each.

21 is Györ’s current unbeaten run in the Women’s EHF Champions League.

32 victories for the home team in the main round this season, 18 in Group 1 and 14 in Group 2, compared to 40 home wins last season.

43 goals in the match between Buducnost and Rostov (20:23) was the lowest scoring match during the main round. Taking in account the group matches which carried over, the lowest scoring game featured 38 goals in the 19:19 draw between Odense and Metz.

+66 goals from Györ was the best goal difference in the main round, ahead of Metz (+57) and Vipers (+23).

69 goals scored in Copenhagen vs Metz (36:33) was the highest-scoring match of the main round, ahead of 68 goals in Thüringer HC vs CSM Bucuresti (30:38) and 67 goals on three occasions - CSM vs FTC (36:31), Thüringer HC vs FTC and Metz vs Odense (41:26).

76 goals were scored by current top scorer Ana Gros (Brest), who is five ahead of Iveta Luzumova (Thüringer HC) and nine ahead of Jovanka Radicevic (Bucharest).

200 matches in the Women’s EHF Champions League is the milestone reached by Györ in their last main round match, in the all-time appearance ranking, the defending champions sit fourth below Buducnost (245), Krim (239) and Larvik (202).

241 goals conceded by Rostov was the best defensive record in the main round, one goal ahead of Györ (242) and six ahead of Buducnost (248).

333 goals scored by Györ was the best attacking record in the main round, clearly ahead of Metz (299) and FTC (298).

1,958 goals were scored in the main round, not including the carried over group matches, 941 in Group 1, 1017 in Group 2. The average per match is 54.38 goals, compared to 55.14 in the group matches.

5,022 goals have been scored so far in the 2018/19 season of the Women’s EHF Champions League. 417 in qualification, 2,647 in the group matches and 1,958 in the main round.

5,420 spectators on average attended Györ’s three main round home matches, almost 200 more than last season.

5,475 spectators at Györ vs FTC was the highest main round attendance.