VIDEO. Hansen comes close to scoring an incredible goal at Remili but Barcelona wins the Champions League against Aalborg

Hansen a touché la barre sur le dernier tir du match. Capture d'écran Youtube

Carried by its trio of Frenchmen, Barcelona won its twelfth Handball Champions League by beating Aalborg 31-30, depriving the Dane Mikkel Hansen of one last opportunity to win the C1, Sunday June 9 in the final in Cologne.

As a symbol, the 36-year-old star with the headband had the equalizer ball at the last second in this epilogue of the Final Four, but his shot hit the crossbar.

For his last club meeting and before his farewell to handball after the Olympic Games, the Danish left back or center half had until then succeeded in his final (8 goals), but that was not enough. was not enough to win the only title missing from his immense record.

The fault is largely due to the French of Barça, the Olympic champions Melvyn Richardson (8 goals), Dika Mem (7) and Timothey Nguessan (6), authors of 21 of their team's 31 goals during this remake of the 2021 final, already won by the Catalans 36-21.

Final undecided

Mem and Richardson, scorers from the first minutes, put Barça on the right track. Aalborg came back to 8-8 after a quarter of an hour, but it was another Frenchman, Nguessan, who put the Catalans back in front with a double.

The Danes, thanks in particular to Hansen (3 goals in the first period), pulled together again before the break (15-15). In this very indecisive final, the two teams were still neck and neck after returning from the locker room thanks to Hansen and his teammate Mads Hoxer (6 goals).

Hansen, the Accursed

Petar Cikusa, the 18-year-old Barça nugget, and Dika Mem then gave their team a two-goal lead (28-26). But while the Catalans led by three lengths, Mem was excluded for two minutes. Without consequence until his return at the last minute. The Frenchman sacrificed himself again on an attempted strike from Hansen.

But the free throw then awarded to the Danish star died on the bar. The former Paris SG player, Olympic champion with Denmark in 2016 and three-time world champion, will never lift the C1, despite three finals (2010 with FC Barcelona, ​​2017 with PSG and 2024 with Aalborg).

During the match for third place in this Final Four, the Germans from Kiel beat (32-28) their compatriots from Magdeburg, title holders.