Expert's Column: Ekke Hoffmann on the CL Final

The expert of eurohandball.com has been following the Champions League Finals with us till the end. As the final is over and Kiel took the trophy, the final remarks are coming up.

In the last chapter of the mini-series Ekke Hoffmann will tell us what proved to be decisive at the battle of Flensburg and Kiel.

eurohandball.com: There were only 11 players nominated on the Kiel side. What do you think about that?

Ekke Hoffmann: It would have been too dangerous to risk Lövgren and to play with so few players was obviously very difficult for Kiel.

eurohandball.com: The red card of Boldsen was an important moment. What was your impression?

Ekke Hoffmann: It was a strict decision; especially that Boldsen did not even have a two minute suspension before. On the other hand, Boldsen was not too wise to do it as the fault was not so necessary. It was decisive, I have to say. The match was won by two goals and Boldsen could have scored more than that. He would also have been useful in defence being a defensive specialist himself.

eurohandball.com: Karabatic was left unmarked for too long…

Ekke Hoffmann: It was the other key to Kiel’s victory. It was already too late when the Flensburg players started to mark him closely.

eurohandball.com: Who were the match winners of Kiel?

Ekke Hoffmann: It was Zeitz in attack and Omeyer in defence. They have played fantastic matches.

eurohandball.com: All three European Cups were won by German clubs. Do you know the explanation?

Ekke Hoffmann: There may be some explanations to this. First of all, there has been a lot of enthusiasm in Germany after winning the World Championship and it helped a lot for sure. Second, the teams were lucky and they were able to win the close games that they lost before.

And finally, it is very important that Bundesliga has three or four top teams who play tough matches against each other throughout the year and they got used to hot atmosphere. They have great experience in close games.

eurohandball.com: What was your impression about the finals? What do you think of the quality of the games?

Ekke Hoffmann: This time it was not the usual power handball that we expected. It was different because of the many injuries and the two missing playmakers at the first game. The teams had to adapt to these conditions.

For me the highlight of the finals was the discipline of both teams and the individual performance of the players. The last thing I noticed is that the defending was much stronger then in the Champions League finals of the previous years.

Click here to read the first part of Ekke Hoffmann's column.
Click here to read the second part of Ekke Hoffmann's column.