DRAW PREVIEW: Representatives of FC Barcelona, THW Kiel, Vive Tauron Kielce and MKB-MVM Veszprem congregate in Cologne to witness the draw of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 semi-final pairings.
Four favourites face the FINAL4 fate
The romantic setting of Palais Flora, located in the heart of Botanic Gardens in Cologne, will host the last draw event of the 2014/15 VELUX EHF Champions League season on Tuesday 21 April. The four best teams, who made it all they way to the VELUX EHF FINAL4 (30/31 May 2015) and combined for only five defeats this season, will learn the names of their semi-final opponents.
There are no newcomers at this stage of the European top flight as both the last season's runners-up THW Kiel and EHF Champions League record winners FC Barcelona will make the trip to the LANXESS arena for the fifth time (out of six editions), while MKB-MVM Veszprem and Vive Tauron Kielce will enter the final tournament for the second time.
The VELUX EHF FINAL4 draw will start at 12:00 hrs local time and will be preceded by the official press conference at 11:30, which will be attended also by Lord Mayor of City of Cologne Jürgen Roters.
Open draw
The VELUX EHF FINAL4 draw will be completely open and all four teams will be drawn from the same pot. The draw will be conducted in four simple steps.
1 - Team 1 will be drawn for the Semi-final 1
2 - Team 3 will be drawn for the Semi-final 2
3 - Team 2 will be drawn for the Semi-final 1
4 - Team 4 will be drawn for the Semi-final 2
The playing times of the semi-final matches will be announced at Tuesday's press conference and the playing order will be announced in due time following negotiations with TV partners.
Live coverage
The whole event starting at 11:30 hrs will be streamed live and free on ehfTV.com. The ehfTV commentator Tom O’Brannagain will guide all viewers through the event and will also interview all club representatives right after the draw with their immediate reactions.
Fans will be also able to follow the live ticker on the official website www.eurohandball.com or the live Tweeting on the official @ehfcl channel.
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EHF / br