On the walls of the sports city of Sant Joan Despí, the posters hanging invite optimism: a collage of photos of celebrations of the Barça players with a giant three in the center forming the motto “Let’s” (for the third time in a row, we hi!), they encourage you to believe in it. This is how the giants of Blaugrana handball are motivated in the face of the historic challenge they face this weekend in Cologne: conquering the club’s 12th Champions League, the third in a row – a historic milestone -, which would be the fifth in the 14 editions of the format in four that have been contested in the majestic Lanxess Arena.
To choose to repeat the European title in tomorrow’s final at 18.00, Barça, today in the semi-finals, will first have to find the antidote to avoid being affected by the so-called curse of the debutant. Up to four times the Blaugrana, favorites for their shield, squad and track record, fell against a new team in the final four. And they don’t want Magdeburg to be the fifth to subjugate them. They are more than warned, as the German rival is their most recurring black beast in recent times: it is the only team that has beaten Barça this season, and the last two in a row.
Of the 13 editions of the Champions League with a four-man format, Barça surprisingly fell against debutants such as Hamburg (in the 2013 final, in extra time); the following year, in the semi-finals against Flensburg – also eventual champions; in the 2017 edition, it was swept by Vardar in the semis, which would also end up reigning; and in 2018 Montpellier knocked him out in the eighth round (which ended up being crowned in Cologne). Four starters, four eliminations, four champions.
For this reason, and for all their potential, Magdeburg instills respect for the Blaugrana. “It has been one of the best teams in the Champions League for the last 2-3 years”, summarized Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas to this newspaper, which he attributes to the “style of play” and players “with fewer centimeters and less weight than the usual, very good in one-on-one” the difficulty that Barça has encountered against the German team in their last two meetings: the defeats in the finals of the 2021 Club World Cup (33-28) and 2022 (41 -39, in extra time, in October).
For Luka Cindric, the Croatian centre-back who could play in his last two games for Blaugrana (the club invites him to leave), there is no doubt: “Magdeburg is so difficult for us because they play as quickly as us, it is very similar; it is the anti Barça. And it has good players, with changes in quality, similar to Barça. It’s a very difficult team to beat.”
Magdeburg, who were champions of Europe for the last (and only) time in 2002, are a true UN with players from nine nationalities (Danish, Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian, Slovenian, Swiss, Dutch, Polish and German) making up a compact and compensated block. The Bundesliga runners-up will not be able to have their great reference, the Icelandic full-back Omar Magnusson, injured since February, but they have recovered the Icelandic central Gisli Kristjansson, the team’s second top scorer (76). Although his most fit player is the Dutchman Kay Smits (78), “who is doing the same or better” than Magnusson, according to Ortega.
“It’s a team that relies a lot on one-on-one, with very fast players, difficult to defend. And he has reached the final four in his first year in the Champions League. He is doing things very well and signing very well for many years; he will be a serious opponent in the coming years”, analyzes the Barcelona coach for La Vanguardia.
Barça, the only undefeated team arriving in Cologne (15 wins, 1 draw), with a historic streak of 25 games without losing (since November 2021) and top scorer in the tournament (with an average of 34.8 goals), has all their players with the exception of Aitor Ariño, in the recovery phase.
