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Champions League, SC Magdeburg suffers first loss of the season to Barcelona

SC Magdeburg Germany pulled off an upset in the 2024/25 EHF Men’s Handball Champions League by handing Barcelona (Barça Spain) its first loss of the season.

Magdeburg defeated Barcelona 28-23 in the 9th round match of Group B of the 2024/25 EHF Men’s Handball Champions League held at the GETEC Arena in Magdeburg, Germany on the 27th (local time).

As a result, Barcelona’s undefeated streak this season was halted, but they still maintained first place in the group with 7 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss (15 points). On the other hand, Magdeburg ranked 5th with 3 wins, 1 draw, and 5 losses (7 points).

news/cms/202411/28/news-p.v1.20241128.4795eea981a84657b2a563d736d0ee83_R.jpg" data-width="600" data-height="400"/> Enlarged photo 2024/25 EHF Men’s Handball Champions League match between Magdeburg and Barca, photo source = European Handball Federation

Despite having an advantage in the total number of shot attempts, Barcelona only recorded a 48% shot success rate, losing to Magdeburg, which recorded 67%. In particular, Magdeburg’s Spanish goalkeeper Sergey Hernández (Hernandez Ferrer Sergey) dominated the game, making 18 saves.

Barcelona got off to a strong start, taking an 8-4 lead in the first 15 minutes of the game. However, Magdeburg, backed by the enthusiastic support of their home fans, launched a counterattack and succeeded in taking the lead to 14-13 before the end of the first half.

Magdeburg continued to maintain its lead in the second half, scoring three goals in a row to take the lead at 22-22 and take the lead at 25-22. At the end of the game, new signings Manuel Zehnder and Antonio Serradilla Cuenca scored consecutive goals to seal the win.

In Magdeburg, the core of the attack, Magnusson Ómar Ingi, led the team with 8 goals, followed by Manuel Seender (7 goals) and Kristjansson Gisli Thorgeir (5 goals). In defense, goalkeeper Sergey Hernández’s saves were the driving force behind the victory.

On the other hand, Barcelona struggled with Rodríguez Moreno Javier and Richardson Melvyn each scoring 4 goals, but could not prevent defeat due to the poor performance of the goalkeepers and the team’s low shot success rate.

After the game, Magdeburg goalkeeper Sergei Hernández said in an interview with the European Handball Federation (EHF), “The team atmosphere was inevitably depressed after suffering four consecutive losses in all recent competitions. However, despite that, we focused on training and tried to block out negative factors. I am so grateful to my teammates, coaching staff, and most of all, the fans. “This victory would not have been possible without the support of our fans.”

[김용필 MK스포츠 기자]

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