19 nations, 32 teams, 148 matches on the road ahead

1 - only one participant in the 2023 edition of the EHF Finals is part of the group matches; defending champions Füchse Berlin. Finalists Granollers failed to make it past the qualification round, third-ranked side Göppingen failed to qualify for any EHF competitions and fourth-placed Montpellier will play in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League.

1 goal was the aggregate difference in three of five qualification pairings; Winterthur, Braga and Constanta all clinched their places in the group matches by the smallest possible margin

1 former EHF Champions League winner was eliminated in the qualification round; HC Vardar Skopje were knocked-out by Rhein-Neckar Löwen

1 former EHF Cup winner was knocked-out in the qualification round; Fraikin Granollers

1 former EHF Champions League winner will take part in the group matches: SG Flensburg-Handewitt, winner of the EHF FINAL4 in 2014. Two former EHF Champions League finalists are part of the 2023/24 European League: Braga, losers of the first ever final against Santander, and Nantes, loser of the 2018 all-French final against Montpellier

1 club is represented by two teams in the top EHF competitions; IK Sävehof. The women’s team plays in the EHF Champions League, the men’s team in the EHF European League.

1 city, the Portuguese capital Lisbon - as in 2021/22 and 2022/23 - is represented by two clubs; Benfica and Sporting

2 teams won both their matches in the qualification rounds: Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Hannover-Burgdorf, both from Germany.

3 teams now participating in the European League group matches, played in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League last season; Dinamo Bucuresti, Nantes and Elverum

4 winners of EHF second tier competitions are part of the group matches: Benfica (European League 2022), Flensburg (Cup Winners Cup 2001 and 2012, EHF Cup 1997), Füchse Berlin (EHF Cup 2015, 2018 and European League 2023), Rhein-Neckar Löwen (EHF Cup 2013)

4 of the 32 participants of the group matches are from Germany, 3 each from Switzerland and Portugal, and two each from Sweden, Romania, Poland, France, Spain and Denmark

4 teams which have played in the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne are part of the group matches: Nantes, Flensburg, Berlin and Löwen

4 winners of the main round groups directly qualify for the quarter-finals, the remaining four spots are decided in play-offs between the teams finishing second and third in the main round

7 - just seven of the 32 participants in the group matches were part of the 2022/23 group phase: Berlin, Flensburg, Skjern, Benfica, Sporting, Schaffhausen and Nexe

9 teams, which have qualified for the EHF Finals since their inauguration in 2013, are part of the 2023/24 group matches: Velenje, Constanta, Benfica, Berlin, Rhein-Neckar Löwen, Nantes, Skjern, Chambery and Nexe

9 different teams have been part of the three EHF European League Finals in Mannheim (2021), Lisbon (2022) and Flensburg (2023): Magdeburg (2), Plock (2), Berlin (2), Löwen, Benfica, Nexe, Montpellier, Granollers and Göppingen

16 teams - the winners and runners-up of the eight groups - proceed to the main round, which starts in February 2024

18 games at most are ahead for the four teams which qualify for the EHF Finals, depending whether they played in the qualification round and/or the play-offs. The lowest number of matches required to get on the podium is 14.  

19 different nations are represented by the 32 clubs; last season 14 different nations were represented by 24 teams. New nations compared to last years are Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia; in contrast, Austria, Iceland and Ukraine are not represented this year

27 teams were seeded for the group matches, only five spots were decided in the qualification round

96 group matches – six rounds of 16 matches each - will be played from 16 October to 5 December, always on Tuesday nights; 32 main round matches will follow in February and March, then eight play-offs matches and quarter-finals each will decide the four teams which qualify for the EHF Finals on 25/26 May 2024

110 goals were scored by Icelander Odinn Thor Rikhardsson, making him the top scorer of the 2022/23 season of the EHF European League; this season, the wing is back with his Swiss club Kadetten Schaffhausen, as well as runners-up Martim Costa (Benfica)

148 matches are ahead before the winner of the European League Men 2023/24 is confirmed - exactly the same number were played in the previous season from the group matches to the final.

Photo © CSM Constanta, Rhein-Neckar-Löwen, SARA BELLA