In the past 6 years, Spanish teams had won the Champions League 4 times. Last year Ciudad Real’s two times in a row CL winner was stopped by THW Kiel. However, this year we will see another Spanish Champions League winner. Ciudad Real and Barcelona have dominated this final four, beating the other two German clubs in the semifinals. Will Ciudad Real get their 4th title Champions League winner, or will Barcelona secure their 8th title, and be sure for some years that nobody will “catch” them in titles won.
Either way, it will be a triumph for Spanish handball, while the Germans will have to try again stronger next year. As for tonight, a very intense and hard-fought game is expected. On one side we have Lazarov, Abalo, Entrerrios and the great Hombrados between the posts, while on the other side the 207cm high “giant” Laszlo Nagy, the amazing Danijel Saric on goal, Rutenka, Sorhaindo, Juan Garcia… We could say that it be very even, and it is very hard to predict the favourite, as both teams have their “aces”. Barcelona finally stopped this year Ciudad Real’s 4 times in a row Spanish ASOBAL league winning, and have shown that they are capable to play against this “atomic” handball played by Dushebayev’s team.
Will Barcelona win double crown, or Ciudad will “salvage” the season, we will see tonight. The referees are Laurent Reveret and Nardine Lazaar from France, and the game is scheduled for 18:00 CET.
For the 3rd place, Hamburg is playing against Rhein-Neckar Lowen, in what should prove a consolidation game for one of the teams…
