After two high-quality handball evenings the teams to Final four were found. While Füchse Berlin delivered in style, HBC Nantes ended up on top after a tricky away mission. SC Magdeburg and Barca also made it to Cologne, with one goal in the total standings.
Gisli Kristjansson became match winner for Magdeburg and sent 27-28 in the net in the very last second. The roaring opponent, Veszprem KC had the upper hand until just a few minutes remained, Magdeburgs seven time goalscorer Felix Claar made a huge effort in the comeback from the four goal deficit to a tight total win.
Barca lost on home ground but could still celebrate another year among the top four. Petar Cikusa´s late equaliser meant that Pick Szeged could no longer advance, however the Hungarian team said farewell to the international season with a top performance pushing Barca all the way. Mario Sostaric added eight goals from the right wing to his amazing season for Szeged, Dika Mem produced six goals for Barca.
Aalborg stood no chance in the return game against Füchse Berlin. Berlin ran through the home defense with 40 goals all in all and Mathias Gidsel had yet another show with eleven goals for the winning team.
– We are really happy that our gameplan held strong. We wanted to win this game, not just defend our lead. What my team did today gets my biggest respect. We had the game under control for 60 minutes and we had an answer for everything that Aalborg tried, Berlin’s coach Jaron Siewert said to eurohandball.com.
Sporting CP came close to taking the success season to the final weekend. HBC Nantes could come up with enough force to triumph in the double-header and survived a red card to advance with 60-57. Aymeric Minne lead the French team with eight goals and Ivan Pesic stopped Sporting from getting closer in the deciding minutes.
Champions League
Veszprem KC–SC Magdeburg 27–28 (13–13)
Magdeburg advance with 54–53 on aggregate
Barca–Pick Szeged 29–30 (16–14)
Barca advance with 56–54 on aggregate
Aalborg HB–Füchse Berlin 36–40 (20-21)
Berlin advance with 77–65 on aggregate
Sporting CP–HBC Nantes 30–32 (15–16)
Nantes advance with 60–57 on aggregate