With a 65:58 aggregate win, Fraikin BM. Granollers qualified for the EHF Finals Men, which will take place in Flensburg, by stunning the German side. Flensburg lost their first home game this season and only their second in 14 matches.
QUARTER-FINALS, SECOND LEG
SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs Fraikin BM. Granollers (ESP) 27:35 (12:16)
First leg 31:30 – Granollers win 65:58 on aggregate
Handball is sometimes impossible to explain and what Granollers did in the knockout phase of the EHF European League Men falls into this category. After winning once in five tries in the group phase on away courts, the Spanish side snatched back-to-back wins in the knockout phase, eliminating their opponents after losing the first leg at home.
First, it was Skanderborg-Aarhus in the Last 16, but this comeback against Flensburg was the biggest surprise of the season. The German powerhouse never took the lead on their home court, with a berth for the EHF Finals Men in their home arena on the line, and had little answer to what Granollers brought to the table.
While the gap soared to six goals (15:9) in the last minutes of the first half, Granollers did enough to maintain it in the second part, with some outstanding performances from veteran Antonio García Robledo and young gun Faruk Yusuf, who scored nine goals each.
With a meagre 38% attacking efficiency and depleted of energy after playing twice in the German cup last weekend, Flensburg had no means to stop the rut and lost 35:27, missing a huge chance to play for the trophy in the EHF European League Men on home ground. This was also Flensburg’s worst home loss in European competitions in 12 years, since a 38:24 defeat against Ciudad Real in the EHF Champions League.
photos (c) 2023 Ingrid Anderson-Jensen
