The playing times for the first 10 rounds of the EHF Champions League Men 2022/23 — all matches taking place in 2022 — have been confirmed, along with an additional three rounds of the EHF Champions League Women 2022/23 group phase after the opening six rounds were already announced.
As has been the case since the current format of the EHF Champions League Men was introduced in the 2020/21 season, all group phase matches will be played in fixed time slots on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The opening day of the 2022/23 season, on 14 September, will feature both finalists from 2021/22. Title holders Barça will get their new season campaign underway in Hungary, as they meet Pick Szeged in one of the first two games of 2022/23, throwing off at 18:45 CEST. Kielce will open their season at home, taking on HBC Nantes at 20:45 CEST that same night.
The blockbuster action on opening night does not end there, as another participant in the EHF FINAL4 Men 2022, THW Kiel, will play at 18:45 CEST, hosting Elverum Handball. The Norwegian side will hope for a strong start to their season as they play in Kiel’s fortress, after qualifying for the knockout stage for the first time in 2021/22.
Zagreb and GOG also start their 2022/23 seasons on 14 September, taking the court at 20:45 CEST, with the Danish team back in the top flight after last participating in 2019/20.
The fourth participants of last season’s final weekend in Cologne, Telekom Veszprém, will start their 2022/23 campaign at home on Thursday 15 September — and they will take on mighty opponents: Paris Saint-Germain. PSG only narrowly missed a place at the EHF FINAL4 2022, as they were defeated by Kiel by just one goal on aggregate.
As Veszprém and PSG throw off at 18:45 CEST, Dinamo Bucuresti will simultaneously host SC Magdeburg in Romania while Aalborg welcome Celje in Denmark. The round 1 match will be six-time EHF Champions League All-star Team member Mikkel Hansen’s first international game for a Danish club in a decade, after he left AG København for PSG in 2012. The current world champion has won everything there is to win with the national team, but never clinched the Champions League title, and hopes to end that series with the ambitious Danish side.
The round 1 action will wrap up with the final match at 20:45 CEST, Orlen Wisla Plock versus FC Porto.
After the excitement of the opening round, plenty of thrills await, particularly as the defending champions face a run of rematches against tough opponents. Round 2 brings a rematch of the 2021/22 final, with Barça playing their first game at home in the new season against Kielce on 22 September at 20:45 CEST. Round 5 will then see a rematch of the previous season’s final, with Barça travelling to Aalborg for a 20:45 CEST match on Wednesday 26 October. In round 7, it will be a clash of the titans as the two most recent winners of the competition meet when Kiel host Barça on Thursday 24 November.
See the full schedule for the opening 10 rounds here.
Round 1 fixtures
Wednesday 14 September 2022
THW Kiel (GER) vs Elverum Handball (NOR) — 18:45 CEST
Pick Szeged (HUN) vs Barça (ESP) — 18:45 CEST
HC PPD Zagreb (CRO) vs GOG (DEN) — 20:45 CEST
Lomza Industria Kielce (POL) vs HBC Nantes (FRA) — 20:45 CEST
Thursday 15 September 2022
CS Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs SC Magdeburg (GER) — 18:45 CEST
Telekom Veszprém HC vs Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA) — 18:45 CEST
Aalborg Handbold (DEN) vs RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko (SLO) — 18:45 CEST
Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs FC Porto (POR) — 20:45 CEST
