Barça faces Sergei and suffers its first defeat in the Champions League

In a duel between the last two champions Barça

collided with the goalkeeper Sergei Hernandez (18 stops and 45% success), and he lost SC Magdeburg his first defeat in Champions handball (28-23).

However, the team Carlos Ortega remains the only firm leader of Group B and remains in a position of strength to take one of the two places at the bottom of the group that will give a direct ticket to the quarter-finals.

The Germans had much more at stake than Barca and were almost forced to win after a fateful November: four defeats in their last four games in three different competitions and a dismal 7th place in the Champions Group with just five points.

The victory over Barca provides inspiration for Magdeburg, who knew how to overcome Barca’s best start thanks to a sensational performance from the Spanish international goalkeeper. Sergei Hernandeza constant nightmare for the Blaugrana.

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The Barça team suffered significant losses Dick Meme And Aleix GomezBut Melvin Richardson And Blaz Yank They have taken charge of their positions with great skill and have also established themselves as attacking anchors and central players. Louis Frade

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Barca stepped up their defense in the opening minutes, stopping Magdeburg’s moves time and time again, devastatingly based on the one-on-one play of their front line ‘players’. Omar Ingi Magnusson (8 goals), Manuel Zehnder (7) and Gisli Kristjansson (5), who ultimately scored 20 of 28 goals.

The Catalan team took advantage of this defensive work, achieving a maximum of five goals (5-10 in the 16th minute), but gradually lost that defensive drive, and Sergei’s inspiration also led to the Blaugrana’s strikes: Richardson finished with 4 goals out of 10 and Tim N’Guessan (3/8), Blaz Yank (3/7) and Petar Cikusa (2/5) they also faced the Navarre goalkeeper.

With their 6,500 fans captivated, Magdeburg restored the tie (12-12 in the 27th minute) with a 7-2 score that highlighted Barça’s problems in attack. Emil Nielsen He came on for Gonzalo, who went to the bench with four saves (24%), but the locals extended their half-time lead (14-13) thanks to a telling 9-3 performance to make it 5-10 in the 16th minute. .

A game with a score of 9:3 at the end of the first half and 10 minutes without goals at the end of the second sentenced Barça in Magdeburg.

The second half passed in an atmosphere of equality, but with the dynamics of the clash more in favor of the Germans, who acted better in the often too lenient refereeing: there Frade became the main victim. To make matters worse, the Portuguese suffered a blow to his left shoulder and is likely to miss Saturday’s game on the court. BM Logrono. Javi Rodriguez He had to finish the game in the holding position, and he did it at a good level (4 goals), replacing Frade.

After many minutes with a draw and a minimal lead (20-20 in the 45th minute), Magdeburg made its first significant breakthrough nine minutes before the end (25-22), with the Blaugrana’s legs already heavy, with fewer quality turnovers Mema and Alei against Sergei, who never reduced his performance.

Nielsen also helped (6 saves and 31%), but no one really solved the problems in the attack and 10 dry minutes (27-22 in the 57th minute) doomed the team to their first European defeat of the season (28-23).

Technical sheet

28 – SC Magdeburg (14-14): Sergey Hernandez (Portner), Bergendahl, Saugstrup (2), Serradilla (1), Magnusson (8, 4 points), Mertens (2), Pettersson -starting team-; Persson, Mouchet, Zehnder (7), Zechel (1), Kristjansson (5), Lagergren (2), O’Sullivan and Damgaard.
23 – Barça (13-10): Gonzalo (Nielsen), Yank (3), Richardson (4), Sikusa (2), Frade (4), N’Guessan (3), Ariño (1) -starting team-; Petrus, Carlsbogaard, Vanne (1), Javi Rodriguez (4), Makuk (1), Jan Blas, Bazan and Martin.
Judges: Vaclav Horacek and Jiri Novotny (Czech Republic).
Exceptions: Bergendal (Magdeburg); Richardson, Jank and Karlsbogard (Barça).
Marker: 2-3, 3-5, 5-9, 7-10, 10-12, 14-13 (rest); 16–15, 18–18, 20–20, 24–22, 25–22 and 28–23 (final).
Incidents: The match of the 9th round of Group B of the Champions League took place at the Getec Arena in Magdeburg (Germany) in front of about 6,500 spectators.