Brilliant Celje shock defending champions

Group B of the VELUX EHF Champions League lives up to their name as “the group of sensations”: After Sävehof IK had beaten Atletico Madrid in Round 4, now RK Pivovarna Lasko Celje caused another surprise by beating defending champions THW Kiel. The Slovenians are now only two points below the favoured Germans, who lost their second straight match in this competition.

Additionally Chekhosvkie Medvedi remain on their way to the Last 16 by winning their away match at Reale Ademar Leon clearly.

Group A:

Reale Ademar Leon (ESP) – Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS) 22:29 (10:12)

For about 24 hours Chekhovskie Medvedi is on top of the table of group A, equal with HSV Hamburg at seven points. But HSV will have their fifth match on Sunday against their old German rival Flensburg (6 points), so the situation at the top can change again.

But like the German duo the Russian champions are marching on straight towards the Last 16 after their third victory –the first in an away match this season. For Leon (still with two points on their account) it was the second home defeat.

But surprisingly the Spaniards were able to level the game until minute 35 and the score of 13:14 though top scorer Carlos Ruesga was missing. But from that moment on Medvedi was clearly superior in physical and tactical departments. By scoring a 5:0 series which they extended to 8:1, Chekhovskie decided the match and even punished Leon by an intermediate double figure result at 27:17 eight minutes before the end.

Top scorers in a finally one-sided match were Siarhei Gorbok with seven goals for Medvedi and Iosu Goni Leoz, scoring five times for Leon.

Group B

RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko (SLO) – THW Kiel (GER) 31:28 (12:12)

The players danced on the field, the “wall in yellow” on the stands went crazy, the coaches could not believe what they had seen: The young and rejuvenated team of RK Pivovarna Lasko Celje had beaten the three times and defending VELUX EHF Champions League champions THW Kiel in their witches cauldron absolutely well-deserved.

Maybe it is the architecture of the hall, and the atmosphere among the spectators, which Kiel did not like – as just in Round 4 of the VELUX EHF Champions League they had been beaten at Veszprem, where exactly the same arena was built as in Celje and where exactly the same brilliant atmosphere pushed the host to the limit.

But in the end it were the more of passion, fighting spirit and accuracy which were the keys to the seconds success of the Slovenian runners-up. Celje played brilliant, as THW were below par again in nearly all departments except the wing positions. Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson (top scorer by seven goals) was the only Kiel player in normal form, while Celje outgrew in the second half.

The first 30 minutes were on equal level, with Celje being more dominant than the defending champions. But from the starting whistle of the second half on the host did not give the lead from their hands, while Kiel did not find their usual rhythm and style of play. They caused easy errors in attack, the defence was without aggression and the performance of their goalkeepers Thierry Omeyer and Andreas Palicka was much weaker than their counterparts Urban Lesjak and Matevs Skok.

And even the famous Kiel backcourt players like Daniel Narcisse, Filip Jicha or Momir Ilic were clearly topped by Sebastian Skube or Ziga Mlakar. But the most important Celje “weapons” in attack were outstanding line player Alem Toskič, who did not only score five goals, but also opened the gaps for his team-mates, and top scorer Gasper Markuc, who netted seven times.

In minute 32 the lead were three goals for the first time at 18:15, and one thought the defending champions would easily be able to bridge the gap, was wrong, as 12 minutes before the end it were still three goals at 25:22. Even a double strike of Sigurdsson, when Toskic sat on the bench for a two minute suspension did not turn the game, as Celje were totally boosted by the incredible noise their fans created. Latest, when Skube hit the net for the 30:27 100 seconds before the final buzzer Kiel’s fate was sealed, and the big party could start in Celje.

THW coach Alfred Gislason did not whitewash the result: “Celje won quite deservedly, because they were the better team. Already in the preparation of this match I praised Celje as an extremely talented team, which they now proved on the court. In contrast, we played poorly in defence and consequently we could not build our attack upon our defence. But again, this should not diminish the success of Celje.”

The host’s coach Vladan Matic, was not only impressed, but totally surprised: “Of course I did not expect today’s success. Before the start I told the team that we have the right to hope for a victory, as Kiel are also only human like us. We played brave, smart, with a little number of errors. My team was extraordinary, but still I want to stay with both feet firmly on the ground. This is one important step in the development of our team, but we have to continue to stay humble and fight like we dd today.”

For his key player Alem Toskič the spectators were one major part of the success: “Only a few people on the stands expected us to beat Kiel, but they caused an extreme atmosphere and helped us to do do this big sensation. I think we deserved to win and now we have to believe in yourself and show the same performances in the domestic league.”

All pictures: Uros Hocevar