Handball: Champions League: Lions in the last sixteen, fifth victory in a row for Kiel

The German handball champion Rhein-Neckar Löwen has returned to the successful track after five games without winning the Champions League and has qualified for the round of sixteen. The THW Kiel has meanwhile expanded its successful series.

On the twelfth matchday of the group stage, the lions won 32:29 (16:14) against IFK Kristianstad/Sweden. The Kielers, who have already qualified for the round of sixteen, won 27:20 (15:11) at Danish champions Aalborg Handball and celebrated their fifth consecutive victory.

As fourth in Group A with 14 points, the men from Mannheim are no longer to be displaced from one of the top five places, which means they can make progress. Defending champion Vardar Skopja leads with 20 points ahead of HBC Nantes (17) and FC Barcelona (16). Kiel remains in fourth place in Group B with 15 points.

After the 29:21 from front-runner Paris St. Germain against the SG Flensburg-Handewitt on Saturday, PSG has been confirmed as group winner and is directly qualified for the quarter-finals. For Kiel, a maximum of second place is still possible and thus an allegedly easier opponent in the last sixteen. Both the second in the table KC Veszprem and Flensburg as third parties also have 15 points in the account.

In Aalborg the Dane Niklas Landin, who saved 19 throws on his goal and was successful once himself, was the outstanding player of the Kiel players, who landed a safe victory. European vice-champion Niclas Ekberg was the most accurate with eight goals.

The lions made themselves much more difficult in front of their home crowd and only came out on top after a final spurt against the rear of the standings. The Mannheimers had won the first leg in Sweden clearly 35:22.

The top five of the best performing teams in Group A and B will advance to the next round. While the winner of the group directly enters the round of the last eight, the other teams have to compete in the round of sixteen, which will be played in the first and second legs. From groups C and D, the two of them determine the last two eighth-finalists in a knockout round after the end of the group stage.