The dismay of Nantes at the end of the match. – INA FASSBENDER / AFP
The exploit did not take place. HBC Nantes were dominated (31-26) by Barcelona and will not advance (as in 2018) to the final of the Handball Champions League on Saturday in Cologne (Germany). The final on Sunday (6 p.m.) will therefore give rise to a shock of extremes between the Catalan giant, in search of a tenth record trophy, and Aalborg, present for the first time at the Final Four, who released PSG this Saturday.
If Paris Saint-Germain, yet favorite, suffered its fifth failure in six seasons in the last four, giving in to Aalborg, Barça made him respect the hierarchy. The “H”, which had ruled out two big cars, Veszprem and Kielce, during the previous laps, held up well against FC Barcelona and its French colony (Mem, Fabregas, Nguessan and Sorhaindo) before giving in in the last quarter of hour. The Blaugrana, with a good Gonzalo Perez de Vargas in goals, came off in the money time. “We were in the game for 45 minutes, maybe a little more, analyzes Dragan Pechmalbec. Physically, we put our foot down while Barcelona still had some under the pedals and we ended up breaking down. We can be proud of our journey in the Champions League. […] Barcelona played very well, they are the best team in the world at the moment. Tomorrow, I don’t want to hurt them, but they will be champions. They are above all the teams in Europe. “
A disappointment like the efforts made at the final whistle. But a journey to be proud of 👊#BARCAHBCN | #WeHback pic.twitter.com/k4MLKT3cNf
– HBCNantes (@HBCNantes) June 12, 2021
Less than six months after losing in the final of the previous edition to the Germans in Kiel, Barcelona have another opportunity to win the European Cup for the first time since 2015. For his part, Aalborg can become the first club Danish to register his name on the competition list.