A penalty drama took the German champion through to Final four. Aalborg HB was supreme to Telekom Veszprem and continues the title race in Cologne.
On a late night in Magdeburg, 60 minutes wasn’t enough to decide a winner. But three penalty saves from Sergey Hernandez was, and Magdeburg repeats the chance to lift the trophy via one of the tightest ever quarterfinal clashes.
Andreas Wolff could have become the hero for Kielce with an equally inspired keeper performance. Among the outfield players, Omar Ingi Magnusson shone with eight goals and the important goal from the penalty line.
– It was an incredible game. When you think you’ve seen everything in handball and then a game like that comes along. The key to victory in the end was that my team believed in itself so much, said Magdeburg coach Bennet Wiegert to eurohandball.com.
The story of last week was how close Aalborg came to defeat Veszprem away. Still the narrow loss worked to Aalborg’s advantage as Mads Hoxers hard shots and Kristian Bjørnsen fast paced steps started to have an effect in the return game.
Veszprem had an early lead but Aalborg soon overturned the standing with the help of the enthusiastic home fans. Aalborg qualifies for the final weekend for the second time in club history. In 2021 the Danish club made it to the final when Barca won by a huge margin.
Champions League
SC Magdeburg—Industria Kielce 27–25 after penalties (23–22, 11–13)
Magdeburg through after 4–3 in shootout, 49–49 on aggregate.
Aalborg HB–Telekom Veszprem 33–28 (18–14)
Aalborg through after 64–60 on aggregate.