Eric Johansson steers THW Kiel to Hamburg

EHF / Björn Pazen

05 May 2026, 23:00

What a thriller in Kiel: After RK Nexe had won the reverse fixture of the EHF European League quarter-final last week 33:30, THW Kiel were under huge pressure. Nine minutes before the end, the German side were ahead 28:22, but almost with the buzzer, the visitors levelled the aggregate result at 30:27. In the penalty shoot-out, Andreas Wolff and Gonzalo Perez de Vargas saved two shots from Ivan Barbić and Ognjen Cenić – and finally top scorer Eric Johansson sent THW Kiel to the Winamax EHF Finals 2026 with the last strike.

QUARTER-FINALS, SECOND LEG

THW Kiel (GER) vs RK Nexe (CRO) 34:29 (17:15, 30:27) after penalty shoot-out

Top scorers: Eric Johansson 10/15, Lukas Zerbe 10/13 (both THW Kiel), Tin Lučin (RK Nexe) 8/15
First leg result: 30:33, Kiel won 64:62 on aggregate

Four times in the first half, THW Kiel were virtually in Hamburg, leading by four goals – but RK Nexe stood extremely strong against the four-time EHF Champions League winners.
While again, as in the reverse fixture, Tin Lučin was crucial for the Croatian side, Kiel were extremely pushed by Eric Johansson; the Swede scored eight of his ten goals in the first half.
Besides this, right wing Lukas Zerbe (six goals before the break) and goalkeeper Andreas Wolff played a key role for Kiel to remain on the road to the Winamax EHF Finals 2026.
A Croat then took responsibility for THW, as Veron Načinović scored the crucial goals to put them ahead 25:19, their first six-goal advantage.
As Kiel’s defensive middle block stood extremely strong, RK Nexe temporarily could not find the gaps in this wall, but showed great morale, reducing the gap to 26:29 after being down 22:28.
Kiel became extremely nervous, missed some clear chances and lost their previous pace – leading 30:26, Harald Reinkind failed with the opportunity to seal the deal in minute 59.
Seven seconds before the end, Lučin netted for 30:27 with his seventh strike – and as Kiel missed their last shot, the penalty shoot-out had to decide.

THW luckily win their “match of the season”

THW Kiel called it the “match of the season”, as the Winamax EHF Finals 2026 are the only chance for the German record champions to win a trophy this season. In the cup, they were eliminated by eventual winners Füchse Berlin in the quarter-final; in the league, they are ranked fifth and already 14 points behind leaders SC Magdeburg. And after winning all previous matches in the EHF European League Men, the team of head coach Filip Jícha were really shocked after losing the reverse fixture at Našice last week.

Having to replace their regular back-court axis – Mykola Bilyk, Elias á Skipagøtu and Emil Madsen – in both quarter-finals was a tough burden for THW. But finally, they made it to their 21st semi-final in EHF competitions in club history. Before the EHF Finals 2025, THW had always won the second-tier competition when they played it (EHF Cup 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2019), but last year they lost the semi-final thriller against Montpellier to finish third. Of course, the four EHF Champions League trophies (2007, 2010, 2012 and 2020) shine even brighter. Now, they were lucky in the end to have the chance to win another trophy.

Nexe gave us an outstanding challenge in both games. We played really well today in both attack and defence, but we should have wrapped up the game earlier. Then came some outstanding saves from the Nexe goalkeeper, and in the end, we held our nerve and won the penalty shoot-out. I'm really proud of my team and the staff at our club. This victory felt good because we've had some setbacks in recent weeks. Traveling to Hamburg was one of our major goals before the season. We've achieved it.

Eric Johansson, left back of THW Kiel

Kiel showed in both games what kind of character it takes to be one of the best and biggest teams in the world. We also put in a great performance – and for the full 120 minutes. Not many teams in Europe can say they challenged Kiel like that for 120 minutes. In the end, it's a matter of luck – but I'm proud of my team.

Tin Lučin, left back of RK Nexe