Defending champion SC Magdeburg has made a complete false start to the new Champions League season. Coach Bennet Wiegert’s team also lost their second group game at FC Barcelona on Thursday with no chance with 20:32 (8:14). The German handball record champion THW Kiel celebrated their second victory in the second game with a 35:32 (16:15) win against the Hungarian runner-up Pick Szeged.
Only Paris St. Germain and the Danish top club Aalborg Handbold achieved this maximum result in Kiel’s Group A. In Group B, however, Magdeburg is already lagging behind the top, and next Wednesday they absolutely need their first win against RK Celje from Slovenia, who are also still without a point. At the end of the preliminary round, the two best teams in each group of eight will advance directly to the quarter-finals. The teams in third to sixth place take the detour via the play-offs.
Magdeburg lost at the start against the Hungarian champions Telekom Veszprem (28:33). Now the Wiegert team couldn’t find a way to beat the Champions League record winners Barcelona, who had finished the previous season in third place in the SCM’s triumph, over the entire season. Matthias Musche and Philipp Weber were the Bundesliga club’s best throwers with just three goals each. On the Catalans’ side, the French Olympic champion Dika Mem (8 goals) stood out.
Kiel had won the group opener against Croatian champions RK PPD Zagreb without any danger (30:23), but the team now faced a more difficult task against Szeged. Only after the break did the Kiel team pull away a little; right winger Niclas Ekberg (7 goals) and backcourt player Harald Reinkind (6) were the Bundesliga club’s best throwers.
Circle runner and defense chief Hendrik Pekeler made his comeback for THW and contributed three goals. The 32-year-old had to undergo surgery on his heel in June.