Nielsen: “Our goal is to win the trophy”

Four rounds later, the Spanish champions are one of the two unbeaten teams in the competition, have created a four-game winning streak and look primed to fight once again for the coveted trophy, which evaded them in June in Cologne.

“Hard work. There is not much to say, I cannot think about any other answer. It is all about hard work for everybody here, we are doing everything we can to win trophies, because this is the main goal: winning the Champions League,” says Barça’s goalkeeper, Emil Nielsen.

The 26-year-old signed for the Spanish giants in the summer of 2022, coming from HBC Nantes, and has been growing ever since, becoming a key member of Antonio Carlos Ortega’s squad.

With more responsibility came more pressure, but Nielsen has shined so far in this season’s Machineseeker EHF Champions League, having the best percentage in the competition between the goalkeepers, 40.3 per cent save efficiency, while also delivering 54 saves, the second largest number, after Kolstad’s Torbjørn Bergerud, who has 56.

This also helped Barça to have the best defence so far in the competition, with only 105 goals conceded in the first four matches, 26.25 conceded goals per match, a superb number considering the Spanish side have faced reigning champions SC Magdeburg and attacking powerhouse GOG so far in the competition.

“We have four wins out of four matches, so we are feeling excellent after this start, it is what we wanted. Like I have said, the work put in can be seen on the court, and we are striving to get even better, especially as there have been a lot of changes so far. We needed to stick together and this is what we did,” adds Nielsen.

“I think we have improved a lot in defence, which is one of the main reasons for our excellent start and we want to keep it that way. There is no recipe outside of hard work and sticking together.”

So far, this has worked wonders, as Barça retained their attacking prowess, scoring 138 goals, only two shy of the best attack in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, Telekom Veszprém HC, regardless of the losses and injuries.

The pivotal moment of the season could have been, in Nielsen’s opinion, the 32:20 win against Magdeburg, where Barça sweetened the bad taste left after that painful loss in the semi-finals last season, their only loss of the season, but one which sealed the Spanish side’s fate.

“Of course, it was a win which really helped us as a team, really helped us believe in ourselves and gave us a morale boost. If we want to win the EHF Champions League, we need to beat teams like Magdeburg, therefore that win came at an excellent moment, especially in the way it did,” adds the Danish goalkeeper.

But now Barça face another challenge in maintaining their perfect start to the season, in the Match of the Week of round 5. While they might be facing a team which is last in the standings, losing all four of their matches, Barça know that RK Celje Pivovarna Laško are a force to be reckoned with, especially on their home court.

Last season, Barça won by a single goal, 28:27, in Slovenia, in a match which could have gone either way. Now, Celje have lost their first two home matches by the slightest of margins – 29:30 against FC Porto and 29:31 against Montpellier HB, which adds extra pressure for the Spanish side.

“At home, they can be really great. We respect them, of course, because we played against them last season and only won by a goal, therefore it is going to be a tough match. But we are going to treat this game as any other in the Champions League – prepare well, fight for every ball and hopefully get the two points,” concludes Nielsen.

Another win in the Match of the Week would surely cement Barça’s position in this season’s Machineseeker EHF Champions League. And it might just signal that the Spanish giants are not just a collection of stars, but a true team which can fight the fight in plenty of ways, including for the trophy.

Photo credit: Sara Gordon, Peter Spark / PhotoReport.in