Eight games in 19 days since October 5th - in fact, SC Magdeburg should have clearly seen these exertions on Sunday afternoon in Kiel.

Coach Bennet Wiegert's team had only won the club world championship in Saudi Arabia a few days ago, and after returning home they played a game in the Bundesliga and DHB Cup before the top game waited: But there was no sign of fatigue - Magdeburg won 29:27, remains leader of the table and has four minus points less than the ailing Kieler.

“We prevailed against all odds,” said Wiegert, “that was great.

The fact that we are now winning games like this is due to the self-confidence that we have built up in the last two months. ”What the usually deep-seated coach will not like to hear: This SCM is the hot candidate for the championship in the handball Bundesliga.

The THW had kept up for a long time without Sander Sagosen and Steffen Weinhold;

Both were missing after their corona infections.

But Kiel was recently vulnerable in the league and Champions League, including on Sunday.

Magdeburg in the person of Magnus Saugstrup scored his goals in the end, mostly staying ahead with two goals.

SCM goalkeeper Jannick Green was also more successful than his counterpart Niklas Landin.

Kiel's road to the title is long

After a good 30 minutes, things looked great for Kiel when the referees Adrian Künzel and Sebastian Grobe first put Magdeburg defense chief Piotr Chrapkowski (three times two minutes) and then playmaker Marko Bezjak (red) off the field. But the SCM found many answers on this hot afternoon in front of 9,000 spectators. Wiegert said: “We didn't play our best game here. And it could have tipped too. ”Didn't. The Magdeburg coach benefited significantly from his broad squad, which has so far put up with stresses well.

For the Kiel, the road to the championship is very long. And they may have to be prepared to get along completely without their star player Sagosen soon. However, Magdeburg could also be affected. The Kolstad project - what sounds like a mysterious streaming series from the north, is the very ambitious project of a Norwegian handball club. Kolstad, a district of Trondheim, wants to build a top-class team with great financial commitment.

Future main attraction: Sander Sagosen. From the summer of 2023, he is expected to appear in his hometown. Father Erlend Sagosen works at Kolstad IL, the family lives in Trondheim. The offer is available. But also that of THW - managing director Viktor Szilagyi definitely wants to extend the contract with his backcourt player, which will end in mid-2023; Sagosen is 26 years old and is said to be the face of the people of Kiel for the time after Domagoj Duvnjak. However, things are not looking so good in this regard.

Kiel can keep up financially. But the emotional aspect of being close to home can hardly be compensated. Will Sagosen trade Kiel's electrifying handball enthusiasm for Trondheim's polite interest? The backcourt player himself made it clear to the “Kieler Nachrichten” how difficult it is for him to make a decision: continue in Kiel or restart in Trondheim? "I want everyone to be satisfied," said Sagosen - difficult.

In Kolstad, a team is to be created that will play for the Champions League title. Sagosen would be the draft horse. Other well-known Bundesliga Norwegians are also said to have received offers from the investor club. Magdeburg's Magnus Gullerud is chosen as defense chief. Flensburg's Magnus Röd would play in the right backcourt. In this respect, the Kolstad project is not only a threat to individual German clubs, but also to the entire handball league. There is a risk of loss of great individual quality.

For two well-known Kielers it will continue in the THW jersey.

Domagoj Duvnjak, 33 years old, and Niclas Ekberg, who is one year younger, promised their loyalty to the THW until mid-2024 on Sunday. The hall was raging even before the start.

It was Duvnjak who made life difficult in Magdeburg in the second half.

The 7: 6, often chosen as a stylistic device by the Kiel coach Filip Jícha, did not work.

Kiel caught a few hits and counter-attacks before the green-reds left the arena to the cheers of the fans who had traveled with them: That was a statement, SC Magdeburg!