Two of their fellow TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2024 participants, SC Magdeburg and Aalborg Håndbold, will join them in pot one, as will Orlen Wisla Plock, Paris Saint-Germain Handball and Veszprém HC.
The remaining 10 teams are split into pots 2 and 3. Pot 2 contains former champions Industria Kielce and former finalists HBC Nantes, alongside Fredericia Håndbold Klub, OTP Bank - Pick Szeged and Füchse Berlin.
HC Zagreb, HC Eurofarm Pelister, Dinamo Bucuresti, Sporting CP and Kolstad Håndball will be drawn from pot three.
At the draw on Thursday, 27 June, the 16 participants will be drawn into two groups of eight teams, as the competition format from recent seasons remains in place for 2024/25.
Pots 1 and 3 will be drawn freely, with any of the 11 teams able to be drawn into either group A or B. However, country protection will be applied to the Pot 2 teams to ensure they are not drawn into the same group as their national league opponents from Hungary, France, Germany, Denmark and Poland, respectively.
For example, if Paris Saint-Germain are drawn into group A, then HBC Nantes will be assigned to group B.
The group phase will be played in a round-robin format. After 14 rounds, the top two teams in each group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals, while the teams that finish in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth places will contest the play-offs. The lowest-ranked two clubs in each group will be eliminated from the competition at the end of the group phase.
The first round is scheduled for 11/12 September 2024, with round 14 scheduled for 5/6 March 2025.
Draw procedure
Step 1: 6 teams from Pot 1 drawn to six positions - A1, B1, A2, B2, A3, B3
Step 2: 5 teams from Pot 2 allocated to five positions out of these six - A4, B4, A5, B5, A6, B6 (one position will remain vacant)
Step 3: 5 teams from Pot 3 drawn to the remaining five positions - one from the previous step, A7, B7, A8, B8
Watch the draw
The group phase draws for both the Machineseeker EHF Champions League and the EHF Champions League Women, taking place on Thursday, 27 June (17:30 CEST) CEST, will be streamed on EHFTV and the Home of Handball YouTube channel.
Machineseeker EHF Champions League 2024/25 group phase
POT 1
ESP - Barça
GER - SC Magdeburg
POL - Orlen Wisla Plock
DEN - Aalborg Håndbold
HUN - Veszprém HC
FRA - Paris Saint-Germain Handball
POT 2
GER - Füchse Berlin
POL - Industria Kielce
DEN – Fredericia Håndbold Klub
HUN - OTP Bank – PICK Szeged
FRA - HBC Nantes
POT 3
ROU - Dinamo Bucuresti
CRO - HC Zagreb
POR - Sporting CP
NOR - Kolstad Håndball
MKD - HC Eurofarm Pelister
