From 0 to 1,361: The numbers before the Last 16

The EHF European League Men is heading into the knockout phase of its inaugural season, with the Last 16 throwing off on Tuesday.

Here are the main facts and figures of the competition after the group phase:

0 teams from the same country face in the Last 16, and the same will apply to the quarter-final.

1 coach still in the competition won the EHF Champions League as a coach: outgoing Rhein-Neckar Löwen coach Martin Schwalb, who won with HSV Hamburg in 2013.

1 non-German club became group winners: ORLEN Wisla Plock from Poland.

1 player who won the last edition of the EHF Cup in 2019 with THW Kiel, can win the EHF European League this season: Lukas Nilsson, who joined Rhein-Neckar Löwen before this season.

2 teams in the Last 16 have started their journey in the first qualification round: CSKA and Fivers.

2 players still in the competition have won the four main trophies in handball (Olympics, World and European Championship, EHF Champions League): Michael Guigou (FRA/Nimes) and Hans Lindberg (DEN/Berlin).

2 former CL winners are still in the competition: SC Magdeburg (2002) and Montpellier HB (2003, 2018).

2 group matches ended with 70 or more goals.

2 players still in the competition were part of the World Championship 2021 All-star Team: goalkeeper Andreas Palicka (Sweden/Rhein-Neckar Löwen) and right back Mathias Gidsel (Denmark/GOG).

2 former EHF Champions League top scorers are still part of the competition: Uwe Gensheimer (2010/11 for Löwen, 2016/17 and 2017/18 for PSG) with Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Hans Lindberg (2012/13 for Hamburg) with Füchse Berlin. Lindberg was also twice top scorer of the EHF Cup with Berlin, in 2016/17 and 2017/18.

2 teams did not win a single point in the group phase: Tatabanya and Besiktas.

3 group matches ended with 45 or less goals.

3 clubs still in the competition changed coaches during the season: CSKA Moscow (Velimir Petkovic replacing Oleg Kuleshov), IFK Kristianstad (Uffe Larsson replacing Ljubomir Vranjes), and RK Nexe (Branko Tamse replacing Hrvoje Horvat).

3 - which means all - German clubs have won their groups.

4 of the Last 16 participants played at the EHF FINAL4 in the past: Chekhovskie medvedi, Rhein-Neckar Löwen, Füchse Berlin and Montpellier HB; only Montpellier won the title, in 2018.

4 teams still in the competition played at the EHF Cup Finals in the past: German sides Berlin (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019), Löwen (2013) and Magdeburg (2017, 2018), and French side Montpellier (2014).

4 times in 111 group matches a team scored less than 20 goals.

5 coaches from Last 16 teams were or are national team coaches: Zeljko Babic (Pelister/Croatia), Velimir Petkovic (CSKA/Russia), Manolo Cadenas (Leon/Spain and Argentina), Xavier Sabate (Plock/Hungary) and Vladimir Maximov (Chekhov/Russia).

8 of the 16 teams played in the EHF Champions League group phase last season: GOG, Montpellier, Pelister, Plock, Sporting, Chekhov, Schaffhausen and Kristianstad.

10 of the 111 group matches played ended in a draw; Leon had the most draws: four.

11 group matched ended with a difference of 10 or more goals.

12 nations are represented in the Last 16: Germany (with three teams), France, Russia (two each), Denmark, Switzerland, Croatia, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Poland and North Macedonia.

13 players still in the competition won a medals at the World Championship 2021 in Egypt: GOG (4 DEN),  Füchse Berlin (2 DEN/1 SWE), Löwen (2 SWE), Montpellier (2 SWE), Magdeburg (1 SWE) and Leon (1 ESP).

16 was the lowest amount of goals by a team in a group match: Besiktas losing 16:40 to Montpellier.

18 was the highest number of group phase points, gained by Magdeburg, ahead of Löwen (17) and Plock (16).

20 times German clubs won the EHF Cup, including six out of seven times at a four-team finals tournament (2013-2019).

24 goals were the winning margin in the group phase: Montpellier beating Besiktas 40:16.

28 knockout matches are scheduled: 16 in the Last , eight in the quarter-final, four at the EHF European League Finals (23/24 May).

34 goals marked the overall difference between Plock and Metalurg after their two group matches.

37 times in 111 group matches, 60 or more goals were scored.

40 of the 111 group matches played were won by the away team.

40 was the lowest amount of goals in a group phase match: Pelister vs Tatabanya 21:19.

45 was the highest number of goals scored by a team in an single match: Fivers beating Metalurg 45:30.

49 years is the age difference between the oldest coach of the competition, Vladimir Maximov (Chechov/75) and the youngest, Jaron Siewert (Füchse Berlin/26).

61 of the 111 group matches played were won by the home team.

75 was the highest amount of goals in a group phase match: Fivers beating Metallurg 45:30.

85 goals in total were scored in the two duels between Pelister vs Tatabanya.

89 goals were scored by Emil Jacobsen (GOG), who leads the top scorers list.

6,361 goals were scored in the 111 matches played: 1,672 in group A; 1,535 in group B; 1,554 in group C; 1,600 in group D.

EHF European League Men 2020/21 group phase:

Most goals per match:
75 - Fivers vs Metalurg 45:30
72 - Leon vs Metalurg 41:32
69 - GOG vs Löwen 32:37

Fewest goals per match:
40 - Pelister vs Tatabanya 21:19
45 - Nimes vs Presov 25:20
45 - Presov vs Sporting 24:21
45 - Nexe vs Montpellier 22:23
45 - Tatabanya vs Pelister 21:24
45 - Kadetten vs Trebnje 24:21

Biggest winning margins:
+24 goals - Montpellier vs Besiktas 40:16
+19 goals - Magdeburg vs Besiktas 41:22
+19 goals - Metalurg vs Plock 19:38

Highest number of points:
18 - Magdeburg
17 - Löwen
16 - Plock
14 - Leon, Chekhov, Füchse, CSKA

Most goals per team:
321 - Magdeburg
307 - Leon
306 - GOG

Top scorers:
89 - Emil Jakobsen (GOG)
68 - Halil Jaganjac (Nexe)
65 - Simon Pytlick (GOG)
65 - Lukas Hutecek (Fivers)
58 - Milan Popovic (Metalurg)