In the race for the top spot of group A on Wednesday, Aalborg scored points that could prove to be decisive, by defeating Elverum 32:27.
Not having lost a Champions League game since mid-November, Aalborg keeping up the rhythm with Montpellier and Kiel, two teams that will face each other in Wednesday’s second matches.
It took 30 minutes for Aalborg to find their rhythm, before putting their feet to the pedal right after the break to take the lead, and to never let it go.
GROUP A
Aalborg Handbold (DEN) vs Elverum Handball (NOR) 32:27 (14:13)
- Emil Imsgard did wonders for Elverum in the first half, stopping eight shots to help the visitors take an early three-goals advantage after six minutes
- with Felix Claar and Henrik Møllgaard scoring important goals, Aalborg came back into the game before the break
- Claar was once again critical after the break, as his team scored a 7:2 series within eight minutes to take a comfortable lead that would carry Aalborg all the way to the final whistle
- thanks to this win, Aalborg are temporarily single leaders of the group, two points ahead of Montpellier
- Elverum, on the other hand, remain fifth, but are threatened by Zagreb and Vardar, two teams that will play against each other later on
Aalborg roar out of the dressing room
If the start of the first half was clearly in Elverum’s favour, the opposite was true about the second half. Only leading by one at the second throw-off, the Danish side found themselves leading by five six minutes later.
It felt like the visitors had forgotten how to play handball, making mistakes that Felix Claar and Lukas Sandell made the most of in fast breaks. Against teams as strong as Aalborg, you pay for every mistake you make, and the visitors lost everything they had built within 10 minutes.