Landin the hero in MOTW; Magdeburg, Zagreb and Kolstad take key points

• Aalborg came out victorious in the Match of the Week, beating Barça 36:35 thanks a to last-second save by Niklas Landin
• goalkeeper Landin, who saved 14 shots, was elected Player of the Match in the MOTW
• Zagreb took important points at Szeged, 27:26, thanks to Zvonimir Srna scoring eight
• Kolstad managed to keep the upper hand against Nantes, 29:28, after leading by nine at the start of the second half
• Torbjørn Bergerud, who saved 16 for Kolstad, was elemental for the Norwegian side
• Magdeburg collected the points in Kielce, 29:25, with both Matthias Musche and Felix Claar scoring seven

GROUP B

MOTW: Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) vs Barça (ESP) 36:35 (23:18)

The first half of Match of the Week was like a perfect dream for Aalborg. First offensively, as Thomas Arnoldsen scored five to help his team net 23 times in the first part of the game — their biggest tally this season. But the centre back not only made the most of every opportunity, he also allowed his teammates to shine. The danger seemed to come from everywhere on the Danish side, as eight players scored two or more. On the other hand, Barça took 20 minutes to warm up before finally finding their rhythm. Being down by six at multiple times, Barça were still alive at the break thanks to Dika Mem’s five goals.

Things took a turn after the break. With much more efficient attack, Barça narrowed the gap on the scoreboard. French back-court players Dika Mem and Timothey N’Guessan — who scored nine and eight, respectively — were elemental in the comeback, while Aalborg struggled to seal the deal. At the end of the day, the hosts were saved by goalkeeper Niklas Landin. Not only did he make 14 saves in total, earning himself the Player of the Match award, but he stopped Melvyn Richardson’s last attempt to level the score after the buzzer, allowing his team to inflict on Barça their second defeat of the season.

Kolstad Håndbold (NOR) vs HBC Nantes (FRA) 29:28 (18:11)

The first five minutes of the game proved that Kolstad were not going to deliver a performance as lacklustre as they did in October in Nantes. Putting pressure on open-court situations, with left back Simen Lyse scoring three in the opening minutes of the game, the hosts were up by four after just seven minutes played (7:3). Kolstad did not let the momentum go either, as they managed to concede only 11 goals in the first half. With Torbjørn Bergerud making nine saves, including two penalty shots, the Norwegian side created a huge gap on the scoreboard — a gap that reached its peak at seven goals at the break (18:11).

The second half followed a completely different pattern. After Kolstad increased their advantage to nine goals at the 34th minute, Nantes made an impressive comeback. Between the posts, Ivan Pesic finally found the solution to make some crucial saves and give his teammates some balls to score. Not taking any goals between minutes 51 and 58, the French side managed to come back within one with one minute left to play. Even more, Nantes had the ball to even the score on the buzzer, but Kolstad defended well, earning themselves two important points.

OTP Bank - PICK Szeged (HUN) vs HC Zagreb (CRO) 26:27 (13:15)

Both teams took a while to warm up offensively, as the defences had the upper hand in the first quarter of the game. Thanks to Tobias Thulin’s saves, Szeged managed to remain in the game when Zagreb put their feet to the pedal. With Zvonimir Srna at the wheel, the visitors took a maximum advantage of two goals at the 27th minute, when the left back netted a second shot in a row. The Croatian outfit retained their advantage until the break, after Timur Dibirov found an open shot to allow his team to head to the dressing room leading by two (15:13).

Things even improved for Zagreb after the break. Still very strong defensively, the Croatian side created an even bigger gap, with Matej Mandic stopping some important shots. When Ihar Bialiauski netted his second goal in the 43rd minute, Zagreb’s advantage increased to five. Despite the hosts making a desperate charge and coming back within one in the last five minutes of the game, Zagreb remained on top to take two very important points.

Industria Kielce (POL) vs SC Magdeburg (GER) 25:29 (10:16)

Magdeburg dominated the first half of the game, and that was mainly thanks to the defence. Nikola Portner made five saves in the first 30 minutes, but the German side also delivered an amazing defensive performance overall, only allowing Kielce to score 10 times. Thanks to the welcome return of Felix Claar, Magdeburg found some rhythm offensively. The Swedish centre back scored five in the first half alone, helping his team increase their advantage on the scoreboard little by little. After the 15th minute, the lead was three goals, and that distance had doubled at the 24th minute and remained at six goals at the break (16:10).

The gap increased to eight goals 15 minutes before the end of the game, as Magdeburg goalkeeper Sergey Hernandez caused dismay for penalty shooters. But Kielce finally came together in the last quarter of the game. While Alex Dujshebaev struggled a little offensively, his brother Daniel took on offensive duties, scoring six in the match and helping the Polish side reduce the deficit to three goals in the 54th minute. But it was too little too late, as SCM kept their calm in the last minutes. Nikola Portner made a couple of decisive saves and when Matthias Musche scored his seventh goal, it was clear the points were going to the visitors.

Main photo: Henrik Hansen