14th German title for Kiel

When team captain Stefan Lövgren sprinkled sparkling wine on his teammates, the disappointment of the Champions League final was blown away.

On Wednesday evening THW Kiel celebrated the fourth consecutive title in the German Bundesliga after winning by 43:31 in Göppingen. One match before the end SG Flensburg-Handewitt (lost in Mannheim at the same time) can’t reach Kiel anymore.

“It’s great to have this German title, but we will never forget the day we lost the Champions League final,” said Kiel’splayer Filip Jicha.

And though the bitterness from the CL final could not be completely erased, manager Uwe Schwenker talked about the season on a positive tone:

“We played a great season. We won the German title, the German Cup, the German Super Cup and the EHF Champions Trophy. We can be satisfied. We only had few bad matches, but one bad match was decisive, that one against Ciudad Real.”

Coach Noka Serdarusic was also satisfied:

“Look at all the titles we won this season. Other clubs need 70 or 80 years to be so successful.”

Kiel have now a sensational series in this Bundesliga, 35:1 points from the last 18 matches. They are unbeaten in Germany since 1 December. On Saturday, after the last match of the season against Wetzlar, there will be a great party in Kiel with more than 20.000 fans expected.

“We will celebrate a lot – to forget the Ciudad defeat,” said left winger Dominik Klein.

For THW Kiel it was the 14th German title. 11 of them were won under the coaching of Noka Serdarusic who increased his unique collection to 25 national and international titles in 15 years. But Serdarusic didn’t answer the most important question after winning the league: what about his future? Will he stay in Kiel after 2009?

“My wife asked me the same question and I could give the same answer: I’m an old, grey man, so it’s normal to have such thoughts. But I will not say any more about this subject.”

Like he usually does, Serdarusic will not join the big party on Saturday, but will have “a cigarette and two glasses of beer,” when team and fans celebrate.

“I will be with my family. This is more important for me than such a party,” he said.

The roster has been finalised for next season, as manager Schwenker said a few weeks ago.

Goalkeeper Mattias Andersson (TV Großwallstadt) and Viktor Szilágyi (VfL Gummersbach) will leave the team and the only new player will be the Swedish goalkeeper talent, Andreas Palicka.

With this “new/old” team Kiel want to reach the triple again – like they did in 2007.

“We want to become CL finalists again and then we want to win the final,” said Dominik Klein.

“But also in the Bundesliga and the Champions League it will get even harder to win as our opponents improving,” added Schwenker.