“SC Magdeburg Reaches Final Four of Champions League: German Handball Champion Makes History”

Handball
SC Magdeburg reaches the final four of the Champions League

The German handball champion SC Magdeburg has made it into the final four of the Champions League for the first time in its club history.

In the second leg of the quarterfinals on Wednesday evening there was a 30:28 (13:13) defeat against the Polish runner-up Wisla Plock. At SC Magdeburg, Kay Smits stood out as the top scorer with 14 goals. In the first leg, the teams separated 22:22, but the SCM lost three players due to injuries. When SCM last won the Champions League in 2002, the final was a two-leg game.

Surprisingly, district player Magnus Saugstrup was back in the Elbestadt squad for the first time since his knee injury in February and was given a lot of time in defense and attack in the first half. As in the first leg, the SCM struggled on the offensive. The hosts failed several times at goalkeeper Marcel Jastrzebski (4:3/8th minute), but were still in the lead. Without the injured Gisli Kristjansson, the SCM shot more often from longer distances, which reduced the hit rate. Magdeburg missed several chances for a two-goal lead and went into the break with a draw.

A three-goal lead secured the win

Both teams stayed even after the break. Magdeburg could not increase the gap, also because the guests had clear advantages in goalkeeping. But although Magdeburg kept making mistakes, Plock couldn’t turn the game around and was two goals down for the first time after 45 minutes (22:20). However, the SCM was not able to break away and conceded the equalizer again (26:26/54.). Magdeburg used two of Mike Jensen’s few saves to take a three-goal lead (58th), which finally brought the people from the Elbe to the finish line.

dpa