Nantes raise tension in direct quarter-final race; draw in Zagreb
While Paris Saint-Germain Handball took an ultimately clear away win at Fredericia, the group B table was shaken a bit: Thanks to their home win against Szeged, followed by Aalborg’s defeat at Magdeburg, Nantes are now equal in second position with the Danish champions two rounds before the end of the group phase. In the second half of the table ranking, all teams can still qualify for the play-offs, as Kolstad missed a victory in Zagreb.
Playing in this arena was an amazing experience — the atmosphere was incredible! We knew Fredericia would give it everything they had, and they certainly did. I don’t think the final score truly reflects how close the game was. It could have gone either way. Their first half caught us completely off guard, and we struggled to find solutions. Fortunately, we managed to adjust in the second half, but it was by no means an easy match.
We put in a strong performance and can be proud of the effort we showed today. We played an excellent first half where we really executed our game plan well. In the second half, we stayed in the fight, even when they gained momentum. Overall, we proved that we can compete with some of Europe’s very best, and that’s something we will take forward with us.
We were low in energy in those opening 15–20 minutes, being far from what we showed everyone we're capable of in the Champions League. I guess we felt that burden of importance of the game, of how much it would mean for us to win it and open the doors to the knockout stage. We were not happy with the way we performed in the first, knowing we've got a lot more in us, especially defensively, which we proved out there in the second. In the end, an unlucky three minutes where nothing went our way, which helped Kolstad secure a point here today.
We were aware of how hard it was going to be to play here, in Zagreb Arena. We also knew that Zagreb is going to play a physical game — they are bigger and stronger than us. That being said, we had to be smart and patient, breaking through their defence and even getting past [Matej] Mandic between posts. I still remember last year and a hard loss we suffered here, and of course we're way happier with the way we performed today.
Our crowd was a huge help in this big fight. Playing in front of our fans is always exciting.
Our performance tonight was ok, but ok is not enough against Nantes. We had chances in some moments but we made small mistakes that we can’t afford on Nantes’ home court.
I can't tell you how proud I am of my team. All these injuries and then the early withdrawal of Gisli Kristjansson — and yet all the players did a great job. I'm incredibly proud.
It was a tough but fair game and Magdeburg were the better team. Michael Damgaard and Felix Claar in particular played a great game.
