The 19.000 fans that witnessing a thriller in LANXESS Arena tonight, will have a hard time sleeping, knowing they became a part of history. It is the first time since establishing the VELUX EHF FINAL4 that a semi-final match has ended with penalties. More so, the underdog SG Flensburg-Handewitt has defeated the Spanish giant FC Barcelona 41:39 (36:36, 32:32, 18:17) to play in what will be their third EHF Champions League final. With the prize of victory on their mind, SG Flensburg-Handewitt players kept their cool until the last very shot, which saw the excelling youngster Hampus Wanne put away the winning penalty to bring his team a chance to secure their first VELUX EHF FiNAL4 trophy.
An amazing comeback
It was an unprecedented comeback, which saw SG Flensburg-Handewitt catch up a six-goal deficit to shock Barcelona in regular time. All of 19.000 spectators stood in awe as the experenced right back Holger Glandorf dispatched a late effort from eleven meters out, to beat the in-form goalkeeper Danijel Šarić, granting his team a chance for extra-time.
“It’s just unbelievable! Barcelona was already 6 or 7 goals in front, but we somehow managed to get back into the game,” said the 21-year old Hampus Wanne, one of the best performers in the young SG Flensburg-Handewitt team.
It’s the lucidity of youth that left Barcelona in shock, as the wing department of the north German team worked exceptionally well together.
“How cool are they! They played as if they were already doing this for 10 years; even tough they are only 20 and 21 years old.
“But I think in the end we won because of a great team and because of our will to fight,” boasted Jacob Heinl about his teammates Hampus Wanne and Bogdan Radivojević, who hold every right to be proud of this victory.
German teams proved a tough task for FC Barcelona. The Spanish outfit lost in tree out of four their encounters with the Bundesliga teams- pointing to one of very few vulnerabilities of the Catalan handballing force. FC Barcelona players have covered every part of the court on both ends. One of them was Nikola Karabatić, a player without whose defensive efforts, FC Barcelona would do much worse without.
“I can’t explain it. You can’t play like we did in the last two minutes of the match, miss goals and allow them easy goals. And then that’s an extra weight in the extra time and the penalty shooting,” said the Serbian-born left back, confused and distressed.
Who dares, wins
Clearly, one of the heroes behind this great success is Ljubomir Vranješ. A highly acclaimed former player, now a coach to one of the most exciting handball projects didn’t hide his tactical wit that graced him rooting back to his playing days.
“I had that before, I think, it was 2000 in Croatia with the Swedish national team. We had been behind with 8 or 9 goals and then made it to the extra time. So I survived such situation several times already. I trusted in the team all the time,” spoke Ljubo from his vast playing experience.
When SG Flensburg-Handewitt came as close as two goals at 32:30, with minutes remaining in the match, Barcelona coach Xavi Pasqual asked for a time-out in a bid to shake things up. He drew attack through the right wing- the experienced captain Victor Tomas, and asked the team to run the clock. Aggressive SG Flensburg-Handewitt defence earned a turnover, which the left handed Holger Glandorf to score from the left back position (something, even his coach rarely saw him do)
“Only when he is absolutely hot. Then he scores from almost everywhere”, said Vranješ about the spectacular goal from Glandorf.
The penalties asked for another type of player to take the center-stage, which saw the likes of Bogdan Radivojević maintain a cool head against a former compatriot, the experienced Arpad Šterbik. It was Mattias Andersson- the hero, who decided the shoot-out with an impeccably timed save against Karabatić, before the golden boy, Wanne put away the winning shot, to crown an otherwise excellent performance.
“You just live once. I heard other people saying before that I am crazy. But I had to bring fresh speed into the game. I told him ‘the only thing you need to do is running – and he did,” said Vranješ about his decision to trust youth, and let Wanne into the game.
Barcelona will play Veszprem for 3rd place, in what should be a highly interesting showdown of the ‘Spanish school’. Flensburg will relish the occasion of their third EHF Champions League Final, with a hope of brining home the coveted trophy for the first time. To do that, they will have to endure the all-court pressure of a fellow Bundesliga outfit, THW Kiel, who have all the numbers on their side, never loosing a final in Cologne- but just that might prove the right motivation for SG Flensburg-Handewitt, who tonight proved more than capable of giant-killing. The only question is, can they do it again?
