1 debutant, 1 record winner, two teams aiming for their first final

Before the EHF FINAL4, here are the most important Facts and Figures of the EHF Champions League Women 2023/24.

0 teams from the same country will face each other at the EHF FINAL4, as the four participants arrive from four different countries.

1 former EHF Champions League winner – Györ – qualified for their ninth edition of the Women’s EHF FINAL4. They are the record champions with five trophies, winning four (2014, 2017-2019) in Budapest.

1 – Bietigheim are the first German team ever to qualify for the EHF FINAL4, and are the first German semi-finalists since Walle Bremen, 29 years ago.

1 – Bietigheim are the first team to make it to the EHF FINAL4 after finishing sixth in the group phase.

1 player, still in the competition, can win her seventh EHF Champions League trophy: Nora Mørk (Esbjerg).

1 of the four head coaches at the EHF FINAL4 has previously won the EHF Champions League: Jakob Vestergaard (Bietigheim), in 2009 and 2010 with Viborg.

1 match since the start of this season's group phase ended with a margin of 20 or more goals, when Odense won 44:20 at Sävehof.

2 teams which were part of the EHF FINAL4 2023 are back in Budapest: Györ and Esbjerg, who duelled in the bronze medal match. Neither of last year's finalists, Vipers Kristiansand and FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria, qualified.

2 teams have previously managed to defend their trophy at the EHF FINAL4 in Budapest: Györ in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and Vipers in 2021, 2022 and 2023. By winning the 2019 edition of the tournament, Györ were the first-ever women’s side to win the EHF Champions League three times in a row, before Vipers followed suit.

2 former EHF Champions League winners were eliminated in the quarter-finals: CSM Bucuresti (2016) and Vipers (2021-2023).

2 – Vipers are only the second-ever defending champions not to have made it to Budapest since the EHF FINAL4 was first played there in 2014; the first was Györ in 2015.

2 quarter-final matches were attended by 5,000 or more fans – CSM vs Metz (5,000) and Györ vs Vipers (5,209), closely followed by the match in Metz (4,935).

2 teams won both legs of the quarter-finals, Metz and Esbjerg. Bietigheim and Györ won their first legs, but lost the second legs.

2 goals was the closest overall margin in the quarter-finals: Bietigheim's 60:58 aggregate win against Odense. In the play-offs, the German champions won by exactly the same margin, also against a Danish team, Ikast.

2 head coaches of the four semi-finalists have been part of previous EHF FINAL4 events: Emmanuel Mayonnade (Metz, with Metz) and Jesper Jensen (Esbjerg, with Esbjerg)

3 countries have seen two of their clubs lift the EHF Champions League Women: Norway has had Larvik and Vipers; Györ and Dunaferr represent Hungary; and Denmark has produced Slagelse and Viborg. The remaining countries have been represented by only one winner since 1994.

3 – for the third time, Esbjerg (2022, 2023, 2024) and Metz (2019, 2022, 2024) have made it to Budapest. Neither has ever reached the finals.

3 former or current female IHF World Players of the Year have made it to Budapest: Sandra Toft (Györ/2021), Stine Oftedal (Györ/2019) and Henny Reistad (Esbjerg/2023).

4 countries and four clubs are represented by the nine EHF FINAL4 Women winners since its introduction in 2014: Hungary (four titles), Norway (three), Montenegro and Romania.

5 times in 128 matches since the start of the group phase, the two teams scored 45 or fewer goals combined – but not in the quarter-finals.

5 matches since the start of the group phase were attended by 5,000 or more fans, including two in the quarter-finals.

7 goals was the biggest winning margin in a single quarter-final match, when Györ won 30:23 at Vipers.

9 – for the ninth time, Györ have qualified for the EHF FINAL4. The only year they missed out was 2015.

9 goals was the biggest overall margin of victory in the quarter-finals: Metz vs CSM, 56:47.

9 – for the ninth time in 10 editions of the EHF FINAL4 Women the participating clubs come from four different countries. The only exception was in 2023, when FTC and Györ both qualified for the final tournament on home soil.

9 of 128 matches since the start of the group phase ended in draws: seven group matches, two play-offs, and no quarter-finals.

9 times in 128 matches since the start of the group phase, the two teams scored 70 or more goals combined, although not in the quarter-finals or the play-offs

10 goals were scored in the first leg at FTC by Esbjerg’s Henny Reistad to be the individual top scorer in a single quarter-final match.

11 nations represent the previous winners of the EHF Champions League Women: Denmark and Hungary (six titles each); Austria and Norway (four each); Slovenia and Montenegro (two each); and North Macedonia, Spain, Croatia, Russia and Romania (one title each).

15 different clubs have been or will be part of the 10 EHF FINAL4 events so far, including 2024: Györ (nine times); Vardar (five times); Buducnost and Vipers (four times each); CSM, Metz and Esbjerg (three each); Rostov (twice); Midtjylland, Volgograd, Larvik, CSKA, Brest, FTC and Bietigheim (all once).

15 goals were scored across the two legs by Cristina Neagu (CSM) to be top scorer of the quarter-finals ahead of Henny Reistad (Esbjerg), Andrea Hansen (Odense) and Chloe Valentini (Metz) with 13 goals each.

24 goals was the biggest winning margin in the 128 matches since the start of the group phase, when Odense won 44:20 at Sävehof, ahead of +19 goals in Györ vs Sävehof (39:20) and five matches with a 18-goal-margin (all in the group phase).

40 goals in Brest Bretagne and WHC Buducnost BEMAX's 20:20 draw is the lowest score of the season, ahead of 43 goals in the game between CS Rapid Bucuresti and FTC (20:23), and three matches with 45 goals (all in the group phase).

43 of 128 matches from the start of the group phase were attended by 3,000 or more fans – 36 group matches, three play-off matches and four quarter-finals.

46 of 128 matches since the start of the group phase ended in a margin of 10 or more goals, although none in the play-offs or the quarter-finals.

48 times in 128 matches since the start of the group phase, the fans saw 60 or more goals – 46 times in the group phase, once each in the play-offs and the quarter-finals.

50 goals was the lowest total score of a single quarter-final match, when Vipers won 26:24 at Györ.

55 times in 128 matches since the start of the group phase, the away team was the winner: 48 times in the group matches, three times in the play-offs and four times in the quarter-finals.

62 goals was the highest total score in a single quarter-final match, when Odense beat Bietigheim 32:30.

64 times in 128 matches since the start of the group phase the home team was victorious: 57 times in group matches, three times in the play-offs and four times in the quarter-finals.

75 goals scored in Metz vs Ikast (36:39) and Vipers vs Esbjerg (37:38) are the highest scores of the season, ahead of 73 goals in FTC vs Ikast (37:36).

97 goals have been scored by Metz's Sarah Bouktit, making her the top scorer among the players still left in the competition.

113 goals were scored by 2023 EHF FINAL4 MVP Anna Vyakhireva (Vipers), making her the top scorer after the quarter-finals. The Russian right back is ahead of Cristina Neagu (CSM/103), Valeriia Maslova (Brest/101), Markéta Jeřábková (Ikast) and Katrin Kluijber (FTC/both on 100 goals).

428 goals were scored in the eight quarter-final matches, an average of 53.5.

1,132 EHF Champions League goals have been scored by Cristina Neagu over her career including 15 in the quarter-finals; this means the Romanian legend is only nine goals shy of all-time top scorer Jovanka Radicevic (Krim/1141).

5,230 fans at the play-off match between Krim and CSM was the highest attendance since the start of the season ahead of 5,208 fans at the Györ vs Vipers quarter-final, 5,038 fans at Györ vs CSM, 5,007 at Györ vs Odense and 5,000 in the quarter-final between CSM and Metz.

7,144 goals were scored in the 128 matches of this season played so far, including 6,261 goals in the 112 group matches and 455 goals in the play-offs, an average of 55.8 goals.

9,935 fans in total saw the two quarter-finals between CSM vs Metz.

Season statistics:

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

Biggest winning margins:

+24 goals: Sävehof vs Odense (20:44/GP)
+19 goals: Györ vs Sävehof (39:20/GP)
+18 goals: Bieitgheim vs Buducnost (34:16/GP)
+18 goals: Györ vs Buducnost (37:19/GP)
+18 goals: Odense vs Sävehof (40:22/GP)
+ 18 goals: Lubin vs Krim (18:36/GP)

…

+7 goals: Vipers vs Györ (23:30/QF))

Highest-scoring matches:

75 goals: Metz vs Ikast (36:39/GP)
75 goals: Vipers vs Esbjerg (37:38/GP)
73 goals: FTC vs Ikast (37:36) /GP
71 goals: Odense vs Bietigheim (42:29/GP)
71 goals: Metz vs Krim (40:31/GP)
71 goals: Esbjerg vs Ikast (37:34/GP)

…

62 goals: Odense vs Bieitgheim (32:30/QF)

Lowest-scoring matches:

40 goals: Brest vs Budunost (20:20/GP)
43 goals: Rapid vs FTC (20:23/GP)
45 goals: Lubin vs Rapid (21:24/GP)
45 goals: Sävehof vs. Brest (20:25/GP)
45 goals: Brest vs CSM (24:21/GP)

…50 goals: Györ vs Vipers (24:26/QF)

Top scorers:

113 goals: Anna Vyakhireva (Vipers)
103 goals: Cristina Neagu (CSM)
101: Valeriia Maslova (Brest)
100 goals: Markéta Jeřábková (Ikast)
100 goals: Katrin Klujber (FTC)

Top scorers still in the competition:
97 goals: Sarah Bouktit (Metz)
91 goals: Kristina Jörgensen (Metz)
91 goals: Nora Mørk (Esbjerg)
89 goals: Henny Reistad (Esbjerg)
89 goals: Chloé Valentini (Metz)

Attendance:

5,230 spectators: Krim vs CSM (PO)
5,209 spectators: Györ vs Vipers (QF)
5,038 spectators: Györ vs CSM (GP)
5,007 spectators: Györ vs Odense (GP)
5,000 spectators: CSM vs Metz (QF)

Photos © Aniko Kovacs, KEVIN CLEMENT, Marco Wolf, nhcfoto.dk