Today on 24 February at Gartenhotel Altmannsdorf 2 in Vienna draw of EHF Velux Champions League will take place. After last round this Sunday we know all 16 participants for the upcoming knockout phase.
There will be some “old” names in the draw like last year winner and runners-up Flensburg-Handewitt and THW Kiel and 3rd place match participants FC Barcelona and MKB-MVM Veszprem. We got also Vive Tauron Kielce team that won third place in season 2012/2013.
But first let’s see how the pots for the upcoming draw are looking:
| Pot 4 | Pot 1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Naturhouse La Rioja | THW Kiel | |
| SG Flensburg-Handewitt | FC Barcelona | |
| Montpellier | MKB-MVM Veszprem | |
| Aalborg Handball | KS Vive Tauron Kielce |
| Pot 3 | Pot 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| HC Prvo Plinarsko Drustvo | Paris Saint-Germain | |
| Orlen Wisla Plock | KIF Kolding Kobenhavn | |
| Rhein-Neckar Lowen | HC Vardar | |
| Dunkerque | MOL-Pick Szeged |
How this draw will go on, teams that won 4th (Pot 4) place in group will face teams that won 1st (Pot 1) place in group, also teams that won 2nd (Pot 2) place will go against teams that won 3rd (Pot 3) place. There is no protection against teams from same country, but teams cannot play against each other if they were in the same group. First host will be teams from Pot 4 and Pot 3.
Probably the biggest loser in last round was German powerhouse Flensburg-Handewitt. Before the last round they are holding place in Pot 2 as the second team in Group B behind FC Barcelona. But after surprise lost against Orlen Wisla Plock they drop to 4th place and to Pot 4. And they will have much harder time to replay last year success. If we remove FC Barcelona since they were in the same group, in round 16 we could see replay last year final game between Flensburg-Handewitt and THW Kiel .
Another German giant will have a hard time Rhein-Neckar Lowen. Similar to Flensburg-Handewitt they were holding the 2nd place before the last round but then they got demolished by HC Vardar and drop to third place and Pot 3. If they stayed 2nd their possible opponents would be HC Prvo Plinarsko Drustvo Zagreb, Orlen Wisla Plock or Dunkerque. But now they will have to “choose” one of teams from Paris Saint-Germain, KIF Kolding Kobenhavn or MOL-Pick Szeged.
Draw in Vienna will be interesting and there is a high chance to get some outstanding matches in round of 16.
EHF Velux Champions League Draw: Could last round losses cost final four for Flensburg-Handewitt and Rhein-Neckar Lowen?
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