Hansen out for Months

Danish champion, GOG Svendborg TGI, will be missing one of their greatest talents in the first group stage of Champions League. The 19-year old left back, Mikkel Hansen, will have to undergo surgery for a knee injury and will be sidelined for at least fourth months after the operation. It also means that he will be out for almost the entire autumn season.

“Of course this will mean a set-back for me, not least in getting acquainted with many of the new players, but fortunately, life goes on,” Mikkel Hansen told the Danish TV station, TV2. Many experts have already said that the 1.97 m tall backcourt player is one of the greatest handball talents in Denmark for many years.

Severe blow for GOG

There is no doubt that the absence of Mikkel Hansen will be a problem for the team. He has been a great force of several Danish youth national teams for many years. The Danes have the experienced Kasper Jørgensen in the same position as Hansen, but the club has few good substitutes for Jørgensen in the left back position in attack.

Furthermore, GOG already said goodbye to eight players after the end of the season season, and signed only five new players instead. Hansen’s injury means that the new coach, Ulf Schefvert, has relatively few players at his disposal. GOG will have a tough schedule in the Danish league and in the Champions League at the same time. In the CL, the Danish champion will be in one group with Portland San Antonio, Slovakian champion Tatran Presov and the winner of the qualification game between Italian Casarano and Austrian title holder Bregenz.