Kiel win top game in Barcelona

THW Kiel took a victory over the weekend in Barcelona that would be a dream to any club in the world. The Palau Blau Grana is one of the best known handball arenas and every occasion to win there is a special one.

The German club sent a message with their victory in Barcelona to all the clubs: Kiel are strong candidates for the Champions League title once again.

Barcelona were able to play in the rhythm of Kiel until the last ten minutes of the game, but then came Omeyer. The French No.1 gave a lesson from goalkeeping and his performance was the key in the 27-31 victory of the Germans.

László Nagy was the most active attacking player of Barcelona right from the beginning of the match. Boldsen helped him as the playmaker and Kasper Hvidt was also good in the goal. At some point Barcelona seemed to be able to beat Kiel, but the Catalonians could not take a significant lead. The German defence worked really well and it gave Kiel the possibility to take the lead back before half time.

Karabatic and Katvicic were the top scorers of Kiel. The French and the Slovenian player gave Kiel the lead for the first time. But the real star in the Palau was Thierry Omeyer. The French international presented a “save festival” in the second half. Barcelona gave up.

It was exactly the big period of Omeyer when Kiel could turn the game and went from 22-22 to 22-27. And Kiel never let the victory slip out of their hands again. Even the Czech Philip Jicha scored a few important goals and it meant that Kiel have beaten Barcelona in the Palau Blau Grana on the top game of Round 3.