
Kielce and Magdeburg both aim for second title
Saturday’s incredible semi-finals at the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2023 saw SC Magdeburg and Barlinek Industria Kielce advance to the final. Both teams can lift the EHF Champions League trophy for a second time on Sunday. Barça, who had their reign ended after two straight titles and 25 unbeaten matches, take on Paris Saint-Germain HB in the third place match.
FINAL
SC Magdeburg (GER) vs Barlinek Industria Kielce (POL)
Sunday 18 June, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- Magdeburg won their semi-final against Barça after extra time and a penalty shoot-out (40:39)
- Kielce also won by one against Paris in the other semi-final, though in regular time, since goalkeeper Andreas Wolff had two late saves to protect their 25:24 lead
- the two teams have not met each other before in the EHF Champions League
- both sides have won the title before: Magdeburg in 2002 and Kielce in 2016
- Magdeburg can become the first EHF Champions League winners from Germany since THW Kiel lifted the trophy in 2020; Kielce are still the only Polish winners so far
- Magdeburg will have to play without Gísli Kristjánsson, who got injured during the semi-final and is out with a shoulder injury
- Kielce’s Arkadiusz Moryto with 95 goals is 12 short of this season’s EHF Champions League top scorer Emil Madsen (GOG), who is on 107
THIRD PLACE MATCH
Barça (ESP) vs Paris Saint-Germain HB (FRA)
Sunday 18 June, 15:15 CET, live on EHFTV
- after winning the title twice in a row, Barça were dethroned by SC Magdeburg in the semi-final: 40:39 after a penalty shoot-out
- Paris had to go through an equally tight semi-final, which they lost by one goal against Kielce (25:24)
- since 2013, Barça won seven of the nine confrontations both teams played in the EHF Champions League, with Paris winning once and the last one ending in a draw
- both sides faced once in Cologne – in 2020, and Barça won that semi-final 37:32
- Paris played the 3/4 placement match at the EHF FINAL4 four times already, and won them all
- Barça played that game three times in history, the last one in 2019, finished third twice and fourth once
- Paris’ Kamil Syprzak (96) can still match Emil Madsen (107) as the competition's top scorer if he nets 11 times on Sunday
photos © Uros Hocevar / kolektiff images