THW Kiel – Telekom Veszprém 25:27

 

THW Kiel: Wolff – Duvnjak 2, Toft Hansen 1, Lackovic, Sprenger, Dissinger 1, Wiencek 6, Ekberg 7 (4), Zeitz 2, Dahmke 1, Brozovic, Vujin 2, Bilyk 3, Nilsson, Santos

 

Telekom Veszprém: Mikler, Alilovic – Gulyás 1, Iváncsik 2, Schuch, Ilic 7 (2), Gajic 1, Nilsson 1, Nagy 6, Ugalde 1, Marguc, Chema, Terzic, Blagotinsek, Sulic 2, Lékai 6

 

Penalties: 5/4 and 4/2

Suspensions: 6 min. and 10 min.

 

 

Xavi Sabaté: It was amazing to play in the Sparkassen Arena against such a fantastic team like Kiel. They have a great coach. I think we deserved to win because we played well and cleverly. We changed some things mainly in defense. We functioned as a team. Lékai lead the plays well, Ilic and Nagy were in top form. The key to our victory was the teamwork in which everyone took their part. Gulyás could substitute Nagy in top class when he had to. Blagotinsek played well but he still needs time to take a bigger part in the team. He will be a useful player of the team in the future without doubt. Everyone know that we have problems because of injuries that is why we have to play smart handball like we just did today. If we have to run, we will run, if we have to slow down the game, we will do that. Unfortunately Palmarsson and Sliskovic played almost no games in the season so we only have one left back who can both attack and defend. I would like to congratulate my team. If I have the responsibility for the losses than I have the responsibility for the victories too.

 

Lékai Máté: It was wonderful to play in this Arena against this team. We were not able to win here ever. After the defeat against Barcelona in the weekend the team and the fans were both disappointed. We wanted to show that we are a better team and we can play better than in the last game. We did not start very well but at the end of the first half we were able to come even in the scoresheet. A new game started in the second half in which we played well and had the advantage. We had difficult moments in the last 10 minutes but we always managed to solve the problem. Either we scored or our goalkeeper made important saves. I hope we can play like this from now on. We keep on working and to get better and better from game to game. This way we can achieve our goals and qualify for the Final4.

 

 

Alfred Gislason: Congratulations to Xavi and Veszprém. I feel like they deserved to win. We started good but Veszprém managed to climb back. Although our defense was good in the beginnings, but later we could not stop their offense effectively. We made too many mistakes at the end of the first half, made too many turnovers so instead of a lead for the half time we got a draw. I was disappointed by this. In the second half we tried to get better but we missed too many clear shots. Mikler was fantastic. Veszprém could lead until the end of the match. They are a very experienced team so they were able to hold their lead.

 

Nikola Bylik: Congratulations to Veszprém It was a though game for us. Our defense worked properly for 20 minutes but after that we had problems both in attack and defense. Veszprém played smart handball in the second half and Mikler was stunning in the goal. There is nothing we can do about this, we have to go on. We are disappointed about this match but from now on we have to concentrate on our next game.

 

 

 

 

Photo: angela-grewe.de