Kolstad take down Berlin; Kielce celebrate MOTW
Round 10 of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League concluded with dramatic matches around the continent and a major upset in Norway. Kolstad Håndball ended Füchse Berlin's flawless record in group A, with the German side missing their star Mathias Gidsel.
It was a good match, but unfortunately the end did not go our way. Veszprém is one of the best teams in Europe and they proved it again today. We wanted to play fast, especially in the second half, and we managed to do that, which brought life back into the match. It’s not easy to win in the Veszprém Arena and we didn’t manage it, but our team is young and experiences like this will help us become even better.
This was a true team victory. The end was very tough, but we solved it. We’ve learned how to fight and come back. It’s good to know we’re capable of this. Winning a match like this, in front of a crowd like this, is an incredible experience. It was a very intense game, and in the end, all I had to do was catch the ball. I had to throw myself in completely, so I did.
A fantastic team effort. Our defence was really good and we had a great goalkeeper. We played a great match and it was really nice to win — take two points again.
A tough match for Füchse Berlin. We made a lot of technical mistakes and Kolstad have a world-class goalkeeper, and this made the match hard for us. We also made it difficult for ourselves with a lot of mistakes. A well-deserved victory for Kolstad.
We are obviously disappointed, even though I think we did a good job defensively with the resources we had today. But we fell short in the finishing. In a match at this level, in the Champions League, you don’t get away with that. You have to be clinical — it’s frustrating.
It was a rough game in an amazing atmosphere at XXL Arena. Nantes had a lot a injured players, it had an impact especially in their central defence. We took advantage of it. I am happy with this result and proud of the team.
I am very pleased with how we performed today. In the previous match against Plock, we made too many mistakes, but this time we managed to limit them. Despite Wisla's tough defence, we managed to find a way to effectively bypass Plock's formations and create many opportunities in attack.
They controlled the endings of both the first and second halves. It was a match in which anything could have happened. I am satisfied with our attacking play, although we had problems, especially when our opponents had the upper hand. I congratulate them on winning two points. However, I am not satisfied with our defence. I take full responsibility for this and I assure you that it will not happen again. We are moving on, doing our job and continuing to work hard.
At the beginning we left out too many opportunities. But then the team fought their way back, and that's what makes SCM so special. It's great that we are finishing the Champions League year like this. It makes us incredibly proud, but not complacent. We want to keep winning next year. That's our mindset, that's SCM.
Magdeburg came with a lot of energy for the full 60 minutes. We know we can compete with them if we are 100 per cent focused — but we have to maintain that level for the entire match. We didn't manage to do that, and that's why we deserved to lose.
