A tall and heavy Latvian, young Slovenians and 54 Danes

628 players have been registered by 28 clubs for the group phase of the VELUX EHF Champions League season 2015/16 and among them are:
54 Danes, four players at the age of 17, two players with a height of 2,13, one who weights 135 kilos in contrast to one at 55 kilos, three squads with an average height of less than 1,90 metres and 23 pairs of brothers. Enjoy all important facts and figures of the 28 squads.

Size:

The smallest players:
21 of the 628 players from 28 clubs (3%) are smaller than 1,80 metres. Among those are 17 wing players, three centre backs and one line player.
The smallest registered player is Flensburg coach Ljubomir Vranjes (1,68 metres), who was on SG’s team list several times last season, but never appeared on the court. The smallest official players are Adam Arokszallasi (MOL-Pick Szeged), Tadej Matijasic (HC Metalurg), both by 1,74 metres. The smallest goalkeeper is Morten Ankersen (KIF Kolding Kobenhavn) with 1,80 metres.

1,77 metres and less:
Adam Arokszallasi (MOL-Pick Szeged), right wing, 174 centimetres
Tadej Matijasic (HC Metalurg), left wing, 174 centimetres
Balazs Molnar (MKB-MVM Veszprém), left wing, 175 centimetres
Davor Palevski (HC Metalurg), left wing, 175 centimetres
Rene Toft Brolling (Skjern Handbold), right wing, 176 centimetres                   
Eljub Alagic (RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko), line player, 177 centimetres
Gal Marguc (RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko), right wing 177 centimetres
Ugur Coban (Besiktas MOGAZ HT), left wing, 177 centimetres

The smallest squads in average:
Only three squads have an average height of less than 1,90 metres:
187,9 centimetres: RK Celje
189,0 centimetres: KIF Kolding Kobenhavn
189,6 centimetres: SG Flensburg-Handewitt

The tallest players:
91 of the 628 registered players (14 %) are 2,00 metres or taller, four players are 2,10 metres tall and taller - and Angel Montoro the Spaniard of Wisla Plock, and Dainis Kristopans, Latvian player of Meshkov Brest, top this ranking with 2,13 metres each (and are 45 centimetres taller than Vranjes).

The three tallest players are all left handed right backs. The tallest line player is Mateusz Piechowski (Plock, 2,10), the tallest goalkeeper is Antonijo Peshevski (HC Metalurg, 2,09).

More than 2,05 metres:
Dainis Kristopans (HC Meshkov Brest), right back, 213 centimetres
Angel Montoro Cabello (Orlen Wisla Plock), right back, 213 centimetres
Marko Kopljar (FC Barcelona Lassa), right back, 210 centimetres        
Mateusz Piechowski (Orlen Wisla Plock), line player, 210 centimetres                                             
Josip Sandrk (HC Prvo plinarsko drustvo Zagreb), left back, 209 centimetres                                                      
Antonijo Peshevski (HC Metalurg), goalkeeper, 209 centimetres                                                
Alberto Val Sancho (Naturhouse La Rioja), line player, 208                                                   
Laszlo Nagy (MKB-MVM Veszprém), right back, 208 centimetres                                                      
Sergii Burka (HC Motor Zaporozhye), left back, 208 centimetres                                                      
Michal Kasal (Futebol Clube do Porto), left back, 207 centimetres                                                       
Milan Vuckovic (Vojvodina), left back, 207 centimetres                                                   
Ivan Ivkovic (TATRAN Presov), right back, 207 centimetres                                                
Kamil Syprzak (FC Barcelona Lassa), line player, 206 centimetres                                             
Aleksander Borresen (Elverum Handball Herrer), line player, 206 centimetres

The tallest squads on average:
Seven squads have an average height of 193 centimetres or more:
195,9 centimetres: Orlen Wisla Plock
194,9 centimetres: Naturhouse La Rioja
194,1 centimetres: THW Kiel
193,3 centimetres: FC Barcelona Lassa
193,1 centimetres: Vive Tauron Kielce
193,1 centimetres: Motor Zaporozhye
193,0 centimetres: Vardar Skopje

Weight:

Lightweight champions:
Ten players have a weight of 70 kilograms or less - and as expected are all wing players. “Light weight champion” of the 2015/16 VELUX EHF Champions League is Russian Timofei Maslennikov (Medvedi) with only 55 kilos at a height of 1,85 metres.

Players with 70 or less kilograms:
Timofei Maslennikov (Chekhovskie Medvedi), right wing, 55 kilos                                                       
Benedek Szakaly (MKB-MVM Veszprém), right wing, 65 kilos                                                      
Adam Arokszallasi (MOL-Pick Szeged), right wing, 66 kilos                                                      
Artem Kozakevych (HC Motor Zaporozhye), right wing, 68 kilos                                                      
Balazs Molnar (MKB-MVM Veszprém), left wing, 70 kilos                                                     
Davor Palevski (HC Metalurg), left wing, 70 kilos                                                  
Hugo Delgado Santos (Futebol Clube do Porto), left wing, 70 kilos                                                      
Simon Opstrup (Skjern Handbold), left wing, 70 kilos                                                       
Michal Daszek (Orlen Wisla Plock), right wing, 70 kilos                                                   
Roland Selmeczi (MOL-Pick Szeged), right wing, 70 kilos

Heavyweight champions:
174 players (27%) weight 100 kilos or more. This ranking is topped by the joint tallest player Dainis Kristopans (135 kilos, 80 kilos more than Maslennikov). In total, six players have a weight of 120 or more kilograms.
And this statistics proves that line players needs to have the biggest body mass to be efficient and successful: 11 of the 15 heaviest players are pivots, but also two Serbian born goalkeepers are among them.

Players with more than 115 kilograms:
Dainis Kristopans (HC Meshkov Brest), right back, 135 kilos
Strahinja Milic (HC Vardar), goalkeeper, 132 kilos                                                     
Rafael Baena Gonzalez (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), line player, 128 kilos                                                    
Andrej Petro (TATRAN Presov), line player, 127 kilos                                                     
Zbigniew Kwiatkowski (Orlen Wisla Plock), line player, 120 kilos                                                    
Kamil Syprzak (FC Barcelona Lassa), line player, 120 kilos                                                  
Arpad Sterbik Capar (HC Vardar), goalkeeper, 119 kilo                                                      
Tolga Özbahar (Besiktas MOGAZ HT), line player, 118 kilos                                                     
Josip Buljubasic (Besiktas MOGAZ HT), left back, 118 kilos                                                       
Rogerio Ferreira Moraes (THW Kiel), line player, 118 kilos                                                  
Marco Antonio Oneto Zuniga (Orlen Wisla Plock), line player, 117 kilos                                                    
Julen Aguinagalde Akizu (KS Vive Tauron Kielce), line player, 116 kilos
Fredric Pettersson (IFK Kristianstad), line player, 116 kilos                                                    
Blaz Blagotinsek (RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko), line player, 116 kilos
Viachaslau Shumak (HC Meshkov Brest), line player, 116 kilos

Age:

The oldest:
Four players are older than 40 (including Flensburg coach Vranjes, who is also registered as a player), the oldest one is Russian centre back Alexandr Radchenko, contracted by Presov - and among the 14 oldest players are eight goalkeepers.

Born in 1973:
Alexandr Radchenko (Presov, centre back) 05.07.1973
Jesper Larsson (Kristianstad, goalkeeper) 25.07.1973
Ljubomir Vranjes (Flensburg, centre back and coach) 03.10.1973

Born in 1975:
Ibrahim Demir (Besiktas, goalkeeper)

Born in 1976:
Kasper Hvidt (Kolding, goalkeeper)
Torsten Jansen (Kiel, left wing)
Nikola Marinovic (Schaffhausen, goalkeeper)
Thierry Omeyer (PSG, goalkeeper)

Born in 1977:
Thomas Klitgard (Skjern, line player)
Daniel Saric (Barcelona, goalkeeper)
Leszek Starcan (Schaffhausen, left wing)
Gurutz Aguinagalde (La Rioja, goalkeeper)
Petar Angelov (Vardar, goalkeeper)
Maik Machulla (Flensburg, centre back and assistant coach)

The oldest squads in average:
Funnily enough a group phase debutant has the second oldest squad on average: HCM Baia Mare, only Vardar Skopje have older players.
28,74 years on average: Vardar Skopje
28,25  years on average: HCM Baia Mare
28,24 years on average: Vive Tauron Kielce
28,05 years on average: Meshkov Brest
28,00 years on average: FC Barcelona Lassa

The youngest:
157 players (25%) were born in 1995 or earlier, which means they are 20 years and younger. Four of them are only 16 years old.

Born in 1999:
Bence Gödör (Veszprem, goalkeeper) 09.10.1999
Eduardo Cadarso (La Rioja, left wing) 13.02.1999
Adam Dimovics (Szeged, centre back) 23.01.1999
Martin Nagy (Szeged, goalkeeper) 09.01.1999

Born in 1998:
Gasper Dobaj (Celje, goalkeeper)
Tilen Dobovicnik (Celje, left wing)
Anze Dobovicnik (Celje, right wing)
Grega Ocvirk (Celje, centre back)
Eljub Alagic (Celje, line player)
Albert Gumarov (Medvedi, left wing)
Todor Jandric (Vojvodina, goalkeeper)
Milan Jovanovic (Vojvodina, left back)
Stefan Trkulija (Vojvodina, centre back)
Barnabas Nagy (Veszprem, goalkeeper)
Zoltan Szita (Veszprem, left back)
Kylian Villeminot (Montpellier, line player)
Branko Vujovic (Kielce, left back)
Jakob Bulski (Kielce, left wing)

Born in 1997:
47 players

Born in 1996:
53 players

Born in 1995:
39 players

The youngest squads in average:
Five squads have an average age of less than 24 years - and the “Young brewers” from Celje are the youngest, ahead of the fully rejuvenated teams of Metalurg and Medvedi.
22,21 years old on average: RK Celje
22,86 years old on average: Metalurg Skopje
23,11 years old on average: Chekhovskie Medvedi
23,92 years old on average: Pick Szeged
23,95 years old on average: Kristianstad

Nationality:
Players from 33 different countries have been registered from their clubs, the only Non-European countries represented are Brazil (5 players), Cuba (3), Iran (2) and Tunisia (2).

The country represented by the biggest number of players is Denmark with 54, ahead of Croatia (46), Hungary (45), Spain (45), Serbia (44), France (40), Russia (39), Sweden and Slovenia (36).

Interestingly: Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Sweden and Slovenia are represented only by one club in the group phase. Though three German clubs are among the 28 teams, but only 33 German players have been registered.

The ranking: DEN 54, CRO 46, HUN 45, ESP 45, SRB 44, FRA 40, RUS 39, SWE 36, SLO 36, GER 33, POL 25, NOR 20, MKD 19, UKR 18, TUR 16, POR 16, ROU 15, BLR 14, SUI 14, SVK 12, BIH 8, BRA 5, ISL 5, CZE 5, MNE 3, CUB 3, AUT 2, IRI 2, LTU 2, TUN 2, GEO 1, ITA 1, LAT 1

Names and families:
23 pairs of brothers are registered for the 2015/16 VELUX EHF Champions League season, eleven of those pairs play for the same clubs, the rest have been separated.

14 times players have the same last name, but are not relatives - and once even two players (nearly) have the exact same first and last name.

Brother pairs in the VELUX EHF Champions League:
Aguinagalde - Gurutz (La Rioja), Julen (Kielce)
Arsenic - Nikola and Luka (both Vojvodina)
Dobovicnik - Tilen and Anze (both Celje)
Dujshebaev - Alex (Vardar) and Daniel (Barcelona)
Ivancsik - Tamas (Baia Mare) and Gergö (Veszprem)
Karabatic - Nikola and Luka (both PSG)
Karacic - Ivan (Baia Mare) and Igor (Vardar)
Kotov - Kiril and Alexander (both Medvedi)
Lazarov - Kiril (Barcelona) and Filip (Vardar)
Manojlovity - Stefan and Boris (Szeged)
Marguc - Gal (Celje) and Gasper (Veszprem)
Mendes, Edgar and Felisberto (Porto)
Pendic - Andrija and Filip (both Schaffhausen)
Peshevski - Zarko and Antonijo (both Metalurg)
Razgor - David (Celje) and Simon (Brest)
Rutenka - Dzianis (Brest) and Siarhei (Barcelona)
Sarpataky - Lubos and Milos (both Presov)
Szabo - Mate and Peter (both Szeged)
Toft Hansen - Henrik (Flensburg) and Rene (Kiel)
Trkulja - Goran and Stefan (both Vojvodina)
Valcic - Josip and Tonci (both Zagreb)
Villeminot - Kilian and Allan (both Montpellier)
Vukic - Marko (Zagreb) and Ljubo (Brest)

Same last name, but no relatives:
Fekete - Balint (Szeged) and David (Veszprem)
Gajic - Dragan (Montpellier) and Ivan (Celje)
Hansen - Mikkel (PSG) and Jacob (Skjern)
Ivic - Sime (Celje) and Filip (Zagreb)
Karlsson - Lukas (Kolding) and Tobias (Flensburg)
Larson - Johannes, Leo, Jesper (all Kristianstad)
Nagy - Laszlo and Barnabas (both Veszprem) and Lenard and Martin (both Szeged)
Nilsson - Johan (Kristiandstad) and Andreas (Veszprem)
Pesic - Ivan (Brest) and Zivan (Celje)
Rodriguez - Pedro (La Rioja) and Chema (Veszprem)
Schmid - Peter (Veszprem) and Andre (Rhein Neckar Löwen)
Urban - Egon (Szeged) and Lukas (Presov)
Vranjes - Vladimir (Szeged) and Ljubomir (Flensburg)
Vujin - Stefan (Zagreb) and Marko (Kiel)

Nearly the same name:
Michael Apelgren - centre back Elverum vs. Mikael Appelgren - goalkeeper Rhein Neckar Löwen (both Swedish)