The colossal disillusionment of MHB eliminated after a heavy defeat against the Germans of Kiel in the Champions League

Diego Simonet et les Montpelliérains se sont cassé les dents sur Patrick Wiencek et la défense allemande. dpa – Axel Heimken

Montpellier a lourdement chuté à Kiel, en quart de finale de Ligue des champions (31-21), ce jeudi 2 mai, et ne verra pas le Final 4 de Cologne.

The tears of Rémi Desbonnet, the contained rage of Valentin Porte contrasting with that of Samir Bellahcène, backstage at the Kiel Arena, the scene wonderfully summed up the Shakespearean outcome of this quarter-final return.

Nine goals to defend in a Wunderino Arena hotter than July 14 on a beach in La Grande-Motte. Faced with quadruple European champions determined to overcome the affront suffered on the first leg, Montpellier could expect a strange reception committee. The people of Hérault were not disappointed. In the role of the executioner of the dirty works, the pivot Patrick Wiencek had the perfect profile. 30 seconds into the game, the German had already sent Monte to the ground, then Stas Skube as a warning. The Zebras were not going to open up the road to Cologne.

A very (too ?) high tension start to the match. A completely white and black arena that roared with each burst of brilliance. Red against Overby for an atemi to the throat of Valentin Porte only fueled this fire.

"Wir sind Kiel"

Montpellier in all this ? The MHB held its own. With his arguments and without turning the other cheek. Like Valentin Porte, an exemplary captain, who took as much as he gave away. But Kiel managed to gradually gain the upper hand, thanks to a 4-0 (13th-15th), the temperature in the room went from scorching to incandescent. Then hellish when Mrkva, returning in place of a Bellahcène in difficulty, put himself in the path of the Hérault shots.

"Wir sind Kiel" (we are Kiel) screamed the Wunderino Arena. At the break, Kiel had already come back 5 goals and made up half of their deficit. (17-12). We had to hold on, not let the THW hope for an exploit. And yet, the feat was within reach for the “Kielers”. "We showed that we could be a team that fights until the end", savored Filip Jicha, the coach Germans. Because its players managed to overthrow the entire Pic Saint-Loup. 15 minutes from the end of this double confrontation, Montpellier had not given up an inch of ground with its 5 goals behind.

10 minutes without a goal

But Diego Simonet's teammates were going to suffer a 10-minute blackout, unable to score a single goal in money time. Remi Desbonnet delayed the deadline before Bylikk made the Wunderino Arena explore with 4 minutes left in the match by scoring the goal which allowed Kiel to equalize.

"We only have ourselves to blame. It’s the opposite of going. We shot ourselves in the foot, whispered Karl Konan, marked like his teammates by this failure.

"I'm proud of these guys, of our fans who believed in us, who believed that we would turn the match around"< /em>, enjoyed the Kiel coach."It’s a truly magical night", he smiled in response to this feat that he was hoping for during the first leg.< /p>