Facts and figures of the EHF Cup Group Phase

Excitement was one of the key words for the EHF Cup group phase, where almost all decisions had to wait until the last match day.

Only two things were facts before the last match weekend - Montpellier Agglomeration HB were sure to qualify for the quarter-finals from Group B, while organisers of the EHF Cup Finals, Füchse Berlin were sure to proceed to the finals one of the two top teams in Group C.

All six teams in the quarter-finals are new compared to last season. HBC Nantes also went on from the group phase last season, just like they did this year, but as the French club was organiser of the EHF Cup Finals last year, Nantes went directly to the Finals back then. Therefore, they are also new to the quarter-finals.

While all three teams, who qualified for the quarter-finals from second position in their respective groups, qualified with eight points, seven points were enough for Lugi HF to qualify as winners of Group A.

Largest crowds

Füchse had the two largest home attendances in the group phase, the largest crowd being 5,746 at their 30:27 win against Chambéry in Group D on 9 February.

The second largest number of spectators was registered on 16 March for the match against Constants who were defeated 28:26 in front of 4,961 people in the Max Schmeling-Halle.

Nantes came in third with 4,750 spectators watching their 31:23 win against Pick Szeged on 23 March.

Just Montpellier with a perfect record

Only one team managed to win all their matches. Montpellier did not lose a single point in their six games in Group B.

Beside Montpellier, only one other team managed to go through the group phase as undefeated. In Group D, Füchse Berlin won four matches and drew twice.

Home court advantage

Five teams managed to win all their home matches.

In Group A Csurgói KK were unbeatable on home court, but as their Hungarian team did not manage to get a single point away, the six points they earned at home, did not help them to proceed in the tournament.

As Montpellier won all their matches in Group B, this obviously included wins in their three home games.

In Group C, Pick Szeged and HBC Nantes, who both qualified for the quarter-finals, also won all their home matches, and so did Group D winners Füchse Berlin.

Two teams did not manage to get any points in the group phase.

Macedonian HC Zomimak-M in Group B and Slovakian HC Sporta Hlohovec in Group D both had to leave the tournament with zero points.

Strongest defence, most ferocious attack

Not only was Montpellier the only team to win all their group matches.

The team from Southern France also had the strongest defence of all 16 group phase participants, conceding only 147 goals.

This was seven goals better then another French team, Nantes who came in second in the defence list, conceding 154 goals in Group C.

Sporting CP, who qualified for the quarter-finals from second position in Group B, had the most ferocious attack, scoring 195 goals which was three goals better than Montpellier, who came in second in this respect.

19 goals was the difference in the biggest win of the group phase. On the 9 February Montpellier won 41:22 at home against Zomimak.

The 41 goals, Montpellier scored in the above mentioned game against Zomimak was also the highest number of goals scored by one team in one single group match.

68 was the largest number of goals scored in a single group match. This amount was reached on the 15 March, as Pick Szeged won 37:31 at home against TATRAN Presov in Group C.

Sporting with two players in the top three of scorers

12 goals was the highest number scored by a single player in one match. Two players reached this number in the group phase.

Montpellier's Spanish centre back Diego Simonet scored a dozen goals in his team's 30:27 away win against Sporting in Group B on 15 February, and Sporting's right wing Pedro Andre Caseiro Portela reached the same amount, as he and his teammates defeated Zomimak 36:24 away on 15 March.

Caseiro Portela is generally used to scoring many goals, as he is the overall top scorer in the EHF Cup so far with 48 goals.

His teammate from Sporting, Pedro Silva Osorio is third with 38 goals.

Between the two Portugues, Frantisek Zatko from Sporta Hlohovec reached a total of 41 goals, but as Zatko's team bowed out after the group phase, no more goals will come from the Slovakian left winger's hand in this competition.