SG Flensburg-Handewitt won the quarter-final second leg of the Handball Champions League with 33:29 (14:16) against Aalborg Handball on Wednesday evening, but missed the Final Four. The first leg was lost at 21:26.
by Christian Görtzen
It is therefore certain that the final tournament in Cologne will take place on June 12th and 13th without German participation. Already two hours before the Flensburgers the big rival THW Kiel was eliminated, the “Zebras” lost at Paris Saint-Germain. In a thrilling game against Aalborg, the SG lacked just a little bit of luck to advance in a heated final phase.
Flensburg with a bumpy start
After just a few minutes it became clear that the attempt to catch up against the Danish champions would be a very difficult undertaking. Aalborg impressed with speed and ease in the processes. When Sebastian Barthold took the guests 8: 5 (11th) into the lead with a speed counter-attack, it was now even an “eight-goal mission” from the Flensburg’s point of view. Machulla was forced to act: he put the green card on the timekeeper table – time out.
The fixtures and results of the Handball Champions League – from the round of 16 to the final. more
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After that, things went better for the North Germans for a moment. Between the 16th and 20th minutes they turned a 7:11 into an 11:11 with a 4-0 run. It already seemed as if the race to catch up could now begin.
SG goalkeeper Buric injured the seven-meter throw
But things turned out differently, and very bitterly for the SG. First of all, goalkeeper Benjamin Buric injured himself with a seven-meter throw from the guests. He spread his right leg apart to fend off the ball that Barthold had thrown. The next moment, however, the Bosnian international goalkeeper was holding his thigh, his face contorted with pain. Apparently Buric sustained a muscle injury. For the 30-year-old, not only was the game over prematurely, it may result in a longer absence.
Flensburg threatens to lose the operational players with the enormous loads caused by the deadline. Even before the game, the SG had announced that backcourt player Lasse Möller had had an operation in Berlin and that the team would be missing for several months. In the game against Aalborg, things didn’t go really well in the closing stages of the first half either. At the break it was 14:16. Flensburg now needed a sensational second round.
Bergerud becomes a strong supporter
The Schleswig-Holsteiners made the start after restarting. The team now seemed much more determined, more determined, and goalkeeper Torbjörn Bergerud in particular was now a very strong support. With a 6-0 run, the Flensburg team turned a 15:17 (32nd) into a 21:17 (38th). But since it was already evident that Aalborg would score more away goals than the SG had managed in the first leg, this meant for Flensburg that a victory with six goals would be necessary. A lead of this size was soon established: Johannes Golla made sure that the national player scored at 26:20 (46th).
Dramatic final phase
But the guests, with whom the Swedish playmaker Felix Claar stood out, held against it, again shortening it to 24:27 (53rd). When Flensburg’s Mads Mensah Larsen made wrong decisions several times in a row, the game seemed to be lost for the SG. Finally, Claar scored at 28:31 (58th). The North Germans still needed three hits. Lasse Svan scored, Bergerud parried strongly, Svan scored again – and so it was with 57 seconds before the end 33:28. But Aalborg was in possession of the ball. With the threat of time play, Claar made the Danes’ progress with 29:33 four seconds before the siren. The most successful from Flensburg was Golla with nine goals.
