The THW Kiel stormed the European handball throne for the fourth time in a rousing way. Led by the outstanding keeper Niklas Landin, the German record champions fought down top favorites FC Barcelona 33:28 (19:16) in a surprisingly clear Champions League final in Cologne, triumphing in the premier class for the first time in eight years.
“You can’t put that into words at all. Without a spectator, a lot is missing, but we have plowed and plowed so much, I’m incredibly proud of us all,” said international Patrick Wiencek Eurosport: “Now I’m looking forward to a cold beer! Hopefully everything is ready.” Coach Filip Jicha also cheered: “It’s unbelievable and very emotional. I’m super happy for the boys.”
The cool Swede Niclas Ekberg was the best thrower for Jicha’s team, who celebrated the greatest triumph of his young coaching career, with eight hits in the late final tournament of the 2019/20 season. The Czech coach was the first handball player to win the most important club competition in Europe both as a player and as a coach for a club.
Goalkeeper Landin defuses one ball after the other
The title is also financially valuable for the people of Kiel. By beating Barca, whose 22-game winning streak in the premier class ended in the empty Cologne arena, the German champions secured a valuable bonus of 500,000 euros in times of crisis. Paris Saint-Germain came in third after a 31:26 (14:11) against the Hungarian top team Veszprem HC. The Kiel team reached the final on Monday in a dramatic semi-final thriller against Veszprem (36:35 after extra time). The previous victories in the Champions League were in 2007 and under today’s national coach Alfred Gislason in 2010 and 2012.
In the 300th Champions League game in the history of the THW club, the Kiel team got off to a good start, with world handball player Landin defusing a seven-meter straight away in the Kiel goal at the beginning. And even offensively, Kiel’s moves resulted in practically always a goal in the beginning. Exceptional player Sander Sagosen took on a lot of responsibility, just like the day before, but saw his second time penalty in the cover from the rather petty whistling referees in the 11th minute. From then on, captain Domagoj Duvnjak defended the Norwegian.
Barcelona, which reached the final with a sovereign 37:32 against Paris, had their problems against the usual strong Kiel inner block with the national players Patrick Wiencek and Hendrik Pekeler as well as against keeper Landin. On the other hand, the Jicha team kept finding simple solutions. At 13: 9 (19th minute) Kiel took the lead with four goals for the first time, but after a slight loss of the ball and hasty finishes, Barca equalized – 15:15 (27th).
But then again the aggressively very flexible North Germans presented. The THW even increased the three-goal lead at the break to five goals after the change. Barcelona’s offensive rows continued to have big problems, the passionately fighting THW presented itself very effectively at the front. The final therefore continued in the direction of Kiel. Above all, Landin defused one ball after the other after the break and again and again secured the lead for THW, while national player Steffen Weinhold also impressed with strong individual actions at the front.
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