Handball record champions THW Kiel managed to make it into the final tournament of the Champions League with the magical night they had hoped for. After 30:39 in the first leg, the North Germans prevailed in the quarter-final second leg against the French representatives Montpellier HB with 31:21 (17:12).
Afterwards, the THW players hugged each other and cheered. The best throwers were Eric Johansson with eight goals for Kiel and Lucas Pellas with six goals for the guests.
The hosts tried to set an example with tough defense right from the start. Captain Domagoj Duvnjak received a time penalty in the first minute of the game. The North Germans began the attack nervously. Niclas Ekberg put the first seven meter shot well over the goal (6th). Kiel’s defense specialist Petter Överby then exaggerated his defensive effort and was shown the red card after a tough tackle on Valentin Porte (11th).
When Hendrik Pekeler scored 16:11 (26th minute), THW had for the first time made up more than half of the nine-goal deficit from the first duel. The pivot remained the man for the important goals. He scored to make it 20:14 (35th minute) and 27:20 (49th minute). The Kiel Arena was boiling when Johansson threw THW into the Final Four with a score of 31:21 (58th minute). Montpellier only scored two goals in the last 15 minutes and did not convert any of its three seven-meter shots. This also played into the hands of THW coach Filip Jicha’s team.
