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Terrific Danes steal all headlines as Flensburg defend European League trophy

Flensburg-Handewitt celebrate winning the European League for the second successive year.
Flensburg-Handewitt celebrate winning the European League for the second successive year. ČTK / imago sportfotodienst / IMAGO
Three-time German handball champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt beat French top club Montpellier 32-25 (19-13) in a one-sided final on Sunday to defend the European League trophy with three Danes, Lukas Jorgensen (10 goals), Emil Jakobsen (9) and Kevin Möller (20 saves) stealing the headlines for Flensburg.

Flensburg thereeby maintained a proud streak for German handball as the second most important European Cup after the Champions League has been won exclusively by clubs from the Bundesliga since 2015, with one exception (Benfica Lisbon 2022).

THW Kiel snatched third place on Sunday with a 37-31 (18-18) win over MT Melsungen.

European league: Möller excels in goal

Kevin Möller was once again the outstanding player for Flensburg in the final. The Danish goalkeeper, who had already saved 20 shots in the semi-final on Saturday against Melsungen (35-34 after extra time), produced another amazing performance and kept the 12,000 spectators on the edge of their seats.

Flensburg's leading goalscorers were Lukas Jorgensen with ten goals and Emil Jakobsen with nine. Montpellier, who had ended Kiel's title dreams the day before with a 32-31 win, were no match for the SG's fast-paced play at any stage.

To the match centre: Montpellier vs. Flensburg

Flensburg - constantly spurred on by its enthusiastic fans - produced its best performance of the season against the French cup winners and brought a poor season to a conciliatory end.

As a result, Flensburg, which is currently only in sixth place in the league, has secured a European Cup starting place for the coming season thanks to the coup in Hamburg.