The Champions League Expands to 24 Teams, and Vardar 1961 Returns Among the Elite

The Champions League Expands to 24 Teams - More Squads, Less Room for Mistakes

Less than two weeks after the end of the season, the draw for the group stage of the men's EHF Champions League 2026/27 was held in Vienna, and it comes with a new format. The number of teams jumped from 16 to 24, split into six groups of four. The top two from each group go to the main round, the third and fourth continue in the European League. Title holders Barcelona are in group E with Montpellier, Dinamo București and Aarhus, while finalists Füchse Berlin drew Veszprém, Porto and Partizan. The start is on 9 and 10 September. A bigger league means more matches and more money for the EHF - but also thinner quality in the opening rounds, where there is now room for teams that previously had no business being here.

Team of the Season: Gidsel There Again, Barça With Four

The EHF announced the team of the 2025/26 season, and the dominance of two clubs is obvious. Barcelona supply four players, Füchse Berlin three, and Denmark - the new European champion - is represented by four of its internationals. In goal is Emil Nielsen (Barcelona), the centre back is the Slovenian Domen Makuc, and at right back again Mathias Gidsel, the player who in recent years has swept up every individual award. The vote is split into four groups - fans, players, coaches and media, each with 25 percent. It sounds democratic, but when the two richest clubs fill almost the entire team, the question is whether this is the best squad of the season or just the most watched.

Greece Knocked on the Door of the Elite - First Time at the EHF EURO

While the big powers carve things up among themselves, a new player is rising in the Balkans. Greece has for the first time in history secured qualification for its women's national team to the EHF EURO, which for a country with no handball tradition is a big leap. Behind it stands a generation of players who grew up together for a long time, like Eleni-Ioanna Kerlidi, who plays beach handball in parallel and won the domestic double with PAOK. „We did not believe we had made it - only when those on the bench began to celebrate did we realise," she says of the decisive match against Spain. The Balkans rarely produce handball stories from scratch - but when they do, they are worth noting, because they show that even without tradition it can be done with hard work.

Vardar 1961 Returns Among the Elite - Nantes, Melsungen and Wisła in the Group

Macedonian handball gets what it wanted: Vardar 1961 returns to the Champions League. On a special invitation from the EHF, the Skopje club is placed in group B alongside French side Nantes, German Melsungen and Polish Wisła Płock. The schedule is tough - starting away at Melsungen on 9/10 September, then Nantes come to Skopje. It is not an easy group, but for a club that fought for years with financial troubles and a fall from the top, simply returning among the best is a victory in itself. Now comes the harder part - to prove the place is earned, not just gifted with an invitation.

Mitrevski With an Assist to Remember, Maluš in the European League's Team

Macedonian handball shone individually too. The goalkeeper of Eurofarm Pelister, Nikola Mitrevski, forced the EHF to honour his spectacular assist to Dejan Manaskov in the match against Barcelona - a goalkeeper who, instead of merely defending, creates a goal against the strongest club in Europe. Meanwhile, Vardar's Slovenian back, Jaka Maluš, was named the best centre back in the team of the EHF European League. Two names, two clubs, one reminder - Macedonian handball can still produce moments that Europe takes note of. The question is whether the clubs around these players will be able to hold on to that class for longer than a single season.