If the 2023-2024 season is not yet completely over, since the Paris Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11) will begin in less than a month, French clubs will already be able to plan for the next season.
The draws for the group stages of the Champions League will take place this Thursday in Vienna (Austria), at 5:30 p.m. for the women and 6:10 p.m. for the men. The opportunity for Metz, Brest, Paris and Nantes to know their opponents in the most prestigious club competition in Europe.
Metz among the favorites, Brest in the third hat
Champions of France and semi-finalists of the last Champions League, Messines will logically be in the first of the four hats during the draw.
A definite advantage since the Dragonnes are guaranteed to avoid two teams including Ferencvaros, Kristiansand and Esbjerg. Brest Bretagne Handball, which benefited from an invitation from the European Federation (EHF) last week, will appear in pot 3.
The Breton club will therefore be sure to fall against the big names, a situation which can be explained by the second place in the championship and the premature elimination in the round of 16 of C1. Still on the women’s side, four teams absent last season will take part in the competition: Storhamar, Nyköbing, Koprivnica and Bistrita.
Nantes back in the European elite
Among the men, Paris Saint-Germain, which reached the quarter-finals of the C1 this season, will appear in pot 1 alongside Barcelona, Magdeburg, Plock, Aalborg and Veszprem.
Largely absent from this next Champions League, the German club Kiel is replaced by Berlin in hat 2. Present in the European League (C2) this season, Nantes will return to the elite next season.
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Like the BBH, the H also benefited from an invitation from the EHF. Valero Rivera and his partners will also be present in the second hat. If the draws will therefore take place this Thursday, the women’s competition will resume on September 7 and the men’s on September 11.
Women’s draw hats
Hat 1: Ferencvaros (Hungary), Kristiansand (Norway), Esbjerg (Denmark), Metz (France)
Hat 2: CSM Bucharest (Romania), Ludwigsburg (formerly Bietigheim, Germany), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Podgorica (Montenegro)
Chapeau 3: Koprivnica (Croatia), Györ (Hungary), Storhamar (Norway), Nyköbing (Denmark), Brest (France)Rapid Bucarest (Romania)
Hat 4: Odense (Denmark), Bistrita (Romania)
Hats for the men’s draw
Chapeau 1 : FC Barcelone (Espagne), Magdebourg (Allemagne), Plock (Poland), Aalborg (Denmark), Veszprem (Hungary), Paris-SG (France)
Hat 2: Berlin (Germany), Kielce (Poland), Fredericia (Denmark), Szeged (Hungary), Nantes (France)
Pot 3: Dinamo Bucharest (Romania), Zagreb (Croatia), Sporting CP (Portugal), Kolstad (Norway), Bitola (North Macedonia)
