Handball record champion THW Kiel won the first leg of the Champions League round of the Round of 16 against the Hungarian top team Pick Szeged with 29:22 (14:14) and thus secured a good starting position for the second duel on 1. April (5 pm) in Szeged.
“Our second half was very, very strong,” said THW coach Alfred Gislason at Sky: “The defence worked very well and Niklas Landin did an excellent job, so we could easily score from the defence. “In the end, Szeged lost his nerve a little bit.”
10,285 spectators in the sold out Sparkassen-Arena saw a well-balanced match over 40 minutes with constant changes of leadership and strong parades of the outstanding Landin. At 19-19, the three-time Champions League winner took advantage of a period of weakness to take the lead with six consecutive goals.
The best thrower at THW was the Serbian star player Marko Vujin (eight goals), especially in the first half, the German national players Patrick Wiencek and Christian Dissinger each contributed four goals to the clear victory of the Kielers in the end.
Bence Banhidi (5) was the most successful shooter on the side of the Hungarian CL quarter-finalist in 2015 and 2017.