The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria):[2]
Phase
Round
Draw date
First leg
Second leg
Qualification
First qualifying round
18 July 2017
2-3 September 2017
9-10 September 2017
Second qualifying round
7–8 October 2017
14–15 October 2017
Third qualifying round
17 October 2017
18–19 November 2017
25–26 November 2017
Group stage
Matchday 1
30 November 2017
10–11 February 2018
Matchday 2
17–18 February 2018
Matchday 3
24–25 February 2018
Matchday 4
3–4 March 2018
Matchday 5
24–25 March 2018
Matchday 6
31 March–1 April 2018
Knockout phase
Quarter-finals
3 April 2018
21–22 April 2018
28–29 April 2018
Final four
1 May 2018
19–20 May 2018
Qualification stage
The qualification stage consists of three rounds, which are played as two-legged ties using a home-and-away system. In the draws for each round, teams were allocated into two pots, with teams from Pot 1 facing teams from Pot 2.[1] The winners of each pairing (highlighted in bold) qualified for the following round.
For each round, teams listed first played the first leg at home. In some cases, teams agreed to play both matches at the same venue.
Round 1
A total of 30 teams entered the draw for the first qualification round, which was held on Tuesday, 18 July 2017. The draw seeding pots were composed as follows:[1]
Location of teams of the 2017–18 EHF Cup group stage. Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Green: Group C; Yellow: Group D.
Draw and format
The draw of the EHF Cup group stage took place on Thursday, 30 November 2017. The 16 teams allocated into four pots were drawn into four groups of four teams.
In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays are 10–11 February, 17–18 February, 24–25 February, 3–4 March, 24–25 March, and 31 March–1 April 2018.
If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order):
number of points in matches of all teams directly involved;
goal difference in matches of all teams directly involved;
higher number of plus goals in matches of all teams directly involved;
goal difference in all matches of the group;
higher number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by drawing lots. Lots shall be drawn by the EHF, if possible in the presence of a responsible of each club.
Seeding
On 27 November 2017, EHF announced the composition of the group stage seeding pots:[4]
Because the German side SC Magdeburg, the organizers of the Final 4 tournament, finished on top of their group they qualified directly to the final tournament and only the top three second-placed teams qualified to the quarter-finals. The ranking of the second-placed teams was determined on the basis of the team's results in the group stage.
The draw for the quarter-final pairing was held on Tuesday 3 April at 11:00 hrs in the EHF headquarters in Vienna. The first leg was scheduled for 21 and 22 April and the second leg followed one week later.[5]
The sixth edition of the EHF Cup Finals in 2018 was hosted by SC Magdeburg after the EHF Executive Committee decided to award the hosting rights to the German club at its meeting on 16 December in Hamburg. The tournament took place on 19 and 20 May 2018.[6]
The draw was held on 2 May 2018 in Magdeburg, Germany at 11:00.[7][8]