The European League is the second highest European handball tournament. The last time a Swedish team reached the quarter-finals was in 2021, where Kristianstad was eliminated against German Magdeburg – who eventually went on to win the entire tournament.
But now a Swedish team is back in the quarter-finals. Although Sävehof lost 30-34 on the road, they were victorious after tonight’s homecoming against German Hannover.
-What a thing! This is, if not the biggest… or maybe the biggest thing that has happened in my career to reach a quarter-final in the European League. And that we, with this young team, go and knock out a top team in the Bundesliga is perhaps the biggest thing that has happened in this association, says Sävehof captain Simon Möller to Gothenburg Post.
“A tough nut to crack”
Sävehof went up 3–0 early, and finally won by a whopping 34–25. Another German team awaits in the quarter-finals: Bundesliga third-placed Flensburg, with national team star Jim Gottfridsson, and Swedish Ljubomir Vranjes as sporting director.
– We haven’t started looking at them at all yet, but if you look at their squad, it’s one of the world’s best teams with some of the world’s best players. It will be a nut to crack, says Simon Möller.