Quarter-final debutants Brest and defending champions Györ top the charts

After 36 matches, the Main Round of the DELO WOMEN’S EHF Champions League came to an end on Sunday and now only eight quarter-final games separate Europe’s best clubs from the DELO Women’s EHF FINAL4 in Budapest on 9/10 May 2020.

Taking those 36 matches and the 24 group matches which carried into the main round into account, defending champions Györ are still the only unbeaten team with eleven victories and one draw against Brest on their tally.

Eight teams from six countries have progressed to the quarter-finals, including two first-timers, Brest and Esbjerg, with two teams from France, for the first time, and Romania.

Here are the most important facts and figures of the DELO WOMEN’S EHF Champions League main round.

0 quarter-finals see teams from the same country facing each other.

0 teams finished the main round on zero points, the lowest total was two points for Sävehof, which they earned in the group matches.

0 team won all of their main round matches.

0 club has participated in all six previous editions of the EHF FINAL4: Györ and Vardar have each been a part of five tournaments, Buducnost made it to Budapest four times so far.

1 quarter-finalist is still unbeaten, Györ. After six group matches victories, the defending champions won five main round matches and drew once against Brest Bretagne.

1 quarter-final duel is composed by former EHF Champions League winners: CSM Bucuresti (winners in 2016) against the team they beat in that final, Györ (winners in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019).

1 team has defended its title in Budapest: Györ in 2014, 2018 and 2019.

1 match of the 2019/20 season - the 38:38 draw between Vipers and Metz - ended with more than 70 goals.

2 nations are represented by two quarter-finalists each, Romania (Bucharest and Valcea) and France (Metz and Brest) for the first time.

2 teams are debutants in the quarter-finals: Team Esbjerg (DEN) and Brest Bretagne (FRA). Both finished second in their main round groups.

2 teams lost all six of their main round matches: Sävehof and last season’s EHF FINAL4 participants Vipers.

3 teams, which were part of the DELO WOMEN’S EHF FINAL4 2019, are still in competition: finalists Györ and Rostov as well as fourth ranked team Metz.

3 main round matches were attended by 5,000 fans or more, all at Györ.

3 of the 36 main round matches (and three of those 24 games from the group matches, which were taken to the next stage) ended in a draw.

3 former EHF Champions League winners, with a total of eight trophies, are still in the race for the 2019/20 title: Györ (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019), Bucharest (2016) and Buducnost (2012, 2015).

5 teams which have already reached an EHF FINAL4 event have qualified for the quarter-finals: Györ (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), Buducnost (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), Bucharest (2016, 2017, 2018), Rostov (2018, 2019) and Metz (2019).

5 main round matches ended with a winning margin of 10 or more goals, all of them in Group II. Up from six last season.

5 of last season’s quarter-finalists are back this season: Györ, Rostov, Bucharest, Buducnost and Metz. Brest, Valcea and Esbjerg replace Odense, FTC and Vipers.

6 quarter-final appearances in a row for Buducnost, from which they have progressed to Budapest four times.

6 main round matches ended with 45 goals or fewer.

6 nations are represented by the eight quarter-finalists: France (2), Romania (2), Hungary, Denmark, Russia and Montenegro.  Last year, there were seven nations, with Norway missing out this season.

7 - for the sixth straight time since 2014, Papp Laszlo Arena in Budapest will host the EHF FINAL4.

11 from 12 points in Györ’s six main round matches was the best record, followed by Brest and Esbjerg on nine points, while Rostov and CSM both earned eight.

15 goals was the largest winning margin in the 36 main round matches, when Valcea beat Krim 31:16.  

13 main round matches ended with 60 or more goals. Down from 16 last season.

14 main round matches were attended by 3,000 or more spectators, seven in each group.

16 times, including the 2019/20 season, Buducnost have reached the quarter-finals. Györ follow them with 14 participations, ahead of CSM Bucuresti (5) and Valcea (4).

19 from 20 possible points were taken by Györ in the main round, ahead of Brest (17) and the trio of Metz, Esbjerg and Rostov on 13 points.

23 matches saw the away team emerge victorious, nine in group 1, 14 in group 2.

31 matches saw the home team win, 17 times in group 1 and 14 times in group 2.  

37 matches is Györ’s current unbeaten streak in the competition.

40 goals in the match Sävehof vs Valcea (17:23) was the lowest score in the main round.

50 goals were scored by CSM Bucuresti star Cristina Neagu in the six main round matches, ahead of Buducnost’s Jovanka Radicevic on 48.

+58 goals of Brest is the best overall goal difference in the main round, ahead of Györ (+57) and Metz (+19).

97 goals scored by current top scorer Jovanka Radicevic (Buducnost), ahead of FTC’s Katrin Klujber (84) and Brest’s Ana Gros (78).

131 goals were scored in both main round duels between Vipers and Esbjerg (66 and 65).

161 victories (plus 15 draws and 40 defeats) in 216 Women’s EHF Champions League matches so far put Györ top of the all-time ranking, ahead of Buducnost (258 matches, 143 victories, 22 draws and 93 defeats).

250 goals conceded by CSM Bucuresti is the best defensive record in the main round, just two goals ahead of Györ and Valcea (252 each) and three ahead of Brest (253).

250 matches in the EHF Champions League was reached by Krim in their final main round match against Buducnost. The 29:23 win was the 126th victory, only Buducnost, Györ and Hypo Niederösterreich have won more matches in the competition.

311 goals scored by Brest gives them the best attacking record, ahead of Györ (309) and the duo of Metz and Esbjerg (289).

1,972 goals were scored in the 36 main round matches, 1,014 in group 1,958 in group 2. The average per match is 54.77 goals, compared to 55.60 in the group matches.

4,849 goals have been scored in total so far in the 2019/20 season. 206 in qualification, 2,671 in the group matches and 1,972 in the main round.

5,437 spectators attended Györ vs Buducnost, the highest main round attendance.

15,960 fans in total attended Györ’s three main round matches. The three CSM main round matches were attended by 12,500 fans, putting them just ahead of Metz with 12,063 fans at their three home matches.

Top 5s after the main round:

Best attack:
311 goals scored: Brest
309 goals scored: Györ
289 goals scored: Metz
289 goals scored: Esbjerg
281 goals scored: Vipers

Best defence:
250 goals conceded:  CSM Bucuresti
252 goals conceded: Györ
252 goals conceded: Valcea
253 goals conceded: Brest
266 goals conceded: Buducnost
266 goals conceded: Rostov

Best overall goal difference:
+58 goals: Brest
+57 goals: Györ
+19 goals: Metz
+13 goals: Rostov
+10 goals: Esbjerg

Most goals in a single match:
76: Vipers vs Metz 38:38 (GM)
68: FTC vs Podravka 37:31 (GM)
67: Buducnost vs Brest 32:35 (GM)
67: Bietigheim vs Brest 32:35 (GM)
67: Most vs Györ 21:46 (GM)
66: Vipers vs Esbjerg 31:35 (MR)
66: FTC vs Rostov 31:35 (MR)

Fewest goals in a single match:
40: Sävehof vs Valcea 17:23 (MR)
41: Valcea vs Buducnost 20:21 (GM)
42:Buducnost vs Valcea 23:19 (GM)
43: Metz vs Rostov 23:20 (MR)
43: Metz vs Vipers 26:17 (GM)
43: Sävehof vs Most 24:19 (GM)

Biggest winning margin:
+25 goals: Most vs Györ 21:46  (GM)
+16 goals: Bucuresti vs Lublin 35:19 (GM)
+15 goals: Valcea vs Krim 31:16 (MR)
+14 goals: Metz vs Podravka 40:26 (GM)
+13 goals: Esbjerg vs Lublin 35:22 (GM)
+13 goals: Brest vs Valcea 37:24 (G)

Spectators:
5,437: Györ vs Buducnost (MR)
5,329: Györ vs Valcea (MR)
5,250: Györ vs Krim (GM)
5,194: Györ vs Brest (MR)
5,179: Györ vs Most (GM)
5,127: Györ vs Sävehof (GM)
4,800: Bucharest vs Esbjerg (GM)
4,572: Bucharest vs Rostov (GM)
4,500: Bucharest vs Vipers (MR)

Top scorers:
97 goals: Jovanka Radicevic (MNE/Buducnost)
84 goals: Katrin Klujber (HUN/FTC)
78 goals: Ana Gros (SLO/Brest)
74 goals: Estevana Polman (NED/Esbjerg)
72 goals: Cristina Neagu (ROU/CSM)

MR = Main Round, GM = Group Matches