1996–97 EHF Women's Champions League explained

The 1996–97 EHF Women's Champions League was the fourth edition of the modern era of the 1961-founded competition for European national champions women's handball clubs, running from 10 October 1996 to 10 May 1997. The competition system was reformed, as the group stage was expanded from 8 to 16 teams, now replacing the Round of 16, and the quarter-finals and semifinals were reestablished.

Mar Valencia defeated Viborg HK in the final to become the first Spanish team to win the competition.^[1] Defending champion Podravka Koprivnica was defeated by the Danish in the quarter-finals.^[2]

Qualifying round

width=200	Team #1	width=50	Agg.	width=200	Team #2	width=50	1st	width=50	2nd
ASPTT Metz	75–25		39–10	36–15
Egle Vilnius	49–61	Gjorce Petrov	24–32	25–29
Viborg	51–36		29–14	22–22
Anadolu	35–64	Byasen	20–33	15–31
Politechnik Minsk	45–63	Lublin	23–31	22–32
Jedinstvo Tuzla	39–69	Mar Valencia	23–34	16–35
Spartak Kyiv	38–43	Budućnost Podgorica	18–19	20–24
	31–61	Ferencvárosi TC	13–38	18–23
Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea	62–38		33–16	29–22
Hapoel Petah Tikva	45–56	Anagennisi Artas	19–21	26–35
Krim Ljubljana	52–30		21–16	31–14
Rotor Volgograd	35–44	Walle Bremen	20–22	15–22
Swift Roermond	49–18		25–9	24–9

Group stage

Group A

width=220	Team	width=20	Pld	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	GF	width=20	GA	width=20	GDorg	width=20	Pts
Viborg	6	4	1	1	153	122	+31	9
Gjorce Petrov	6	4	0	2	154	125	+29	8
Budućnost Podgorica	6	2	2	2	130	143	-13	6
Graničar Đurđevac	6	0	1	5	102	149	-47	1

Group B

width=220	Team	width=20	Pld	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	GF	width=20	GA	width=20	GDorg	width=20	Pts
Mar Valencia	6	5	1	0	144	126	+18	11
Podravka Koprivnica	6	4	1	1	161	138	+23	8
Lublin	6	2	0	4	155	155	0	4
Swift Roermond	6	0	0	6	109	150	-41	0

Group C

width=220	Team	width=20	Pld	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	GF	width=20	GA	width=20	GDorg	width=20	Pts
Niederösterreich	6	6	0	0	141	103	+38	12
Byasen	6	3	0	3	114	117	-3	6
Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea	6	1	2	3	127	133	-6	4
ASPTT Metz	6	0	2	4	108	137	-29	2

Group D

width=220	Team	width=20	Pld	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	GF	width=20	GA	width=20	GDorg	width=20	Pts
Ferencvárosi TC	6	5	0	1	175	117	+58	10
Krim Ljubljana	6	4	0	2	155	118	+37	8
Walle Bremen	6	3	0	3	124	130	-6	6
Anagennisi Artas	6	0	0	6	105	194	-89	0

Quarter-finals

width=200	Team #1	width=50	Agg.	width=200	Team #2	width=50	1st	width=50	2nd
Gjorce Petrov	44–47	Mar Valencia	23–20	21–27
Krim Ljubljana	42–60	Niederösterreich	21–26	21–34
	47–49		25–24	22–25
Byasen HE	41–46	Ferencvárosi TC	20–20	21–26

Semifinals

width=200	Team #1	width=50	Agg.	width=200	Team #2	width=50	1st	width=50	2nd
Mar Valencia	49–48		34–22	15–26
Viborg	50–43		27–24	23–19

Final

width=200	Team #1	width=50	Agg.	width=200	Team #2	width=50	1st	width=50	2nd
Mar Valencia	58–50		35–26	23–24