FCBARCELONA.CAT

24.06.2009 22:13

Barça Borges in Champions League draw

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Barça Borges will play German side Kiel, Danish outfit Kloding and Swiss team Amicitia in the first group phase of the handball Champions League, while the two other positions will be filled over the summer.

The Blaugrana side now know who some of their opponents will be in the European competition after being drawn in Group D. The extra spots are to be decided with the winners of the preliminary phase groups being added. One team will come from Group 1, which includes HC Vardar PRO - Skpoje, HC Dinamo-Minsk, Besiktas JK an dHC Buducnost Podgorica, and the other will be the winners of Group Q, which contains Reale Ademar, TBV Lemgo, Celje Pivovarna Lasko and Kadetten Handball.

With a new format, the Champions League now has 24 sides in four groups of six, but the aim is the same as always with all teams competing for a place in the finals, which next year will be held in Cologne on May 29 and 30.

Another novelty is the classification round that will be played until September to confirm which sides will take the last few places in the competition for the 2009-10 season.

The fixture list

The competition will start between September 30 and October 4 and the first phase will conclude between March 3 and 7 of next year.

Barça Borges are away in their opening game as they travel to Switzerland to take on Amicitia before entertaining Kiel in the Palau. The first phase closes for the Blaugrana with a game in Denmark against Kolding.

Click here for the Barça Borges fixture list

The other groups

GROUP A
Chekhovskie Medvedi
Montpellier HB
Pick Szeged
Pevafersa Valladolid
HCM Constanta
Qualifier

GROUP B
MKB Veszprém KC
RK Gorenje
Chambery Savoie HB
Rhein-Neckar Löwen
HC Bosna Sunce Osiguranje
Qualifier

GROUP C
BM Ciudad Real
HC Croatia Osiguranje-Zagreb
HSV Hamburg
FCK Handbold
Alingsas HK
Qualifier