It’s all about four

The same four participants as last season, four coaches from four nations, four World Handball Players, four Olympic, World and EURO finalists, four draws, and HC Vardar hoping they will not miss the final for the fourth time – the Facts and Figures prior to the TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 in Budapest are all about the number four.

0 times has any team defended their title since the implementation of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne in the Men’s Champions League competition (since 2010) and the TIPPMIX FINAL4 in the Women’s EHF Champions in 2014. Györi Audi ETO KC were the last to defend a Women’s EHF Champions League title, winning the final trophy played in the old format in 2013 and the first FINAL4 event in 2014.

0 nations are represented in every TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 squad, but three of the four sides count on players from Croatia and Montenegro.

1 person – HC Vardar’s Irina Dibirova – can become the first ever woman to win the Champions League as a player (2005 with Slagelse, 2008 with Zvezda) and as a coach. In the Men’s EHF Champions League, Talant Dujshebaev has claimed this record already, winning in 1994 as a player for Santander, then in 2006, 2008 and 2009 as coach of Ciudad Real and in 2016 with Kielce.  

1 team – Vardar – have never made it to the final in Budapest despite four consecutive qualifications for the FINAL4 tournament.

1 former Women’s EHF Champions League winning side – Larvik – was eliminated in the 2017 quarter-finals.

1 TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 participant – Györ – turned a first-leg quarter-final defeat into a ticket to Budapest. The three remaining semi-finalists won both of their respective quarter-finals.

2 of the four TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 participants changed their head coach more than once during the 2016/17 season: Vardar changed from Indira Kastratovic to David Davis after the first Champions League match of the season and from Davis to Irina Dibirova in March. Bucuresti first signed Jakob Vestergaard, then replaced him with Aurelian Rosca during the group phase, followed by Per Johansson in April. Now Johansson’s replacement has already been confirmed: Helle Thomsen will start her mission in Romania after the summer break.

2 of the four 2017 participants qualified for all four FINAL4 tournaments: Vardar and Buducnost

2 players that are part of the TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 have won the EHF Champions League four times already: Katarina Bulatovic (Buducnost) and Cristina Varzaru (Bucuresti). Bulatovic with Slagelse (2007), Buducnost (2012, 2015) and Györ (2014), Varzaru with Viborg (2006, 2008, 2009) and Bucuresti (2016).

2 times the winners and third-ranked teams of the main round have qualified for the TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4.

2 Buducnost players will leave the Montenegrin powerhouse for two other TIPPMIX FINAL4 participants next season: Cristina Neagu will join Bucuresti, Dragana Cvijic will move to Vardar.

3 former or current Champions League winners made it to the TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4: Bucuresti (2016), Györ (2013, 2014) and Buducnost (2012, 2015). Vardar are the only side without a trophy so far.

3 coaches of the four TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 are or were national team coaches: Dragan Adzic (Buducnost and Montenegro), Ambros Martin (Györ and Romania) and Per Johansson (Bucuresti and Sweden until 2012).

4 goals scored in one half is the lowest record of all matches, when Glassverket were down 4:10 to Thüringer HC in the group phase. The Norwegian side lost 16:24 – the lowest score of a team in 60 minutes in the whole 2016/17 season.

4 of the 104 matches in the 2016/17 Women’s EHF Champions League season ended in a draw – one in the group matches, three in the main round.

4 – and therefore all – teams that were part of the 2016 edition of the FINAL4 in Budapest have made it to the final destination again.

4 goals was the closest aggregate margin in the quarter-finals (Vardar vs FC Midtjylland, 54:50).

4 current or former IHF World Handball Players of the Year will be on court at the TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 2017: Cristina Neagu (Buducnost/2010, 2015, 2016), Eduarda Amorim (Györ/2014), Andrea Lekic (Vardar/2013) and Anita Görbicz (Györ/2005).

4 different nations are represented by the four coaches of the FINAL4 participants have: Sweden (Bucuresti/Per Johansson), Spain (Györ/Ambros Martin), Russia (Vardar/Irina Dibirova) and Montenegro (Buducnost/Dragan Adzic).

4 players that will play the TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 were part of the EHF EURO 2016 Final in Gothenburg: Norwegian gold medallists Camilla Herrem (Vardar) and Nora Mörk (Györ) and Dutch runners-ups Yvette Broch and Nycke Groot (both Györ). The four also played the Women’s World Championship 2015 final in Herning, Denmark, with the same result.

4 players that are part of the FINAL4 played the 2016 Olympic Games Final in Rio de Janeiro – and all are from the silver-medal winning squad, France: Alexandra Lacrabere, Amandine Leynaud (both Vardar), Camille Ayglon Saurina and Gnonsiane Niombla (both Bucuresti).

5 former or current top scorers of the five previous seasons will be on court in Budapest: Isabelle Gullden (2015/16: 108 goals for Bucuresti), Cristina Neagu (2014/15: 102 goals for Buducnost), Andrea Penezic (2014/15: 102 goals for Vardar), Anita Görbicz (2013/14: 87 goals for Györ and 2011/12: 133 goals for Györ) and Zsuzsanna Tomori (2012/13: 95 goals for FTC, now playing for Györ).

9 different nations have been represented by the previous 23 winners of the Women’s EHF Champions League: Denmark (6), Austria (4 trophies), Hungary (3), Slovenia (2), Montenegro (2), Croatia (1), Spain (1), Macedonia (1), Russia (1), Norway (1), Romania (1).

10 times (including in 2017) in 11 years, Györ made it at least to the semi-finals of the Women’s EHF Champions League. The two-time winners only missed the 2014/15 edition after being knocked out by Vardar in the quarter-finals.

11 times contesting the EHF Champions League Semi-finals is the record, held by Buducnost as of this year. Györ made it to their 10th semi, Vardar to their fourth in a row and Bucuresti to their second straight semi-final.

11 different nations are represented in Vardar’s squad.

14 multiple Women’s EHF Champions League winners will be on court in Budapest.

15 goals were scored by Swedish Gullden for Bucuresti in the 2016 final against Györ, making her the single-match top scorer of all Women’s EHF FINAL4 tournaments in Budapest so far.

19 goals was the impressive overall margin in the Buducnost vs Larvik quarter-finals (66:47).

20 different nations are represented by the squads of the four TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 participants. Brazil and Tunisia are the only two non-European countries.

20 different nations have been represented by the total of 25 clubs that were or still are part of this Women’s EHF Champions League season.

23 of 28 possible points in 14 matches have been taken by Györ and Vardar to top this particular ranking.

40 of the 92 matches since the start of the group phase were attended by 3,000 and more fans.

53 times the home side was victorious since the start of the group phase, compared to 35 away wins in those 92 matches.

+84 goals after 14 matches is Györ’s impressive goal difference.

87 goals have been scored so far by Andrea Penezic (Vardar) to top the current scorer list.

340 goals had been conceded by Györ and Vardar, who have the best defence of all four FINAL4 participants according to this figure.

438 goals were scored in the eight quarter-final matches, which means an average of 54.8 per game.

451 goals have been scored by Vardar in 14 matches to have the best attack of the four FINAL4 participants.

832 Champions League goals so far is the overall tally for Györ playmaker Anita Görbicz.

5,524 goals have been scored in the 2016/17 season of the Women’s EHF Champions League so far, which means an average of 53.1 in each of the 104 matches. 619 goals (average of 51.8) were scored in the qualification stage, 2,515 (52.4) in the group matches, 1,952 (54.2) in the main round and 438 (54.8) in the quarter-finals.

10,000 fans in total saw the two quarter-finals between Metz vs Györ, with 5,000 each for the two legs in the sold-out arenas.

29,108 fans in total attended the eight quarter-final matches, which means an average of 3,639 spectators.

Top lists of the four TIPPMIX EHF FINAL4 participants:
Best attack:
451 goals: Vardar (last season 405)
424 goals: Györ (last season 389)
404 goals: Buducnost (last season 385)
368 goals: Bucuresti (last season 360)

Best defence:
340 goals conceded: Buducnost (last season 307)
340 goals conceded: Györ (last season 308)
349 goals conceded: Bucuresti (last season 340)
375 goals conceded: Vardar (last season 344)

Best goal difference:
+84: Györ (last season +81)
+76: Vardar (last season +61)
+64: Buducnost (last season +78)
+19: Bucuresti (last season +20)

Biggest number of points:
23: Györ 11 wins – 1 draw – 2 defeats (last season 27, including 4 in qualification)
23: Vardar 11 wins – 1 draw – 2 defeats (last season 20)
22: Buducnost 11 wins – 0 draw – 3 defeats (last season 23)
19: Bucuresti 9 wins – 1 draw – 4 defeats (last season 17)

Number of different nations in the official squad lists:
11: Vardar (MKD, GER, RUS, CRO, SRB, FRA, MNE, SLO, NOR, BLR, BRA)
8: Bucuresti (ROU, DEN, SWE, ESP, CRO, FRA, BLR, MNE)
7: Buducnost (MNE, SRB, POL, SLO, ROU, CRO, ESP)
6: Györ (HUN, BRA, NED, CZE, NOR, TUN)

Season records:
Top scorer:
87 goals: Andrea Penezic (CRO/Vradar)
84 goals: Ana Gros (SLO/Metz)
83 goals: Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth-Koren (NOR/Larvik)
81 goals: Stine Jörgensen (DEN/Midtjylland)
80 goals: Cristina Neagu (ROU/Buducnost)

Top scorer still in competition:
87 goals: Andrea Penezic (CRO/Vardar)
80 goals: Cristina Neagu (ROU/Buducnost)
79 goals: Katarina Bulatovic (MNE/Buducnost)
79 goals: Isabelle Gullden (SWE/Bucuresti)
78 goals: Nora Mörk (NOR/Györ)

Lowest number of goals in a single match:
40 goals: Buducnost vs Metz 21:19 (group phase)
40 goals: Thüringer HC vs Glassverket 24:16 (group phase)
42 goals: Rostov vs Bucuresti 20:22 (group phase)
43 goals: Esbjerg vs Midtjylland 22:21 (main round)
44 goals: Vardar vs Metz 23:21 (main round)

Highest number of goals in a single match:
70 goals: Metz vs Vardar 42:28 (main round)
70 goals: Sävehof vs Larvik 32:38 (group phase)
68 goals: Larvik vs Bucuresti 35:33 (main round)
67 goals: Leipzig vs Vardar 22:45 (group phase)
67 goals: Larvik vs Krim 31:36 (group phase)
65 goals: Larvik vs Buducnost 30:35 (quarter-final)

Biggest margins:
23 goals: Leipzig vs Vardar 22:45 (group phase)
17 goals: Vardar vs Leipzig 41:24 (group phase)
19 goals: Metz vs Astrakhanocka 37:18 (main round)
18 goals: Buducnost vs Astrakhanocka 38:20 (main round)
17 goals: Györ vs Krim (39:22), Krim vs Györ 17:34 (main round)
14 goals: Buducnost vs Larvik 31:17 (quarter-final)
14 goals: Vardar vs Astrakhanocka 39:25 (group phase)