Both the men's and women's competitions will start the 2025/26 season with two groups of eight teams each, as the participating clubs will have to go through an intense group phase in order to make their way towards the title.
The group phase for the Machineseeker EHF Champions League and EHF Champions League Women will be played in a round-robin format consisting of 14 rounds, after which the top two teams in each group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals. The teams that finish in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth places will contest the play-offs, aiming to secure tickets in the quarter-final line-up. The lowest-ranked two clubs in each group will be eliminated from the competition at the end of the group phase.
Country protection rule will apply for both competition draws whenever possible. Find out how to follow the draw on Friday 27 June at 15:00 CEST.
Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2025/26 group phase draw
The participants of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2025 have been split across two of the three pots announced for the draw, with Füchse Berlin and Barça to be drawn from pot 1, while champions SC Magdeburg and bronze medallists HBC Nantes were placed in pot 2.
The first round is set to take place on 10/11 September 2025, with the group phase matches scheduled until 11/12 March 2026, when the final round will be played. Take a look at the three pots below.
POT 1
GER – Füchse Berlin
ESP – Barça
FRA – Paris Saint-Germain
DEN – Aalborg Håndbold
POL – Orlen Wisla Plock
HUN – One Veszprém HC
POT 2
GER – SC Magdeburg
FRA – HBC Nantes
DEN – GOG
POL – Industria Kielce
HUN – OTP Bank - PICK Szeged
POT 3
ROU – Dinamo Bucuresti
POR – Sporting Clube de Portugal
CRO – HC Zagreb
NOR – Kolstad Håndball
MKD – HC Eurofarm Pelister
