Flensburg overcome absences to beat Dinamo

Hampus Wanne, Jim Gottfridsson, Magnus Rød and Simon Hald were among the players not on the court for SG Flensburg-Handewitt on Thursday in Bucharest for their EHF Champions League Men group phase match against C.S. Dinamo Bucuresti.

The German side, who were also without head coach Maik Machulla and assistant Mark Bult, let the storm pass in the first half, but thanks to Benjamin Buric’s stellar performance between the posts, they sped up after the break to claim a decisive 28:20 victory.

GROUP B
C.S. Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 20:28 (13:13)

• Flensburg were missing seven players and both of their coaches, but this did not show in the way that the German side played in the first half
• with both sides’ goalkeepers in the spotlight – Khalifa Ghedbane made eight saves and Benjamin Buric stopped seven shots in the first half – the first 30 minutes were largely even 
• the visitors put their foot to the pedal in the second half. Flensburg did not concede a single goal for 11 minutes, and they enjoyed a 6:0 run to take control of the game
• goalkeeper Benjamin Buric was instrumental for Flensburg, stopping 17 shots at a 46 per cent efficiency rate, while Aaron Mensing netted nine times
• this was Flensburg’s third straight win in the EHF Champions League Men
• the German team is now fifth in the group, with seven points, while Dinamo remain last, with four points

Aaron Mensing is back in the game

The Danish left back's start to the season was a tough one. One will remember the game against Barça in the EHF Champions League when he missed nine shots and his team struggled against the title-holders. 

However, Thursday evening was a very different affair. Mensing netted nine times from 13 shots and finished as his team's best scorer. More importantly, he took responsibility when it was needed, and it was no wonder his good period coincided with his team’s.