The German handball runner-up SG Magdeburg has won the Champions League for the second time.
Coach Bennet Wiegert’s team defeated the Polish champion Barlinek Industria Kielce with national goalkeeper Andreas Wolff after extra time in the final in Cologne by 30:29 (26:26, 13:15).
Kay Smits (8 goals) was the best pitcher for the Bundesliga club on Sunday (June 18, 2023) in front of 19,750 spectators in the sold-out Lanxess Arena. The SCM repeated the success of 21 years ago.
In 2002, the team from Saxony-Anhalt, under today’s national coach Alfred Gislason, was the first German team to triumph in the premier class.
Game had to be interrupted
In the semi-finals, Magdeburg prevailed in a dramatic game on Saturday with 40:39 after throwing seven meters against defending champions and record winners FC Barcelona. Wolff, on the other hand, has to wait for the first premier class title of his career.
The European champion of 2016 had also gone empty-handed with Kielce in the final last year, against Barcelona in a seven-meter throw.
Due to a medical emergency in the press box, the game had to be interrupted for almost 15 minutes in the second half. The teams stayed on the field.