The HYLO ETTU Champions League Men returns with an exceptional concentration of world-class talent. Eleven of the current Top 20 players in the World Ranking will compete for clubs in this season’s competition, underlining once again the extraordinary strength of Europe’s premier club event.
World No. 2 Truls MOREGARD, No. 8 Hugo CALDERANO and No. 17 Patrick FRANZISKA will represent defending champions 1. FC Saarbrücken TT, while World No. 4 Félix LEBRUN and No. 10 Alexis LEBRUN lead the challenge of last season’s runners-up Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier.
Borussia Düsseldorf will have World No. 11 QIU Dang and No. 20 Kanak JHA in their ranks, while GV Hennebont TT boasts three players inside the World Top 20, No. 12 WEN Ruibo, No. 16 Vladimir SIDORENKO and No. 19 Simon GAUZY. Completing the group of 11 is World No. 15 Darko JORGIC, who begins a new chapter with KS Orlicz 1924 Suchedniów.
And those 11 names tell only part of the story. The new season brings together 24 of Europe’s leading clubs and an impressive collection of international stars in the battle for the continent’s most prestigious club title.
There is no shortage of storylines before a ball has even been struck.
The biggest transfer of the year has reshaped the balance of power. FAN Zhendong has joined Borussia Düsseldorf, strengthening the German giants’ already formidable squad alongside QIU, Anton KÄLLBERG and JHA. Düsseldorf enter the competition as the No. 2 seeds, determined to reclaim the trophy.
Standing in their way are the defending champions and No. 1 seeds 1. FC Saarbrücken TT. Although the club lost FAN and JORGIC following last season’s triumph, the title holders still boast one of the strongest line-ups in the competition. MOREGARD, FRANZISKA and CALDERANO give Saarbrücken three players from the World Top 20, with Eduard IONESCU, Álvaro ROBLES and Korean international OH Junsung adding further quality and depth.
GV Hennebont TT must also be counted among the genuine contenders for the title. The French club has assembled an exceptionally strong squad, with three World Top 20 players in WEN, SIDORENKO and GAUZY. Chinese player ZHOU currently ranked No. 26 in the world adding further strength to an already formidable line-up, Hennebont has both the quality and depth to challenge the very best teams in the competition.
Last season’s runners-up Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier, seeded No. 4, will once again look to brothers Alexis and Félix LEBRUN to lead their challenge. Supported by Manav THAKAR, the French side will be aiming to go one step further after coming so close to the trophy in the 2026 final.
Also among the leading contenders are No. 3 seeds KS Orlen Bogoria Grodzisk Mazowiecki, featuring Tomislav PUCAR, Milosz REDZIMSKI and the vastly experienced Panagiotis GIONIS.
Another intriguing storyline comes from No. 6 seeds KS Orlicz 1924 Suchedniów, where JORGIC begins a new chapter following his departure from Saarbrücken. The Slovenian will line up alongside compatriot Deni KOZUL and Austria’s Robert GARDOS.
The competition begins with Stage 1, featuring the clubs seeded from No. 9 to No. 24. The 16 teams are divided into four groups of four, with each group played in a single round-robin format. The top two clubs from each group advance.
Those eight qualifiers will then join the top eight seeded clubs in Stage 2, when the competition switches to the knockout format. Both the Round of 16 and the quarter-finals will be contested over home-and-away legs.
The four quarter-final winners will secure their places at the prestigious HYLO Final Four, where the semi-finals and final will be decided over one weekend to crown the 2026/27 European club champions.
With 11 of the world’s Top 20 players involved, Saarbrücken defending their crown, FAN beginning a new chapter in Düsseldorf, Hennebont fielding one of the strongest squads in the competition, the LEBRUN brothers looking to take Nîmes/Montpellier one step further and JORGIC embarking on a new challenge in Poland, all the ingredients are in place for another memorable HYLO ETTU Champions League Men season.
