2018–19 CEV Women's Champions League

2018–19 CEV Women's Champions League
League	CEV Women's Champions League
Sport	Volleyball
Duration	Qualifying round: 9 October – 13 November 2018 Main tournament: 20 November 2018 – 18 May 2019
Number of teams	27 (9 qual. + 18 main tourn.)

The 2018-19 CEV Champions League is the highest level of European club volleyball in the 2018–19 season and the 59th edition.

Qualification

Main article: 2018–19 CEV Women's Champions League qualification

A total of 20 teams participate of the main competition, with 18 teams being allocated direct vacancies on the basis of ranking list for European Cups Competitions and 2 teams qualify from the qualification rounds. Drawing of lots for the pools composition will be held on 2 November 2018.

Rank	Country	No. teams			Qualified teams
		Vac	Qual	Total
1	Turkey	3	-	3	Eczacıbaşı VitrA Istanbul
					Fenerbahçe SK Istanbul
					Vakıfbank Istanbul
2	Italy	3	-	3	Igor Gorgonzola Novara
					Imoco Volley Conegliano
					Savino Del Bene Scandicci
3	Russia	3	-	3	Dinamo Kazan
					Dinamo Moscow
					Uralochka-NTMK Ekaterinburg
4	Poland	2	(1)	2*	Chemik Police
					ŁKS Commercecon Łódź
6	France	2	(1)	2*	Béziers VB
					RC Cannes
8	Romania	1	(1)	1*	CSM București
9	Germany	1	(1)	1*	SSC Palmberg Schwerin
13	Belarus	1	-	1	Minchanka Minsk
14	Bulgaria	1	-	1	Maritza Plovdiv
15	Finland	1	-	1	Hämeenlinna

Notes:

(1) - denotes one team participating at Champions League qualification.

* - Total number of teams may increase by 1, pending qualification result.

Format

League round

A round-robin format (each team plays every other team in its pool twice, once home and once away) where the 20 participating teams are drawn into 5 pools of 4 teams each. The five pool winners and the best three second placed teams among all pools qualify for the Playoffs.

The standings is determined by the number of matches won. In case of a tie in the number of matches won by two or more teams, their ranking is based on the following criteria:

• result points (points awarded for results: 3 points for 3–0 or 3–1 wins, 2 points for 3–2 win, 1 point for 2–3 loss);
• set quotient (the number of total sets won divided by the number of total sets lost);
• points quotient (the number of total points scored divided by the number of total points lost);
• results of head-to-head matches between the teams in question.

Playoffs

A knockout format where the 8 qualified teams are each draw into the quarter-finals with the round winners advancing to the next rounds (semifinals and final). Matches in the quarter-finals and semifinals consists of two legs (home and away).
Result points are awarded for each leg (3 points for 3–0 or 3–1 wins, 2 points for 3–2 win, 1 point for 2–3 loss). After two legs, the team with the most result points advances further in the tournament. In case teams are tied after two legs, a Golden Set is played immediately at the completion of the second leg. The Golden Set winner is the team that first obtains 15 points, provided that the points difference between the two teams is at least 2 points (thus, the Golden Set is similar to a tiebreak set in a normal match).

Grand finale

A single match between the winners of the semifinals in a neutral venue decides the tournament champion.

Pools composition

Drawing of lots will be held on 2 November 2018, the 20 teams are divided in 4 pots of 5 teams each, with one team per pot being draw into each of the 5 pools (A, B, C, D, E).

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Vakıfbank Istanbul (Turkey 1) Imoco Volley Conegliano (Italy 1) Dinamo Moscow (Russia 1) Eczacıbaşı VitrA Istanbul (Turkey 2) Igor Gorgonzola Novara (Italy 2)	Chemik Police (Poland 1) Béziers VB (France 1) Dinamo Kazan (Russia 2) ŁKS Commercecon Łódź (Poland 2) RC Cannes (France 2)	CSM București (Romania 1) SSC Palmberg Schwerin (Germany 1) Minchanka Minsk (Belarus 1) Maritza Plovdiv (Bulgaria 1) Hämeenlinna (Finland 1)	Fenerbahçe SK Istanbul (Turkey 3) Savino Del Bene Scandicci (Italy 3) Uralochka-NTMK Ekaterinburg (Russia 3) (CL qual.) (CL qual.)

Draw

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D	Pool E
Vakıfbank Istanbul	Eczacıbaşı VitrA Istanbul	Igor Gorgonzola Novara	Imoco Volley Conegliano	Dinamo Moscow
Béziers VB	Dinamo Kazan	RC Cannes	ŁKS Commercecon Łódź	Chemik Police
Maritza Plovdiv	Hämeenlinna	Minchanka Minsk	SSC Palmberg Schwerin	CSM București
Winner of Q3R match 1	Uralochka-NTMK Ekaterinburg	Winner of Q3R match 2	Savino Del Bene Scandicci	Fenerbahçe SK Istanbul

League round

The league round stated on 20 November 2018.

	Qualified for the Playoff round
	Qualified as hosts for the Final round

• All times are local.

Pool A

Template:Vb cl3 header Template:Vb cl9 team Template:Vb cl9 team Template:Vb cl9 team Template:Vb cl9 team |}

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
20 Nov	20:00	Béziers VB	3–0	Maritza Plovdiv	25–17	25–12	25–20			75–49	Report
22 Nov	19:00	Vakıfbank Istanbul	3–1	Allianz MTV Stuttgart	25–13	20–25	25–19	25–17		95–74	Report
19 Dec	19:00	Allianz MTV Stuttgart	3–0	Béziers VB	25–16	25–16	25–20			75–52	Report
20 Dec	18:00	Maritza Plovdiv	0–3	Vakıfbank Istanbul	16–25	16–25	21–25			53–75	Report
23 Jan	19:00	Allianz MTV Stuttgart	–	Maritza Plovdiv
23 Jan	20:00	Béziers VB	–	Vakıfbank Istanbul
6 Feb	18:00	Vakıfbank Istanbul	–	Maritza Plovdiv
6 Feb	20:00	Béziers VB	–	Allianz MTV Stuttgart
20 Feb	18:00	Maritza Plovdiv	–	Béziers VB
20 Feb	19:00	Allianz MTV Stuttgart	–	Vakıfbank Istanbul
26 Feb	19:00	Vakıfbank Istanbul	–	Béziers VB
26 Feb	20:00	Maritza Plovdiv	–	Allianz MTV Stuttgart

Pool E

Template:Vb cl3 header Template:Vb cl9 team Template:Vb cl9 team Template:Vb cl9 team Template:Vb cl9 team |}

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
21 Nov	19:00	Dinamo Moscow	1–3	Fenerbahçe SK Istanbul	17–25	25–17	18–25	11–25		71–92	Report
22 Nov	18:00	Chemik Police	1–3	CSM București	19–25	16–25	25–16	22–25		82–91	Report

External links

• Official website