The two sides who met in the final in Cologne were not drawn together in the group phase for the upcoming season, with champions SC Magdeburg being placed in group B and Barlinek Industria Kielce in group A.
Magdeburg's placing in group B meant their countrymen THW Kiel were automatically drawn into group A, as were French champions Paris Saint-Germain Handball, who finished fourth at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2023.
OTP Bank – PICK Szeged are also in group A which has somewhat of a Balkan flavour as Croatia's HC Zagreb and HC Eurofarm Pelister of North Macedonia. New boys Kolstad Handball of Norway and Denmark's Aalborg Håndbold complete the group.
Barça will have a chance to gain revenge on Magdeburg for their narrow semi-final defeat; they are joined in group B by first seeds GOG and Telekom Veszprém HC.
Montpellier Handball are back in the premier competition after reaching the EHF Finals Men in May, they are in group B alongside familiar faces ORLEN Wisla Plock, FC Porto and RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko.
The road to Cologne for 2024 begins with a round-robin format, as every team plays the other seven in their group both home and away.
After 14 rounds, the top two teams in each group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals, while the teams that finish in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth places will contest the play-offs. The lowest-ranked two clubs in each group will be eliminated from the competition at the end of the group phase.
The first round is scheduled for 13-14 September 2023, with the exact dates and throw-off times of the matches to be detailed soon.
The draw in full:
GROUP A
A1 - POL - Barlinek Industria Kielce
A2 - FRA - Paris Saint-Germain Handball
A3 - GER - THW Kiel
A4 - CRO - HC Zagreb
A5 - DEN – Aalborg Håndbold
A6 - HUN - OTP Bank – PICK Szeged
A7 - MKD - HC Eurofarm Pelister
A8 - NOR - Kolstad Handball
GROUP B
B1 - DEN - GOG
B2 - HUN - Telekom Veszprém HC
B3 - ESP - Barça
B4 - GER - SC Magdeburg
B5 - POL - ORLEN Wisla Plock
B6 - FRA - Montpellier Handball
B7 - POR - FC Porto
B8 - SLO - RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko
