Handball: The cup firmly in hand – SC Magdeburg is already thinking ahead

Nobody believes in a German handball miracle anymore. SC Magdeburg has the championship trophy firmly in its grasp. Before the Bördestadt team’s last away game on Thursday against Rhein Neckar Löwen (8.30 p.m./Dyn), the lead of four points and 84 goals over Füchse Berlin is so big that it can no longer be caught. At least that’s what all the experts say.

And the otherwise so level-headed and reserved SCM coach Bennet Wiegert was also tempted to let the celebrations begin after the narrowly won home game on Sunday against SC DHfK Leipzig. “I have to see how we structure the week and bring seriousness into it. The boys should really enjoy it and celebrate now,” Wiegert told the Magdeburg “Volksstimme”.

SC Magdeburg is currently the ultimate in the Bundesliga, in Europe and probably in the entire handball world. The club could now achieve something that is very rare: the quadruple. The club has the World Cup in its pocket, the DHB Cup as well, and will receive the championship trophy on Sunday after the last game against HSG Wetzlar. Now all that is missing is the trophy for the Champions League victory. In the Final Four in Cologne on June 8th, Magdeburg will first face Aalborg AB and hope to be able to defend the title on June 9th.

Playing times for bench pressers?

That’s why the early championship decision is very convenient for the team. “We can now concentrate fully on the Champions League, there is no more pressure. Now we’re going all in, we want everything,” said national player Lukas Mertens after the Leipzig game. Coach Wiegert is sure, however, that he and his colleagues want to win the last two Bundesliga games as well. “I won’t put any pressure on them now. But we know that the boys want to win this game too,” said the successful coach.

It is quite possible that he will give his big stars like Felix Claar, Omar Ingi Magnusson and Gisli Kristjansson a breather and give a few bench warmers time to show off. Because there is a lot of potential there too: Which coach can afford to hardly use international players like Philipp Weber or Michael Damgaard.

What happens at the goalkeeper position?

Wiegert is the man behind SCM’s success. Over the past few years, he has put his team together bit by bit, recruiting players whose qualities and, above all, personality fit into his concept. This means he can play a kind of handball that hardly any opponent can currently match. It is a team that does not let setbacks unsettle them. The team brilliantly overcame the unrest that arose in the environment after the Nikola Portner doping case, winning the DHB Cup and moving into the Champions League Final Four tournament.

If the Swiss goalkeeper is actually banned – his deadline for making a declaration ends on May 30th – Wiegert will think carefully about whether to lure national goalkeeper Andreas Wolf to the Elbe. He is still under contract in Kielce. The Poles are said to be demanding a transfer fee of 1.2 million euros – a sum that is at least unusual in handball. And it would represent about a tenth of the SCM budget. SC Magdeburg, which manages its finances very thriftily and carefully, will do the math carefully. But perhaps the successes will result in additional sources of income that will make such a transfer possible.