Aalborg Need More Focus

For the second year in succession Aalborg DH are in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Champions League – and for the second year in a row the Danes’ opponents are going to be Hypo Niederösterreich. Last year Aalborg prevailed on aggregate last year.

Eurohandball.com has asked Aalborg coach Jan Leslie to comment on his team’s Champions League performance and to look ahead on the coming challenges.

Jan Leslie: All in all, we have done acceptably. We started by knocking one of last year’s semi-finalists, Astroc Sagunto, out at the qualification match. After that we have managed to qualify for the quarterfinals in spite of our seeding in Pot 3. I do think, however, that we could have finished with more points in our group. I think we could have won the away matches against Ribarroja and Volgograd as well, which we lost by two goals both. In general, we have done okay in the group stage.

Eurohandball.com: You described Hypo Niederösterreich as one of the two best teams in Europe at the moment together with Slagelse. It means that if you would be able to defeat them, there would be no limits for your team…

Jan Leslie: That may be correct, but as I keep telling, I take one match at a time. Lately, we had a tendency to fall out of the games for 10 minutes or so once in a while. We can’t afford that in the coming matches if we want to have a chance. Furthermore, we will have to get our injured players fit in order to stand a chance.

Eurohandball.com: You have chosen to step down as Aalborg coach after this season to take over the Skjern men’s team together with current Hypo coach, Ryan Zinglersen. Why did you decide to leave Aalborg after only one year at the club?

Jan Leslie: I do not want to brag, but in fact I received several interesting offers and the Skjern one was the most attractive. Their plans for the future seem very interesting, and furthermore I wanted to work in men’s handball again as I have done before.

Eurohandball.com: But that will mean that you will have to say goodbye to the Champions League – at least for a year.

Jan Leslie: Yes, that is correct, but the plans in Skjern are so exciting and ambitious that the situation may change after a year. But of course, it will be sad for me to say goodbye to the Champions League. I think that any coach or player who ever tried the Champions League would miss it afterwards.

Eurohandball.com: Does this make you even more determined to end your short career in Aalborg in style?

Jan Leslie: Yes, absolutely. The players and I have agreed to end this season in the best possible way – and I think we have all chances to do so. After all, we are sure to reach the semi-finals in the Danish championship and we are in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. I think we can say that we have achieved our goals for the season already.