For the first time in the club’s history, the SC Magdeburg handball players qualify for the final round of the Champions League. THW Kiel has no chance in Paris and is eliminated.
After the next success of his young coaching career, Bennet Wiegert was mentally and physically exhausted. “I’m really tired, but very happy. We made history for the club,” said the 41-year-old coach of the German handball champions SC Magdeburg after entering the Final Four of the Champions League for the first time.
While the SCM and its fans cheered without limits after 30:28 (13:13) over Wisla Plock on the Elbe on Wednesday evening, about 750 kilometers as the crow flies in the French capital, the players of THW Kiel sneaked off the floor with their heads hanging. The 29:32 (15:17) at Paris Saint-Germain meant the North Germans were out of the quarter-finals of the premier class.
Although Magdeburg was the first German club in 2002 to win the Champions League as a successor to the European Cup, qualification for the final tournament, which has been held since 2010, has now been successful for the first time. The THW, on the other hand, missed the ninth participation in the Final Four, which will be played on June 17th and 18th in Cologne. “We now have to accept that it wasn’t enough. Paris was better,” said Kiel’s coach Filip Jicha.
After the 22:22 in the first leg in Plock, the Poles demanded everything from the hosts from Magdeburg in the second duel. Everything was open until 26:26 (54th minute). With three goals in a row to make it 29:26 (58th), the SCM then took a decisive lead. Kay Smits played a big part in this with 14 goals. “It was an incredible game with a fantastic atmosphere,” said the Dutchman, who will play for Bundesliga opponents SG Flensburg-Handewitt next season.
Moment of shock when cheering
There was a small moment of shock when Lucas champion fell to the ground while celebrating victory. Teammate Philipp Weber had jumped the line runner in the head. A little later, the Swiss was back on his feet.
The game in Paris was completely different. The French, who had already won in Kiel with 31:27, were also the dominant team in their own hall. The THW was not in the lead at any point in the game and thus never managed to catch up at least a little bit. “Today we could have done more. But whenever we were on the push, we missed up front or made technical mistakes,” circle runner Patrick Wiencek practiced self-criticism: “Maybe we would have needed a lead to force Paris to think even more .” Backcourt star Sander Sagosen added: “It was a tough fight, but we weren’t good enough this year.”
double burden
Both the SCM and Kiel had to contend with an additional handicap. While the opponents didn’t have to play a game between the first and second leg, the German clubs were challenged in the Bundesliga last weekend.
And the hunt for appointments continues unchanged. The next games in the fight for the German championship are already on Sunday. Second in the table from Magdeburg welcomes fourth-placed Flensburg in the top game (2 p.m. / Sky), leader Kiel has HC Erlangen as a guest (4.05 p.m. / Sky). In the table, THW with 49:9 points is just ahead of Magdeburg with 49:11 points.
Source: Stern
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