27.06.2014, 07:00
Draw reunites Flensburg with Barcelona

NEWS REPORT: The draw in Vienna has defined all four groups of the new season's group phase. A rematch of a thrilling VELUX EHF FINAL4 semi-final awaits the defending champions from SG Flensburg Handewitt as they will meet the record winners FC Barcelona in Group B.

Draw reunites Flensburg with Barcelona

SG Flensburg-Handewitt, the defending champions of the VELUX EHF Champions League will face FC Barcelona, KIF Kolding, Alingsas HK, Orlen Wisla Plock and the winner of Qualification Group 3 in the new season after the group phase draw determined all four groups. EHF President Jean Brihault and EHF Secretary General Michael Wiederer carried out the draw at the Gartenhotel Altmannsdorf in Vienna.

Xavier O Callaghan, FC Barcelona manager was optimistic about the draw and the encounters ahead: "Many interesting games await us so it will be easy to sell them and people will really like it. The rematch against Flensburg or the return of our former coach Manolo Cadenas to Barcelona with Plock are nice stories which will certainly attract the interest of our fans."

"It is important to play the Champons League, there is much more intensity in this competition than in our Asobal."

Flensburg's Dierk Schmäschke was in a determined mood after discovering his team's fate: "New season starts and we are prepared for the new season. We will try to defend our title, but that will not be easy. We are very happy about this group, a really interesting one. We have Barcelona, we have Kolding, one team from Sweden and Plock with Marcin Lijewski, therefore I am sure our fans will be very satisfied.“

The first round is scheduled for 24-28 September followed with seven more rounds before Christmas. The last two rounds will be played only in February after the World Championship in Qatar. The four best teams of each group will qualify for the Last 16.

VELUX EHF Champions League Group Phase:

Group A

THW Kiel (GER)

HC Metalurg (MKD)

RK Zagreb (CRO)

Naturhouse La Rioja (ESP)

PSG HB (FRA)

Winner Qualification Group 1

Group B

FC Barcelona (ESP)

KIF Kolding (DEN)

Alingsas HK (SWE)

Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)

SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)

Winner Qualification Group 3

Group C

MKB-MVM Veszprem (HUN)

RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko (SLO)

Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS)

Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER)

HC Vardar (MKD)

Montpellier AH (FRA)

Group D

KS Vive Targi Kielce (POL)

Dunkerque Grand Littoral (FRA)

Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI)

Pick Szeged (HUN)

Aalborg Handbold (DEN)

Winner Qualification Group 2

Semi-final pairings of the VELUX EHF Champions League Qualification groups (6-7 September 2014):

Group 1
Brest Meshkov (BLR) vs Targos Bevo HC (NED)
HC Vojvodina Novi Sad (SRB) vs Tatran Presov (SVK)

Group 2
HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) vs Junior Fasano (ITA)
FC Porto (POR) vs Alpla HC Hard (AUT)

Group 3
HCM Constanta (ROU) vs Hubo Initia Hasselt (BEL)
Haslum HK (NOR) vs Besiktas JK (TUR)

Order of the right to host tournaments: Row 3*, Row 1, Row 4, Row 2

* as Presov hosted the qualification group last year, their right passed automatically to Row 1 (Brest Meshkov)

Playing dates of the group phase:

Round 1: 24-28 September 2014
Round 2: 1-5 October 2014
Round 3: 8-12 October 2014
Round 4: 15-19 October 2014
Round 5: 12-16 November 2014
Round 6: 19-23 November 2014
Round 7: 26-30 November 2014
Round 8: 3-6 December 2014
Round 9: 11-15 February 2015
Round 10: 18-22 February 2015

TEXT: EHF / br
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