Mike Jensen sends Magdeburg to the final after an absolute thriller

The record EHF Champions League title holders saw their league all-time best streak of 25 unbeaten games snapped by SCM as four of their players, including Ludovic Fabregas the trophy-clinching scorer of the previous season, failed to score in the decisive shoot-out.

The Blaugranas gave their opponents a first blow in the last five minutes of the first half, taking a first three-goals advantage, but their momentum was halted by the break, which SCM used to perfection.

In five minutes, the German side turned things around to take the lead and offer themselves a chance to make it to a historical final. It took a while for them to convert it, but after an extra-time and a penalty shoot-out, Mike Jensen stopped Ludovic Fabregas’ attempt to send his team to the final.

SEMI-FINAL

SC Magdeburg (GER) vs Barça (ESP) 40:39 after shootout (38:38, 31:31, 16:18)

• the first minutes of the game were, basically, a Danish battle inside this EHF Champions League semi-final, as Emil Nielsen and Michael Damgaard respectively powered Barça and Magdeburg in a very even first half
• the break seemed to do some good to the Magdeburg team, though, as Kay Smits and Nikola Portner helped the German side to take the lead for only the second time in the game at the 40th minute and after being down by three late in the first half
• both teams remained neck to neck in the last twenty minutes but lost key players to injuries: Dika Mem had to exit the court for Barça while Gisli Kristjansson had to leave his teammates with four minutes left on the clock
• it all went down to a crazy last minute: Aleix Gomez scored a last goal for Barça before Kay Smits netted the equaliser for Magdeburg and Michael Damgaard saved Blaz Janc’s last attempt to send the game into extra-time
• after no team managed to take the upper hand, it all went down to penalties - Barça missed three of their attempts, Mike Jensen, with one last save, sent Magdeburg to their first ever Truckscout24 EHF FINAL4 final
• best scorer of the game was Smits, who netted 12 times, while Timothey N’Guessan scored nine for Barça

Marko Bezjak, the revenge of the defender

Lately, Slovenian centre-back Marko Bezjak has been more known for his defensive actions than for scoring goals. But it seems like the 36-year-old veteran has not forgotten what made his strength a couple of years ago. He might not go as fast, he might not shoot as strong, but Bezjak used all of his experience when he entered the court to replace Gisli Thorgeir Kristjansson towards the end of the game. He scored four goals, each as important as the other and allowed Magdeburg to remain in the game and force the penalty shoot-out.

photos (c) EHF / kolektiff

Bennett Wiegert, SC Magdeburg coach: “I am tired but we are also happy to win against Barça. At the moment, I am really tired. We were really close to them in our performance, the last minutes of the first half and we lost our system, Emil had good saves. The second time the momentum switched to us thanks to Nikola and his saves. In my opinion, we didn’t need the extra time but never mind. Despite Gisli’s injury, we managed to remain focused. We lost the penalty shootout in the German cup here, and I think the experience was beneficial for this. Really excited for tomorrow, to be in the final.”

Magnus Saugstrup, SC Magdeburg line player: "It was a crazy 70 minutes, we had to fight for the entire time to win. We were following and were standing closer and closer to Barça. We worked together as a team. I don’t even care if this wasn’t my best game. We are a team."

Mike Jensen, SC Magdeburg goalkeeper: "I like the penalty shootout, it is fun. As a goalie you can just win. There is less pressure than during the game."

Antonio Carlos Ortega, Barça coach: “I think we lost a couple of balls, they made a couple of easy goals including ones in the empty goal and they came into the match again. They are a difficult team to defend, they play very close to passive play very often, but they play their way very good. Magdeburg use a lot of one against ones, they provoke a lot of fouls. But tonight, they managed to find solutions each time. We tried to change our defence, it was OK for a bit, but we lost our way again. Last season we won thanks to the penalties, today we lost, this is sports I guess."

Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, Barça goalkeeper: “When you haven’t played a team after two losses, you want to beat them, of course. We wanted to be in the final, we knew their strengths and their weaknesses. We watched them play a lot. The fact we lost twice against them was more motivation than something that was playing in our heads. They are a strong team, they played the way they wanted to play and that it why they are in the final. I’m proud of the way we fought during the game and the whole season.”