With each team having taken five penalties, the result was still equal. But then Magdeburg’ goalkeeper Sergey Hernandez saved Dylan Nahi’s shot and Ómar Ingi Magnusson netted. That gave Magdeburg a 4:3 win in the penalty shootout, and the GETEC arena went crazy. As in the 2023 final of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL 4, after overtime, Magdeburg had beaten Kielce and remain in the race to defend their trophy.
QUARTER-FINAL, LEG 2
SC Magdeburg (GER) vs Industria Kielce (POL) 27:25 after shootout (23:22, 11:13)
Magdeburg win 53:52 on aggregate
- goalkeeper Sergey Hernandez was again Magdeburg’s super-hero. The Spaniard saved 15 shots (41.7 per cent) in regular time, and stopped three penalties in the shootout
- Andreas Wolff entered Kielce’s goal for the first time in minute 29 and immediately saved a penalty. After the break, he fully replaced Sandro Mestric between the posts and was the reason why Kielce made it to the penalty shoot-out, where he saved twice
- missing too many chances and causing an unusual number of mistakes, Magdeburg were ahead only once in the first half, when Hernandez netted into the empty goal for a 10:9 lead
- after the break, the game went back and forth and the lead changed five times until the 52nd minute 52, when Magdeburg led by two goals (21:19), backed by Ómar Ingi Magnusson’s goals
- SCM coach Bennet Wiegert took his final time-out with 13 seconds on the clock and a one-goal lead, but Michael Damgaard was denied by Wolff; Kielce’s attack also failed, with Daniel Dujshebaev’s direct free throw blocked, taking the game to the shootout
A rollercoaster shootout
Kielce’s history in the EHF Champions League is always filled with thrillers, extra-times and penalty shootouts. But after winning the 2016 final against Telekom Veszprém HC on penalties after being down by eight goals 15 minutes before the end, their luck ran out.
In 2022, they lost the final against Barça after a penalty shootout. They were finalists again in 2023, and lost against Magdeburg after overtime. Now, the two teams went to a shootout again.
First Tim Hornke and Igor Karacic failed, then Magnusson, Nahi, Magnus Saugstrup and Arkadiusz Moryto all hit the goal. Wolff saved against Christian O’Sullivan, but Daniel Dujshebaev and Philipp Weber both scored.
As in the 2023 final against Barça, Alex Dujshebaev had Kielce’s luck in his hands, and failed again, this time against his compatriot Hernandez, who then also saved Nahi’s shot. Finally, Magnusson made Magdeburg jump for joy and provided SCM with their second ticket to Cologne.
Photos © ERPOPRESS/Eroll Popova
It was an incredible game. When you think you've seen everything in handball and then a game like that comes along. The key to victory in the end was that my team believed in itself so much. Many thanks to these incredible fans.
