Magdeburg’s handball players have barely officially celebrated the triple and are now looking ahead. The Elbe city team wants to defend its Champions League title in Cologne this weekend.
The championship celebrations are almost over, and the focus is on the future: After the triple of Super Globe, DHB Cup and German championship, SC Magdeburg can win the next title next weekend in Cologne. Then it’s a matter of defending the title in the Final Four of the Champions League.
In the semi-finals, the Magdeburg handball professionals will face the Danish top club Aalborg HB, including former Kiel top goalkeeper Niklas Landin.
“We can’t promise that we’ll win, but we can promise one thing: We’ll give everything for you,” said left winger Matthias Musche on the Magdeburg town hall balcony. Team captain Christian O’Sullivan doesn’t believe that the championship title will change the conditions for the final tournament in Cologne much: “It’s a weekend with four very good teams. You have to play two incredibly good games – and that still doesn’t mean that you’ll win everything.”
O’Sullivan on Barcelona: “That’s pretty crazy”
In addition to defending champions Magdeburg and Aalborg, THW Kiel and FC Barcelona are also taking part in the finals. Magdeburg’s captain sees the Spaniards as favorites, because “six Final Fours in a row, that’s pretty crazy.”
At SCM they traditionally think from game to game and so their full concentration is initially on their semi-final opponents Aalborg. “They have just won the championship, they are also a top team – and we have to play very, very well against them to have any chance of playing for the title,” explained O’Sullivan.
Gisli Kristjansson was recently a cause for concern. The Icelander hit the hall floor hard in the league game in Mannheim. The 24-year-old was rested in the last league game with a suspected concussion. “We are very, very cautious at SC Magdeburg and will not risk anything. We can only wait and see the test results from day to day,” explained coach Bennet Wiegert to Dyn.
Kristjansson was present at the championship celebration on the town hall balcony – perhaps a good sign for the MVP of last year’s Final Four.
Source: Stern
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