Hamburg (2003), Flensburg (2014), Vardar (2017), Montpellier (2018) and now Magdeburg (2023): the rookie in Cologne was once again crowned king of Europe… and in all five cases, the rookie in the final four, having eliminated Barça. The German team defeated Talant Dujshevaev’s Kielce in extra time after raising 4 goals in the second half (14-18) and having reached 60 minutes of regulation with 26-26.
As in the semifinal against Barça, Magdeburg imposed their choral game, their possessions to exhaustion and the quality of their stellar trio: the Dutch center-back Kay Smits (8 goals), the Danish winger Michael Damgaard (6) and the Icelandic center-back Gisli Kristjansson (6), who 24 hours earlier had withdrawn injured and could not finish the game against the blaugrana.
Dujshebaev’s Kielce dominated in the first half (13-15) and extended their superiority until Alex Dujshebaev’s 18-21, the best of the Poles with 8 goals. However, Magdeburg, with a forceful defense, made up for the deficit and achieved their first initiative at 25-24 with four minutes to go. A Damgaard goal with 33 seconds remaining forced overtime (26-26). In extra time, 4-3 in the partial, with two initial goals from Kristjansson (voted MVP of the final four), one from Smits and another from Damgaard, his most lethal trio.
Magdeburg is the emerging power: in the last three seasons they have won a European League (2021), two Club World Cups (2021 and 2022, both against Barça), a Bundesliga (2022) and now the Champions League.
The EHF reported the death of a Polish journalist who fainted during the second part. The game was stopped for a few minutes, before the respectful silence of the entire Lanxess Arena, so that the journalist could be treated by the medical services, but they could not revive him.
