At the draw made on Friday 26th June, Kristianstad were drawn into Group D, where they will face Portugal's Sporting Clube, GOG of Denmark and PICK Szeged of Hungary.
Back in the Champions League for the first time since 2020, the Swedish champions have benefitted from the expanded format for the new season. Last playing in a 28-team competition, Kristianstad nor any other Swedish club took part when only 16 teams participated from 2020-2026.
However, now the competition has been expanded to 24 teams, split into six groups of four, and the Handbollsligan winners have been granted a place, not that the Group Phase draw was particularly kind to the returnees.
All three of their opponents are not only regulars in the Champions League, but reached the knockout rounds of the competition last season, with Sporting and Szeged reaching the Quarter-finals.
Sporting come into the next edition as champions of Portugal, while Szeged and GOG came second and third in their domestic leagues, respectively.
The competition is set to begin on 9th September, with the full list of fixtures and throw-off times to be scheduled in due course.