When Gisli Kristjansson throws himself into the opposing defence, longtime companions flinch every time. Are your shoulders holding up? The 22-year-old handball professional has been responsible for controlling the game at SC Magdeburg for months – although it seems like sheer pleasure for him. Tirelessly he throws himself into cover, goes into duels, looks for the way to the goal.
He also plays it from time to time, as it should be for a director. But Kristjansson likes to try it himself. That defensive giants are waiting there, much longer and heavier than him? No problem. The lively Icelander is courageous and knows what he can do. No trace of conservation. And that despite the fact that four serious shoulder injuries have paralyzed him.
title is within reach
Since this season, coach Bennet Wiegert has relied almost continuously on his first back row consisting of Kristjansson in the middle, Omar Ingi Magnusson on the right and Philipp Weber on the left. The three frequent players get few breaks. With success – the Magdeburgers are about to bring the first championship since 2001 to Saxony-Anhalt.
They also survived the next Bundesliga endurance test on Sunday afternoon and defeated Füchse Berlin 28:27. So it remains at four minus points, while THW Kiel already has ten “lousy” points, Flensburg and Berlin even twelve.
Magdeburg understatement
There are still seven rounds to go and Berlin coach Jaron Siewert says: “They’ve already bagged the championship with this win against us.” While Wiegert sounds like this: “We may not only be playing for the Champions League anymore, but more.”
Against the strong Berliners it helped to give the weaker Weber a break and let Michael Damgaard play at the end. After all, the SCM is not only mentally and physically in the most stressful phase of the season: five games in 16 days.
Also a challenge for the travel planner. “Our strength no longer comes from our legs, but from the will,” said Wiegert, who himself seems more and more exhausted at actually having to bring the lead we have gained to the finish line. Basically, the SCM fans have been preparing for the big party for months. Despite being four goals behind, the foxes were just fine in the 50th minute.
Kristjansson perseveres
After the defeat in the cup final against THW Kiel and the first leg in the European League quarter-finals in Nantes two days later, which SCM won 28:25, a drop in strength against Berlin could definitely have been explained. But again, the stalwarts Magnusson (four goals) and Kristjansson (five) bore the burden of the game.
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This is particularly astonishing for Kristjansson. The son of the former Gummersbach professional Kristjan Arason went to THW Kiel in 2018 with the reputation of the great talent from Aalborg in Denmark. In January 2019, he injured his right shoulder during the World Cup and required surgery. Tricky for a right-hander, the shoulder of the throwing hand is considered a neuralgic point.
Always setbacks
In November of that year he dislocated his upper left ankle in a game against the Rhein-Neckar Löwen. The THW let him move to Magdeburg during the winter break. In the first game for SCM, Gisli Kristjansson was eliminated after a foul by Flensburg’s Michal Jurecki and had to rest until the end of the season. Again the left shoulder was maltreated.
The next setback came in March 2021. Magdeburg vs. Berlin, Kristjansson stormed into cover, was stopped, fell and lay on the ground screaming in pain. The left shoulder has to be operated in Zurich; he misses the rest of the season.
With a run into the fray
After this accident, Wiegert pondered whether his style of play was still right for the SCM. He doesn’t have any long shooters in the squad, he demands that his backcourt players plow through the defense 1-1, come close to the goal because the chance of a hit from six meters is just greater than from nine meters.
Magnusson, Kristjansson and Weber have to keep running and throw themselves into the fray. They are quick and tricky, but the opponents now know what to expect and close the gaps. Patrick Wiencek and Hendrik Pekeler did it brilliantly in Hamburg.
eyes shut and go for it
But Wiegert’s recipe for success is to stick to his style of play. Two days after the defeat against THW, Kristjansson and Magnusson burrowed through the defenses again. A remarkable win for the top team in Brittany resulted. This Tuesday, the SCM wants to make it into the “Final Four” of the European League in their second meeting with Nantes.
There are no more complaints about the brutal accumulation of tricky tasks. Close your eyes and keep going, don’t let up now, because the big party could start in just three weeks – if things go well, the SCM can become German champions on May 22nd with a win in Hamburg.
