The win marked Plock's first at EHF Finals, after they had lost both matches and finished fourth in 2021.
Nexe stood strong only in the last minutes of the first half when they made up a five-goal deficit. But after the break, Plock were fully dominant and impressed with a strong collective work and goalkeeper Adam Morawski, who said farewell victorious.
It was Plock’s 13th victory since the start of the group phase, while Nexe were defeated for the seventh time – but most probably have the EHF European League top scorer in their squad: Halil Jaganjac.
THIRD PLACE MATCH:
Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs RK Nexe (CRO) 27:22 (14:13)
- Plock had full control in the first 20 minutes, leading 13:8, as Nexe played too slow and caused many mistakes in attack but leaned on their outstanding goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanovic, who saved nine shots before the break (13 in total)
- the red card for Plock’s defence boss Mirsad Terzic after a foul against Dorian Markusic in minute 23 gave Nexe the chance for a 5:0 run as Plock briefly lost their rhythm
- Plock were dominant again from the start of the second half, thanks to a much higher efficiency in attack and more options from the bench, while Nexe were outscored
- a treble strike of Croatian player Tin Lucin for 24:18 decided the match
- on the other hand, Nexe’s Halil Jaganjac is close to securing the top scorer's title with 108 goals, nine ahead of Petar Djordjic, who was set to play the final with Benfica later Sunday
Finally something to celebrate for Plock
When you win 13 of 16 matches, you normally can be satisfied with your season – but unfortunately for Plock, the first defeat after 11 unbeaten matches occurred in the semi-final against Benfica. After an outstanding group phase, which they finished on top ahead of Füchse Berlin, and three wins and a draw in the knockout phase, expectations were high at Plock. Even when finishing third is less than what they came to Lisbon for, it is the club's biggest international success so far.
