Founded 1965 Number of teams 16 Most successful club(s) Barcelona (21 titles) | Region Europe (CERH) Current champions Benfica (2nd title) Television broadcasters CERH TV | |
The CERH European League is an annual club roller hockey competition organized by the Comité Européen de Rink-Hockey (CERH) and contested by the top ranked teams in European domestic leagues. Since its foundation in 1965, under the name of European Cup, the competition has been dominated by teams from Spain (mainly from Catalonia and Galicia), Portugal and Italy. In 1997, the European Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup were merged to create the Champions League, whose winners have since been decided in a final tournament contested by the best four to eight teams and held in a single venue. In 2005, the competition name was changed to European League.
The most successful team is Barcelona, having won a record 21 titles, including eight consecutive between 1978 and 1985. Barcelona are followed by four other Spanish teams, making Spain the most successful country in the competition, with 44 titles. Four Portuguese teams have won the trophy, six times (most recently in 2016), while Italy joined the list of European League-winning nations after Follonica's victory in 2006.
The current champions are Benfica, who beat fellow Portuguese side Oliveirense 5–3 in the 2016 final held at the Pavilhão Fidelidade, in Lisbon, Portugal, to secure their second win overall.
Format
Since 2012, the competition is composed by 16 teams placed into 4 groups, playing against each other home and away. The first 2 teams of each group play the two-legged quarter-finals, and the winners advance to the final-four playoff (organized by one of the four contestants).