After six competitive wins, THW Kiel has lost for the first time this season. But even if the German record champions were far from their best form at 36:38 (14:17) at RK Celje, the people from Kiel then gave up fighting.
38 goals conceded in one game? “That’s too many. That’s not what we want to play with our two great goalkeepers. That really shouldn’t happen to us,” said backcourt player Nikola Bilyk. The statistics speak volumes: Niklas Landin (on Sunday from 10.30 p.m. as a guest at the NDR Sportclub) and Tomas Mrkva made just nine saves together.
“And in attack we leave a lot of clear chances that we normally create,” Bilyk was annoyed. Not much worked out for the Schleswig-Holsteiners at the Slovenian champions on a Wednesday evening, which brought the first bankruptcy of the season after six wins in competitive games.
“We have to get up now, take the next steps, take care of ourselves and – above all – not let our heads hang.”
— THW backcourt player Nikola Bilyk
Due to the defeat at the Slovenian champions, Kiel’s plan to reach one of the two first places in group B and thus move straight into the quarter-finals received a sensitive damper on the second day of the preliminary round. After all, the really big tasks are still waiting for defending champions FC Barcelona, last year’s finalists KS Kielce from Poland and the Danish club Aalborg HB around superstar Mikkel Hansen.
Kiel cannot absorb personnel worries
Coach Filip Jicha was aggressive immediately after the final whistle: “We’ll get up and keep working on ourselves.” But Jicha and Co. have to get the personnel problems under control first. In addition to the long-term absentees Sander Sagosen and Hendrik Pekeler, captain Domagoj Duvnjak (family reasons) and playmaker Miha Zarabec (back problems) were also absent in Celje. The latter also plagued Steffen Weinhold.
Patrick Wiencek shone up front with ten strong goals. On the other hand, the colossus could not give his team any security. The defense was full of holes like the typical Slovenian Bovec cheese. It’s been almost two years since the defensive conceded so many goals. At the beginning of December 2020 there were even three more in Veszprem.
Jicha: “Celjer defense on the verge of brutality”
“We tried everything, but then Celje was also on the emotional wave,” analyzed Jicha: “In the end it was a typical Champions League match with a lot of fighting and a Celje defense on the verge of brutality.” Bilyk demanded: “We have to get up now, take the next steps, look at ourselves and – above all – not hang our heads.”
Part three of the Kiel away tour takes THW back to the Bundesliga handball league on Sunday to TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, which got off to a strong start. Throw-in is at 2 p.m. In the “premier class” the North Germans will welcome Hungary’s champion Pick Szeged on September 29 (6.45 p.m.).
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sports club | 09/25/2022 | 10:30 p.m
