With the draw, the North Germans defended fifth place in preliminary round group B. However, since it has not yet been decided how the European Handball Federation (EHF) will deal with the remaining games of the Ukrainian champions HC Zaporozhye, the table situation remains open.
If Porto were awarded the two points against Zaporozhye without a fight, the Portuguese would be past Flensburg. Then the SG must either score points in Barcelona on March 10th or hope that Dinamo Bucharest (against Paris and Kielce) gets a maximum of two points.
SG struggles with robust Portuguese
After the disappointing draw in the Bundesliga in Minden, the SG found it difficult to get into the game against Porto and initially ran permanently behind. Things didn’t improve until after almost a quarter of an hour: Johannes Golla scored twice in a row for the hosts’ first lead, which Jim Gottfridsson extended to two goals shortly afterwards (14’/8:6).
But it remained a tight game because Flensburg allowed themselves too many defensive weaknesses against the robust opponent – neither Benjamin Buric nor Kevin Möller were a factor in the SG goal – and missed numerous good chances up front. So it went into the break with a tight 14:13.
Dramatic final phase
The second half began like the first – with a weakening SG, who suddenly found themselves two goals behind (37th / 16:18). But Flensburg fought back – especially in the person of Teitur Einarsson, who was the best thrower with eight goals (43rd/20:20).
Flensburg – Porto 26:26 (14:13)
Goals Flensburg: Einarsson 8, Steinhauser 5, Gottfridsson 5, Golla 4, Jakobsen 2, Mensah Larsen 1, Sogard Johannessen 1
Goals Porto: M’Bengue 6, Veitia Valdes 5, Iturriza Alvarez 5, Areia Rodrigues 3, de Abreu 2, Salina Amador 2, Silva Sousa Martins 1, Branquinho 1, Maglhaes 1
Spectator: 6,300
Neither team was able to break away and so the game was on the razor’s edge two and a half minutes before the end (26:26). Then things got dramatic: A stepping error gave SG possession of the ball, but Einarsson only hit the crossbar (59′). Because Porto then frittered away the ball, Flensburg had another chance to win – but Mads Mensah failed in the final second.