A victory at the end! SC Magdeburg wins the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League against Aalborg Handbold 32-26 (17-11) and thus secures third place in the Champions League.
In Cologne’s LANXESS arena, the Magdeburgers showed from the beginning that they want to say goodbye to the tournament with a medal. Gisli Kristjansson threw herself into every little gap and also made the ball fast, next to him the SCM axis pulled along and so the team of coach Bennet Wiegert took the lead 8-6 (13th).
Thanks to the strong support of Matej Mandic in the green and red goal, the lead could then be further extended. In the 16th minute, Tim Hornke scored in the last game of his handball career to make it 10-6. A little later, Lukas Mertens scored from the other flank to make it 13-8 (21st), before Hornke made it 16-10. Without letting up, SCM took the lead into the locker room, and even increased it to plus seven in the meantime when Kristjansson once again screwed through the defense (17-10, 30th).
Mandic then started the second half directly with his tenth save to date and Albin Lagergren netted in return (18-11, 31st). Mobile and yet compact on the defensive, Magdeburg once again posed problems for its opponents, but the Danish champion and cup winner did not let itself be easily thrown out of rhythm (21-17, 39th).
However, the victory was no longer in danger. Lagergren scored to make it 23-17 (42nd), Mandic fended off the next shot – and although Aalborg tried again with the seventh outfield player, Magdeburg extended the lead again. In the 49th minute, Omar Ingi Magnusson scored the 26-18 and at the latest when Manuel Zehnder made it 30-23 (56th), the game was decided prematurely.
This means that SC Magdeburg not only says goodbye to the summer break with a win, but also with the bronze medal in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League.
