Sport European League
German triple triumph at the Handball Final Four
Status: 22:22 | Reading time: 2 minutes
Final whistle: Flensburg’s team celebrates its first European Cup title since 2014
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Noah Wedel
SG Flensburg-Handewitt has dethroned defending champion Füchse Berlin in the final of the European League. A team from Germany also secured third place. The European association draws a positive conclusion.
The game was not quite over when coach Nicolej Krickau gave his player Lasse Möller a big hug. It was already clear at that moment that SG Flensburg-Handewitt would win the German final in the European League in handball against Füchse Berlin. In the end, the North Germans won 36:31 (15:14) against their league rivals and defending champions from the capital in front of 10,050 spectators in Hamburg on Sunday.
For the Flensburg team, who had already won the second most important European cup after the Champions League in 1997, it was the first international triumph since 2014, when the SG triumphed in the premier class. The first bottle of champagne was opened even before the trophy was handed over. Left winger Emil Jakobsen, who was named the most valuable player of the final tournament, was also celebrated in the golden confetti rain.
Rhein-Neckar Löwen secure third place
“The award is nice,” said Jakobsen, who, however, put the team’s performance first. “I am extremely proud of this team,” said the 26-year-old. For his Danish compatriot Lukas Jörgensen, it was simply “an outstanding evening.”
There it is: Flensburg captain Johannes Golla lifts the trophy into the air
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Noah Wedel
The duel between the second-placed team in the Bundesliga from Berlin and the third-placed team from northern Germany was as high-class as it was exciting. The Flensburg team had an advantage in the goalkeeper position. Kevin Möller, who saved two seven-meter shots from Hans Lindberg, made eight saves before the break and was thus the guarantor of the SG’s narrow half-time lead.
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At the start of the second half, Berlin’s defensive leader Mijajlo Marsenic was shown the red card after a foul on Pytlick (32′). Five minutes later, the Spanish referees also sent SG playmaker Jim Gottfridsson off the field after an action against Mathias Gidsel.
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Handball club SC Magdeburg
Flensburg coped better with the weakening. Lasse Möller secured a three-goal lead at 26:23 (47th minute). When Johan Hansen increased the lead to 31:26 with a quick counterattack eight minutes before the end, the North Germans had secured the preliminary decision.
In the match for third place, the Rhein-Neckar Löwen had previously won 32:31 (18:15) against the Romanian champions Dinamo Bucharest. After leading 30:25 in the 50th minute, the Mannheim team made things exciting again. “We have to take responsibility for that,” said playmaker Juri Knorr. Circle player Jannik Kohlbacher was pleased with his team’s “super European season.”
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Jan Ullrich and his coach
The European Handball Federation (EHF) was also satisfied with the first edition of the Final Four. “You can’t expect more from a premiere. We assume that we will host the next tournament here next year,” said EHF President Michael Wiederer.
