“Atlético without five” close to a sensation at Kiel

Though they played without five key players, Atlético Madrid were an equal opponent for THW Kiel on Sunday: Jose Javier Hombrados, Julen Aguinagalde, Ivano Balić, Jonas Källman and Kiril Lazarov – those five world star players were replaced by Atlético coach Talant Dujshebaev, but still Madrid were close to an away victory at THW Kiel in the ehfTV.com Match of the Week of Round 7 of the VELUX EHF Champions League on Sunday.

“They needed a break, I need to keep them fresh – and we cannot win this group,” Dujshebaev explained to ehfTV.com commentator Tom Ó Brannagáin before the match, why Aguinagalde, Källman, Lazarov and Balić were not in the team roster, as Hombrados is out since weeks after a severe knee injury.

And after losing this match 27:31 (15:15), the Spaniards are really out for the race of the victory in Group B with only six points on their account, being eight points below leader MKB Veszprém. Kiel (replacing Aron Pálmarsson) took their fifth victory, but still the gap to the unbeaten Hungarians is four points.

Finally the 13 goals of Filip Jicha (from 16 attempts) and the saves of goalkeeper Andreas Palicka decided the clash of the titans, which had been on the edge nearly for 60 minutes.

“After our tough match on Wednesday against Rhein Neckar Löwen we lacked freshness. Our defence – including goalkeeper Andreas Palicka – worked well, but in attack we missed too many chances. It was an extremely tough match and unfortunately Patrick Wiencek also  got injured after we had to replace Thierry Omeyer and Aron Palmarsson already”, THW coach Alfred Gislason said.

His Madrid counter part Dushebajev congratulated Kiel for the victory and praised the opponent: “We have faced the currently best team in the world. I am a little unsatisfied, as we played quite well, but missed clearest chances – and on the other hand, Kiel scored those easy goals. I thank my team for their fighting spirit, but I am unhappy, as we lost.”

Backed by brilliant goalkeeper Magnus Dahl, the remaining Madrid players surprisingly took an early 6:3 lead, causing an early time-out of THW coach Alfred Gislason. This was like a wake-up call for the defending champions in the re-match of the 2012 VELUX EHF Champions League final. Scoring three straight goals, Kiel equalized, but later-on could not manage to outclass their opponent.

Five goals of Danish Nicolaj Markussen (finally best Madrid scorer by eight goals) paved the way to the leveled halftime score of 15:15, as Kiel missed too many chances. Even defence specialist Jakov Gojun had to play in attack, as his Atlético team replaced so many players.

And one thought that the host – boosted by 10.250 spectators – would decide the match right after the break, was completely wrong. Still the Madrid defence stood like a wall, and Kiel lacked the means to break through. On the other side, Madrid scored easy goals from the back court positions, as the German defence was not aggressive enough.

The only THW player who was unstoppable, was left back Filip Jícha, who’s eighth goal meant the 20:19 lead in minute 41. But when the Czech lacked powers and was replaced by Momir Ilić, the Kiel engine got stuck again, as Madrid even re-took the lead at 23:22.

At the score of 26:26 and nine minutes to go Dujshebaev took his next time-out – persuading his players that a victory is still in reach. But right when the match had resumed, Madrid were hit by the injury of Alvaro Ferrer, who trod on the ball during a counter attack and was hit by a severe ankle injury.

But Atlético were not shocked, in contrast: If THW goalkeeper Andreas Palicka would not have shown so many amazing saves in the crucial stage, Madrid would have gone away. And there was still Jícha – after some deep breaths on the bench, the Czech returned on the court, and his goal number 11 gave Kiel the first two goal distance in the second half at 28:26 five minutes before the end, adding number 12 on his tally to the 29:26. And as Palicka shut up his shop, Kiel could run down the clock to take their second victory against Atlético in this Group Phase.

“We can be satisfied with the second half, and I am satisfied with my performance,” Palicka said, who surprisingly were in the goal for 60 minutes though Thierry Omeyer had not been injured. “The group is still very close, if we win all our matches we might be able to hope for the number in this group, but is a really tough challenge,” the Swedish goalkeeper added on Eurosport.

For Madrid player Joan Canellas a “victory was in reach. We wanted to win even without our missing key players. Unfortunately we did not score in the crucial moments of the match. Kiel played quite good and – in contrast to us – netted better. With a little bit more luck we could have won here.”

For THW team captain Marcus Ahlm the last ten minutes were decisive, “when we had a higher efficiency in attack. This was the reason for success.”