Top European Football Competition Championship - In the elite handball league, THW Kiel captures the consolation award.
At the Champions League final event, the handball team from THW Kiel took home the consolation prize. They defeated their fellow German team, SC Magdeburg, with a score of 32:28 (23:14) during their match for third place. This win helped them somewhat recover from their disappointing semi-final game against FC Barcelona, where they lost 18:30.
It was all THW Kiel from the get-go in this match at Cologne, in front of a crowd of 20,000 spectators. Their star player, Eric Johansson, scored an impressive seven goals. After just 10 minutes, they were already ahead by three goals. The lead grew to nine goals before halftime.
The reason for this stellar performance was their solid defense and an outstanding effort from their goalkeeper, Tomas Mrkva. SC Magdeburg, who had been dethroned as title holders, was also struggling due to a red card issued to their captain, Christian O'Sullivan, early in the game.
The champion and cup holder, with Lukas Mertens also scoring seven goals, seemed exhausted and lacked creativity. But in the second half, they stepped up their game, becoming more aggressive and narrowing the gap to just three goals towards the end. However, they were ultimately unable to make the big comeback.
Champions League schedule and resultsSC Magdeburg squadTHW Kiel squad
