Backed by young goalkeeper Simon Gade, who saved 17 shots, and back court ace Nikolaj Læsø, who scored nine times again, Aalborg Håndbold extended their winning streak on home ground. The 34:30 win against Pick Szeged was their eighth straight home victory in the past year in the EHF Champions League.
The Danish champions are equal on 12 points now with Pick, and have won the direct encounter after losing 28:31 at Szeged.
GROUP A
Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) vs Pick Szeged (HUN) 34:30 (16:14)
- after a balanced start, Aalborg went on a 5:0 run to lead 10:5. It was a wake-up call for Szeged but the Hungarian champions were unable to take the lead
- goalkeeper Roland Mikler made 10 saves to help the defence improve, but at the end of the first half Aalborg were ahead 16:14 thanks to five goals from Mario Sostaric and four apiece from Læsø, Lukas Sandell and Buster Juul-Lassen
- in the second half Læsø took his total to nine goals for the second consecutive week
- Sandell scored eight, while Bence Banhidi and Sostaric each scored seven
- Aalborg had to replace their two summer signings, Aron Palmarsson and Jesper Nielsen, due to injuries, but young goalkeeper Simon Gade impressed with 17 saves
Aalborg building a true home fortress
Over the last year, Aalborg Håndbold have won all their home matches in the EHF Champions League. Their last defeat was on2 December 2020, a 32:35 defeat against Barcelona.
In 2020/21 they won their remaining three home matches including the knock-out matches against Porto and Flensburg. This season they are the only team to have defeated Montpellier - and won against all their other rivals.
