AUDIO: Flensburg handball players miss direct quarter-final ticket (1 min)
Handball European League
As of: March 3, 2026 10:54 p.m
The SG Flensburg-Handewitt has to take a victory lap through the play-offs in the Handball European League in order to get the quarter-final ticket. After the 32:35 (19:21) defeat at Montpellier HB on Tuesday, the defending champions can no longer push THW Kiel out of first place in Group 1.
After the 40:35 in the first leg against Montpellier, the SG won the direct comparison with the French and goes into the play-offs (March 31st/April 7th) as second in the group and the fight for a place in the round of the best eight teams (April 28th/May 5th). The Final Four of the four best teams will take place on May 30th and 31st in Hamburg.
Montpellier is a bit more accurate than the SG
A little more accuracy on the part of the French, that was the decisive difference in the first half. Montpellier’s shooting rate of 75 percent was compared to only 63 of the SG – in a fast-paced game that already had 40 goals in store for the spectators in the first 30 minutes.
SG coach Ales Pajovic did without the slightly injured goalkeepers Kevin Möller and Emil Jakobsen. Simon Pytlick was spared. To this end, three young talents were added to the squad: goalkeeper Catalin Haidu (18 years old), Jonas Rithaphorn (19) and Onno Buschmann (18).
Both teams were unable to maintain the scoring pace after the break. Flensburg struggled to hold on, but Montpellier simply had a little more to do with their fans behind them. In the 47th minute the home team were within five goals (31:26) and no longer gave up their lead.
The best Flensburg thrower was Marko Grgic with nine goals. Jack Thurin and Agustin Casdo each scored six goals for Montpellier.
