4 teams, 3 countries, 2 former champions, 1 coveted trophy

The line-up for the 16th edition of the pinnacle event of European men's club handball on Saturday and Sunday (14/15 June) also includes HBC Nantes and Füchse Berlin. Neither have won the trophy before, but one of them will have the chance to play in this year’s final. Füchse superstar Mathias Gidsel is close to becoming the top scorer of the EHF Champions League for the first time.

Here is all you need to know before the TruckScout 24 EHF FINAL4 2025:

0 semi-finals will be played between teams from the same country, but a third all-German final, after 2007 and 2014's meetings between THW Kiel and SG Flensburg-Handewitt, is possible

1 team only that secured a direct ticket to the quarter-finals also qualified for the TruckScout4 EHF FINAL4: Barça. Group winners One Veszprém and runners-up Aalborg Håndbold and Sporting CP failed to reach the final weekend

1 quarter-final, between Magdeburg and Veszprém, ended in a draw (26:26)

1 team only has managed to defend the trophy since the implementation of the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne in 2010: Barça, winners of the 2021 final against Aalborg and the 2022 final against Kielce. Now the record winners could do it again, after winning the 2024 final against Aalborg

1 pairing of the semi-finals made up a previous Machineseeker EHF Champions League semi-final: Barça versus Magdeburg. SCM made it to the final on their debut in Cologne in 2023, after winning the semi-final clash following overtime and a penalty shootout

1 goal was the smallest overall margin of victory in the quarter-finals, in Magdeburg’s 54:53 aggregate victory against Veszprém, decided by Gisli Kristjansson’s buzzer-beater; ahead of a two-goal difference in the duel between Barça and OTP Bank - Pick Szeged (56:54)

1 IHF World Handball Player of the Year is still in the competition, making it to Cologne for the first time: Füchse Berlin right back Mathias Gidsel, who won the award in 2023 and 2024

1 former EHF Champions League top scorer is still part of the competition: Aleix Gómez (Barça, top scorer in the 2021/22 season)

2 former EHF Champions League finalists were knocked out in the semi-finals: Aalborg and Veszprém 

2 teams won both legs of the quarter-finals: Berlin (against Aalborg) and Nantes (against Sporting CP)

2 of the eight quarter-final matches were won by the home teams, while five clashes were won by the away teams and one was a draw

2 German teams made it to Cologne for the sixth time since 2010: Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Hamburg participated in 2011; Kiel and Berlin in 2012; Kiel and Hamburg in 2013; Flensburg and Kiel qualified for the final weekend in 2014; and Kiel and Magdeburg were the two German clubs present in 2024

2 former or current EHF Champions League winners, representing 13 trophies, are back in Cologne: Barça (11) and Magdeburg (2)

2 players are in the race for their sixth individual EHF Champions League title: Aitor Ariño and Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (both Barça), but Perez de Vargas will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury. Both will transfer to Germany next season: Ariño to Berlin and Perez de Vargas to Kiel

2 coaches of the semi-finalists have previously won the EHF Champions League while at the helm of their current clubs: Carlos Ortega (Barça, with Barça) and Bennet Wiegert (Magdeburg, with Magdeburg); both have also won the competition as players of their current clubs

2 participants from the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2024 are also part of the competition this year: Barça and Magdeburg. Kiel did not qualify for the EHF Champions League, while Aalborg fell in the quarter-finals against Berlin

3 MVPs of the previous EHF FINAL4 tournaments are still part of the competition: Melvyn Richardson (Barça/2024), Gisli Kristjansson (Magdeburg/2023) and Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (Barça/2021)

3 matches so far have been attended by more than 10,000 fans, all in the group phase: two of them in Zagreb (13,524 fans against Kolstad Håndbold and 11,732 fans against Barça) and one in Nantes (10,356 fans against Magdeburg)

3 different countries (the same number as in the previous season) are represented by the four semi-finalists: Germany (two teams), France and Spain (one team each). The only change compared to the previous season is that no Danish team qualified for the final weekend, while one French team is still in the competition

4 — which means all — participants of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025 have previously reached Cologne; three (all except Berlin) have previously reached the final

4 players have scored more than 1,000 goals in EHF Champions League history. The list is topped by Kiril Lazarov (1,482), while Timur Dibirov has just finished his international career ranked second with 1,214 goals, as his club HC Zagreb failed to qualify for the knockout stage

5 people have won the EHF Champions League as a player and a coach: Ortega, Wiegert, Talant Dujshebaev, Roberto Parrondo and Filip Jicha

6 matches since the start of the group phase ended in a margin of victory of 10 or more goals, including one in the play-offs, but none in the quarter-finals

6 quarter-final matches — in Berlin, Nantes, Szeged, Veszprém, Magdeburg and Aalborg — were attended by more than 5,000 fans

6 countries are represented by the previous 31 EHF Champions League champions: Spain (17 titles), Germany (eight), France (two), North Macedonia (two), Poland and Slovenia (one each).

6 of the 15 total titles of the previous EHF FINAL4 events were won by teams still in the race for the trophy: Barça (five) and Magdeburg (one)

7 times since 2010 and including the current season, the defending champions have made it to Cologne: Barça in 2012, 2022, 2023 and 2025, Kiel in 2013, Vardar in 2018 and Magdeburg in 2024

7 — for the seventh consecutive time, Barça have qualified for the EHF FINAL4, for Magdeburg this is the third participation in a row

8 goals was the biggest winning margin in a single quarter-final: Berlin’s 37:29 win against Aalborg

8 times — Carlos Ortega has won the EHF Champions League six times as a player and twice as Barça’s coach. After winning the trophy in 2024, the Spaniard passed the previous record holder Andrej Xepkin, who won the trophy seven times as a player for Barça (six times) and Kiel.

10 times in the 128 matches since the start of the group phase, 70 or more goals were scored, including Berlin’s 40:36 win at Aalborg in the quarter-finals

10 different Spanish coaches have steered their teams to an overall of 20 EHF Champions League trophies so far: Valero Rivera (five), Talant Dujshebaev (four), Xavi Pascual (three), Carlos Ortega (two), Javier Cuesta, Julian Ruiz, Francisco Equisoain, Francesc Espar, Raul Gonzalez and Roberto Parrondo (one each). Dujshebaev (Kielce in 2016), Parrondo (Vardar in 2019) and Gonzalez (Vardar 2017) were the only ones to win the trophy with non-Spanish teams

11 matches since the start of the group phase ended in draws, the 26:26 tie between Magdeburg and Veszprém was the only one in the quarter-finals

11 times (1995-2000, 2011, 2015, 2021, 2022, 2024) FC Barcelona have won the EHF Champions League, making them the record winner. In addition, they won the forerunner competition, the Champions Cup, once

12 goals was the biggest overall margin of victory in the quarter-finals: Berlin’s 77:65 aggregate win against Aalborg

13 — Barça have reached the EHF FINAL4 13 times in 16 editions, ahead of Kiel (nine), Veszprém (seven) and Paris Saint-Germain (six). Magdeburg and Nantes are on their third participations, Berlin their second

13 years after their debut in Cologne, Füchse Berlin are back in the LANXESS arena, in only their third EHF Champions League season

17 times have Spanish teams won the EHF Champions League — Barça (11), Ciudad Real (three), TEKA Santander, Bidasoa Irun and Portland San Antonio (one each)

18 goals is the biggest winning margin since the start of the group matches, when Sporting won 37:18 at Fredericia Håndbold Klub, ahead of 17 goals in Nantes’ 44:27 win against Kolstad (both in the group phase)

19 matches played by Veszprém’s Aron Palmarsson at EHF FINAL4 events, a record

20 goals were scored by Berlin’s Mathias Gidsel in the quarter-finals: 11 in the first leg, nine in the second. The Dane was ahead of Dika Mem (17 for Barça) and the Szeged players Marko Sostaric (16) and Sebastian Frimmel (15)

28 years — the length of time, since 1997, that Barça did not lose a knockout match at home in the EHF Champions League, before they were defeated by Szeged 30:29 in the second quarter-final leg this year

30 times (including the current season) Veszprém have been part of the EHF Champions League; Barça are on their 28th season and the record holders are Zagreb with 31 participations

39 goals is the lowest score since the start of the group matches, when HC Eurofarm Pelister beat Orlen Wisla Plock 21:18, ahead of 40 goals in HC Zagreb’s 22:18 victory against Magdeburg.

66 times since the start of the group phase, including three in the quarter-finals, 60 or more goals were scored in a single match

68 of the 128 matches since the start of the group matches were attended by 5,000 or more fans

70 matches since the start of the group phase (including two quarter-final games) were won by the home teams, 47 (including five in the quarter-finals) by the visitors, and there have been 11 draws

78 goals is the highest combined score since the start of the group phase, when Paris won 40:38 at Berlin, ahead of 76 goals in Berlin’s 40:36 victory in Aalborg in the quarter-finals and 74 goals in the Berlin vs Kielce play-off (37:37)

96 of the 128 matches so far were attended by 3,000 or more fans, including seven in the quarter-finals

130 goals were scored by Mario Sostaric (Szeged) to be the top scorer after the quarter-finals ahead of Gidsel (126) and his Berlin teammate Lasse Andersson (107)

309 victories in 402 EHF Champions League matches (plus 25 draws and 68 defeats) were taken by Barça so far to top the all-time EHF Champions League table

476 goals were scored in the quarter-finals (topped by 142 in the Berlin against Aalborg duels), for an average of 59.5 goals per match

616 goals have been scored by Füchse Berlin so far in 18 matches (an average of 34.22 per match), giving them the top attack

7,648 goals have been scored since the start of the season, including 6,691 goals in the 112 group matches, 481 in the play-offs and 476 in the quarter-finals: an overall average of 59.75 goals per match

13,524 fans at the group match between Zagreb and Kolstad is the highest attendance so far; the biggest number of fans in the quarter-finals watched Berlin play Aalborg (8,520)

Top 5 since the start of the group phase:

Top scorers:
130 goals: Mario Sostaric (CRO/Szeged)
126 goals: Mathias Gidsel (DEN/Berlin)
107 goals: Lasse Andersson (DEN/Berlin)
105 goals: Martim Costa (POR/Sporting)
104 goals: Kamil Syprzak (POL/Paris)

Top scorers still in competition:
126 goals: Mathias Gidsel (DEN/Berlin)
107 goals: Lasse Andersson (DEN/Berlin)
84 goals: Aymeric Minne (FRA/Nantes)
80 goals: Valero Rivera (ESP/Nantes)
72 goals: Julien Bos (FRA/Nantes)

Highest-scoring matches:
78 goals: Füchse Berlin vs Paris Saint-Germain 38:40 (GP)
76 goals: Aalborg Håndbold vs Füchse Berlin 36:40 (QF)
74 goals: Füchse Berlin vs Industria Kielce 37:37 (PO)
73 goals: Dinamo Bucuresti vs Paris Saint-Germain 33:40 (GP)
71 goals: Fredericia Håndbold Klub vs One Veszprém HC 31:40 (GP)
71 goals: Paris Saint-Germain vs Füchse Berlin 34:37 (GP)
71 goals: HBC Nantes vs Kolstad Håndbold 44:27 (GP)
71 goals: Aalborg Håndbold vs Barça 36:35 (GP)

Lowest-scoring matches:
39 goals: HC Eurofarm Pelister vs Orlen Wisla Plock 21:18 (GP)
40 goals: HC Zagreb vs SC Magdeburg 22:18 (GP)
43 goals: HBC Nantes vs Industria Kielce 23:20 (GP)
44 goals: Orlen Wisla Plock vs HC Eurofarm Pelister 26:18 (GP)
47 goals: Orlen Wisla Plock vs Paris Saint-Germain 23:24 (GP)

Biggest winning margins:
+18 goals: Fredericia Håndbold Klub vs Sporting 19:37 (GP)
+17 goals: HBC Nantes vs Kolstad Håndbold 44:27 (GP)
+13 goals: One Veszprém HC vs Paris Saint-Germain 41:28 (GP)
+11: Sporting CP vs Paris Saint-Germain 39:28 (GP)
+10 goals: Füchse Berlin vs HC Eurofarm Pelister 39:29 (GP)
+8 goals: Füchse Berlin vs Aalborg Håndbold 37:29 (QF)

Attendances:
13,524: HC Zagreb vs Kolstad Håndbold (GP)
11,732: HC Zagreb vs Barça (GP)
10,356: HBC Nantes vs SC Magdeburg (GP)
8,819: Füchse Berlin vs Industria Kielce (PO)
8,520: Füchse Berlin vs. Aalborg Håndbold (QF)

(GP = group phase, PO = play-offs, QF = quarter-finals)

Main photo © Eroll Popova; feature photos © Marc Graupera, FOTO LAECHLER, HBC Nantes