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Handball: SC Magdeburg reaches the final four of the Champions League

Handball: SC Magdeburg reaches the final four of the Champions League

The German handball champion SC Magdeburg has made it into the final four of the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.

The German handball champion SC Magdeburg has made it into the final four of the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.

There was a 30:28 (13:13) defeat against the Polish runner-up Wisla Plock in the second leg of the quarter-finals on Wednesday evening. At SC Magdeburg, Kay Smits stood out as the top scorer with 14 goals. In the first leg, the teams separated 22:22, but the SCM lost three players with injuries. When the SCM last won the Champions League in 2002, the final was played with a return match.

Surprisingly, for the first time since his knee injury in February, circle player Magnus Saugstrup was in the Elbestadt squad and got a lot of playing time in defense and attack in the first half. As in the first leg, the SCM struggled on the offensive. The hosts failed a number of times to goalkeeper Marcel Jastrzebski (4:3/8th minute), but still had a narrow lead. Without the injured Gisli Kristjansson, the SCM shot more often from a greater distance, which reduced the hit rate. Magdeburg missed several chances to pull away by two goals and went into the break with a draw.

Three-goal lead secured victory

Even after the break, both teams stayed evenly matched. Magdeburg could not increase the gap, also because the guests had clear advantages in goalkeeping. But although Magdeburg kept making mistakes, Plock couldn’t turn the game around and was two goals down for the first time after 45 minutes (22:20). However, the SCM did not break away and conceded the equalizer again (26:26/54.). Magdeburg used two of Mike Jensen’s few saves to gain a three-goal lead (58th), which the Elbe city-dwellers finally brought to the finish line.

Source: Stern

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