After their win in the semi-final yesterday, Talant Dujshebaev wanted his players to remember last year’s final as a motivation, but the Kielce coach was not heard as Magdeburg won the title after a thrilling final and Kielce had to settle with the runners-up position for the second straight year.
It all started well for the Polish side though, which cruised away on the scoreboard for most of the game, before seeing Magdeburg come back at the heart of the second half. Goalkeeper Nikola Portner played a huge part in stealing the momentum, so did Icelandic left-back Gísli Kristjánsson.
In a thrilling extra time, Magdeburg took the lead again and, this time, never let it go again. Still, the German fans had to hold their breath until the very last second, but could scream their joy when Szymon Sicko saw his last shot being blocked. Sending SCM on the top of Europe again, 21 years after their first EHF Champions League title.
FINAL
SC Magdeburg (GER) vs Barlinek Industria Kielce (POL) 30:29 after extra-time (26:26, 13:15)
- high on adrenaline, Magdeburg took the best start, leading by three early, before Kielce levelled things up at the 12th minute, thanks to Dylan Nahi’s first goal
- powered by lefthanders Alex Dujshebaev and Arkadiusz Moryto, who scored a combined 10 in the first half, Kielce took the lead, which did not become bigger than two goals before the break
- the gap between the two teams remained more or less the same throughout most of the first half, mainly due to Andreas Wolff and Nikola Portner making saves between both teams' posts
- in the last minute of the game, Michael Damgaard scored the equaliser for Magdeburg before Nikola Portner managed to save Dani Dujshebaev’s last attempt, sending the match into extra time
- best scorers of the final were SCM's Kay Smits and Kielce’s Alex Dujshebaev, who both netted eight times
- Gísli Kristjánsson, who was named MVP of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4, was key for SCM, netting six overall, including two in the extra-time
- this title is the second in SC Magdeburg’s history, after the one they won in 2002
- SCM coach Bennett Wiegert was at both titles and became the fifth man who won the EHF Champions League both as a coach and a player after Talant Dujshebaev, Carlos Ortega, Filip Jicha and Roberto Garcia Parrondo
Gísli Kristjánsson’s crazy weekend
The Icelandic left back had to leave his Magdeburg teammates due to injury before the end of their semi-final against Barça. Much to everyone’s surprise, he was on the starting list for Sunday’s final. When he entered the court after 15 minutes, the SCM fans roared, knowing how much of a difference he could make for their team. And a difference he did, with six goals scored, including two in the extra-time. A well-deserved MVP of the EHF FINAL4 title, then.
Photo: EHF / kolektiff
