While, in the 2025 final, Magdeburg made the difference early on, leading by four at the break, this year’s confrontation was much more tense. Halfway through, Füchse were only ahead by two, in a game where offence took the upper hand.
In minute 50, it was still unclear which team would proceed to the final, as the score was even. But Füchse goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev helped turn the match Berlin’s way.
Thanks to the victory, Berlin gave themselves a second straight chance at winning the trophy after losing to Magdeburg in the final last year.
SEMI-FINAL
H2H: 2-0-1
Top scorers: Ómar Ingi Magnússon 9/11 (SC Magdeburg); Mathias Gidsel 9/12 (Füchse Berlin)
- the game started on a very high tempo, with 17 goals combined by both sides in the first quarter, but it was not until just past the 15-minute mark that Berlin created the first two-goal gap
- Füchse kept their grip on the game throughout the first half, retaining their two-goal advantage with Lasse Andersson and Mathias Gidsel driving the attack, along with keeper Lasse Ludwig, who made a couple of important saves
- Berlin increased the gap to three goals when Tim Freihöfer scored his fourth goal seconds from the break, before going to the dressing room leading by two
- despite being down by four in minute 34, the reigning champions reacted, narrowing the gap one goal at a time before making the score even in the 45th and taking the lead four minutes later
- Füchse reclaimed the momentum as Milosaljev, despite not having his best day, made two crucial saves against Matthias Musche and Felix Claar within the last 10 minutes
- as the Serbian goalkeeper did not concede a goal for 10 minutes, Berlin increased the gap to the maximum of five two minutes before the end
- with 75 goals, this game tied the record for most goals scored in the regular time of a TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 game; the previous record was in the 2019 3/4 placement match Barça versus Kielce, also at 40:35
- the game broke the record for most spectators at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4, with an attendance of 20,122
Dejan Milosavljev — right when you need him
To say that Milosavljev did not have the best evening of his career would probably be an understatement. One save in the first 20 minutes of the game; another in the first 20 minutes of the second half — the Serbian goalkeeper has been seen much stronger than that.
But he was crucial in the last 10 minutes on Saturday. Perhaps fuelled by his desire to win a last trophy with Füchse, as he will leave the club at the end of the season, Milosavljev delivered in the last minutes of the game. Four saves, including one with his head, gave his team the momentum and led Berlin to a second straight chance for their first Champions League trophy. And the icing on the cake came within the last minute, as Milosavljev scored the goal that definitively secured the win.
It’s great going to the final. It’s great to beat Magdeburg as well, because we kind of struggled against them lately. I think we played really good, especially offensively. Milo [Dejan Milosavljev] did some important saves at the end of the game and that made everything turn our way. We said to ourselves we wanted another chance at the trophy after last year’s defeat and now here we are.
Sometimes, just like last year, you can be hero and sometimes, it is not as easy. Tonight, we are on the other side of history, not on the good one, and it does not feel nice. Of course, this is not what we wanted, not what we expected, but I guess Berlin were a little bit better than us tonight.
