YesErgey Hernández clenched his fists and enjoyed every second in front of the red and green fans of Magdeburg. Later, the goalkeeper smiled embarrassedly at the praise of his teammates. With a brilliant performance and a total of 15 stops, the Spaniard temporarily silenced the doping scandal surrounding Nikola Portner SC Magdeburg It paved the way to the DHB Cup final. “Fantastic. I have nothing more to say about today's performance,” said SCM coach Bennet Wiegert, praising his goalkeeper.
The Elba city team defeated the Bundesliga leader Berlin on Saturday by 30:25 in the semi-finals and will play on Sunday (15:35 in the ARD and in Dyn) against MT Melsungen for the third cup in the club's history. With success, the Champions League winner could take the first step towards a treble.
The Melsungers surprised the favorite Flensburg with 33:28 (16:11) and can dream of their first cup title. The man of the match was once again goalkeeper Nebojsa Simic. The Montenegrin stopped a total of ten shots from Flensburg, who, like last year, missed in the semifinals. Also Melsungen National player Timo Kastening again showed good performance after disappointing weeks.
A victory for Portner
It was clear that a goalkeeper from Magdeburg would dominate the headlines last weekend, but Hernandez? Until the start, before 20,000 spectators, the debate about Portner, provisionally suspended after failing a doping test, floated like an invisible veil through the Cologne stadium. “We would have liked to concentrate more on Berlin. “It was super, super intense for everyone involved,” Wiegert reported in recent days.
SCM professionals also valued the victory in the explosive eastern derby against the capital club as a victory for Portner. “Of course, we also did it for him. We know that he is also sitting at home watching the game,” said national player Lukas Mertens. Berlin handball player Mathias Gidsel greeted his rival: “He deservedly won. “They clearly won the goalkeeper duel.”
SCM quickly took a 6-0 lead against the nervous Foxes. Only after almost eleven minutes did world handball player Gidsel free the capital club, which then fought its way into the match and reduced it first to 4:7 and then to 19:20. The fact that the match didn't quite work out was due to Hernandez's continued impressive performance. Berlin, on the other hand, acted too sleepily in many phases. “The beginning was devastating. We missed a lot of opportunities,” said Füchse sports director Stefan Kretzschmar.
In the second semi-final, the outsider from Melsungen surprised with his fast-paced play. At the same time, MT goalkeeper Simic thwarted numerous attacks. “We have to beat Flensburg once. “I've been in Melsungen for seven years and we haven't achieved this,” the 31-year-old said before the match. After the break, the Hessians extended their lead to eight goals and finished the match with confidence.