Historical in Hamburg: MT Melsungen writes handball history and wins the European League for the first time against Kiel.
Hamburg (SID) national player Timo Kastening ran completely detached across the field, final hero Nebojsa Simic cried tears of happiness: MT Melsungen made handball history and won the European League for the first time. While the THW Kiel stars pulled their jerseys over their faces in frustration, the Melsungers celebrated their historic first major title win in the thriller in Hamburg with the fans who had traveled with them. “Oh, how beautiful that is,” Kastening and Co. sang after the dramatic 24:23 (13:12) success.
“I was 100 percent sure that we would win, we simply couldn’t lose this game,” said the outstanding goalkeeper Simic, who had driven the Kiel team to despair, at Dyn: “I waited nine years for this title with Melsungen, it feels incredibly good.” Successful coach Roberto García Parrondo attested to his team’s “greed” and “heart”.
Even before the final it was clear that the second most important European Cup remained firmly in German hands: it was the tenth success of a Bundesliga club in the last eleven editions. The best thrower on Melsunger’s side in a hotly contested final was Dainis Kristopans with four hits. The seventh-placed team in the Bundesliga laid the foundation for the win with a strong defense around Simic. Melsungen had already eliminated the defending champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt (37:30) in the semi-finals on Saturday.
For Kiel, which had its top goalscorer in Lukas Zerbe (5 goals), not only the hope of its first international title since the Champions League triumph in 2020 was dashed. The record champions, currently only fifth in the league, will not play in the premier class for the third time in a row next season. Melsungen probably takes the third German starting position.
The Flensburg team (winners of 2024 and 2025) took third place at the Final Four in the Hanseatic city on Sunday afternoon with a 32:30 win against Montpellier HB.
Exciting, tough, highly emotional: both teams fought a real defensive battle in the packed Barclays Arena. Kiel dominated the initial phase, but was never able to pull away by more than two goals. And because THW only managed one goal in the nine minutes until the break after an 11:10 lead, Melsungen was suddenly in the lead at the break.
“It’s a very hard-fought game, very close,” said national coach Alfred Gislason after the first half at Dyn: “Now I’m looking forward to the second half to see whether it turns in one direction or stays as close.”
It remained a hotly contested final in the second section – with Melsungen initially having an advantage. Because THW’s Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, who came on as a substitute for the hapless national goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, scratched a few balls out of the corners, Kiel equalized again 13 minutes before the end (47th). In the final phase it was Melsungen’s keeper Simic who kept the MT on the winning road, and he also defused a late seven-meter penalty against national player Zerbe. A little later, left winger David Mandic scored decisively.
