Bietigheim celebrates CL coup
German champion turns himself into a handball sensation
March 24, 2024, 4:26 p.m
A German handball team has never made it to the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League, now the time has come: the German champions SG BBM Bietigheim pull off a big surprise in Denmark. After a clear lead, things get tight in the end.
The handball players from German champions SG BBM Bietigheim are in the quarter-finals after a draw in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League against Ikast HB. The 31:31 (18:13) in Denmark was enough for Jakob Vestergaard’s team to advance thanks to their 29:27 win in the first leg. This is the first time that a German team has reached the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League. For SG BBM Bietigheim, who only finished their preliminary group in sixth place, advancing is a coup. Last year they narrowly missed the playoffs.
“We are still the underdog, but we have the chance to advance,” coach Vestergaard said after the narrow first-leg win. And at first it seemed as if the runner-up in the Danish league, one of the best women’s leagues in the world, would quickly get the mortgage off their shoulders: After a nervous start from the Bundesliga club, the hosts initially pulled ahead by up to three goals.
The next hammer opponent is waiting
But Bietigheim quickly sorted itself out and moved ahead by five goals by halftime and even by six goals after the restart (19:13). Together with the small cushion from the first leg, the German champions were comfortably in front – and seemed to be heading towards an undisputed away win.
But the Danes fought back and even equalized two minutes before the end of the game – and were very close to extra time at 31:30. In the finale of this game, the guests held their nerve, scored again through Inger Smits and then didn’t let anything happen.
Before the duel with SG BBM Bietigheim, European League winner Ikast had only lost one game in the current Champions League season. In the round of the last eight, Odense HB, the next Danish team, is waiting for the Bietigheimers. They had already suffered two defeats against the Danish runner-up in the group phase (25:28, 29:42), and now the SG has the chance for revenge. Against Ikast, national players Xenia Smits and Antje Döll were the guests’ most successful throwers with six goals each.