Handball
SC Magdeburg reaches the quarter-finals of the Champions League
Against Veszprém, Claar was Magdeburg’s best shooter with nine goals. photo
© Ronny Hartmann/dpa
Handball Bundesliga team SC Magdeburg has managed direct qualification for the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The SCM won 30:28 (14:14) against the Hungarian champions Telekom Veszprém. The best Magdeburg shooter was Felix Claar with nine goals. The quarterfinals will take place at the end of April and beginning of May.
Both teams started with missed shots and technical errors. In the early stages, Veszprém had advantages, especially with ex-Magdeburg player Mike Jensen in goal, but the Hungarians were unable to pull away. Instead, the SCM worked its way into the game and went to the front, but then missed a bigger lead. Veszprém came back and the teams went into the break with a draw.
The second half also began with many missed throws, neither team was able to break away. Magdeburg had problems with the positional attack and the Bundesliga team couldn’t get into the tempo game at all. Two SCM goals within 15 seconds finally gave them a two-goal lead (20:18/42nd), but the hosts got the game back on their side after four minutes. However, the Hungarians could no longer find an answer to the SCM’s next three-goal lead. The SCM won its twelfth victory in a row in the Champions League.