The German record champions THW Kiel have to worry about entering the final four of the Champions League, SC Magdeburg carelessly gave up a better starting position for reaching the finals.
While the SCM in the first leg of the quarter-finals at the Polish club Wisla Plock only managed a 22:22 (12:9) despite a long lead, Kiel lost 27:31 (12:13) against Paris St. Germain in their own hall.
The THW went into the second half with a deficit and, despite a big fight, did not come closer – on the contrary. The ripped off French pulled away and didn’t give Filip Jicha’s team a chance. Sander Sagosen fought back with nine goals, which was not enough against the solidly strong PSG team.
“We had big problems scoring goals and conceded easy goals through stupid mistakes,” said Sagosen. “Now we have to catch up four goals, that’s not impossible. We have to work.”
The German champions from Magdeburg were even up five goals at times, but Plock fought back, cheered on by his frenetic fans, and remained dangerous to the end. With five goals, Michael Damgaard was the top scorer for Magdeburg, who were leveled by Abel Serdio Guntin five minutes before the end. Magdeburg now needs a win in the second leg next Wednesday (6.45 p.m.) as does Kiel (8.45 p.m./both DAZN) in Paris.
“They scored some good goals but we have to take care of ourselves,” said Damgaard. “22 goals is not enough for us. We have a lot of respect for them but I’m confident we can do better in the second leg.”
The final round takes place on the weekend of 17./18. June in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. Most recently, in 2014, two German teams competed in the Final Four. At that time, SG Flensburg-Handewitt won the title against rival Kiel in the final.