3 EHF EUROPEAN LEAGUE MEN Season 2023/24 1 Foreword EHF President Dear handball friends, After the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 is before the EHF European League 2023/24 main round! Many of the stars that shined for their national team at the record-breaking European championship in Germany in January will return to the spotlights when their club enter the all-new main round of Europe’s second-tier competition in February. No less than three playing positions in the EHF EURO All-star Team were awarded to EHF European League players, with Sporting CP’s Martim Costa (POR) on left back, Rhein-Neckar Löwen’s Juri Knorr (GER) on centre back, and Füchse Berlin’s Mathias Gidsel (DEN) on right back – yet another proof of the strength and depth of the EHF European League as a high-quality club competition. For the 2023/24 season, the playing format of the EHF European League Men underwent a significant change as the number of participants (after qualification) was raised from 24 in previous seasons to 32 in the current campaign. After the thrilling group matches, the competition is now down to the main round as 16 clubs continue their journey and eye the EHF Finals Men 2024 at the Barclays Arena in Hamburg on 25/26 May 2024 as their ultimate destination. While powerhouses like Füchse Berlin, HBC Nantes, Skjern Håndbold, SG FlensburgHandewitt, Sporting CP, or Dinamo Bucuresti are still in the mix, several big-name clubs failed to make the cut for the main round – most notably Sport Lisboa e Benfica, the 2021/22 champions. The main round consists of four groups with four participants each. Teams that already met in the group matches will not face each other again, as the results from their two duels in the group matches now also count for the main round. So, teams can carry over a maximum of four points – but only two clubs have actually managed to achieve this: TSV HannoverBurgdorf in group I, and defending champions Füchse Berlin in group IV. IK Sävehof open group II as leaders with three points, but the situation in group III is completely in the balance as all four teams start on two points. The four winners of the main round groups advance to the quarter-finals directly; the teams finishing second and third will meet in a playoff round for the remaining four quarter-final spots. With not a single club facing an easy path towards the knockout stages, fans will witness a mouth-watering series of main round matches in another battle of epic proportions. No wonder the seasonal campaign for the EHF European League is titled: ‘ALL IN – Greatness is earned.’ Enjoy the main round! Michael Wiederer EHF President
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