Men's handball Champions League: We shouldn't have been in so many questionable situations – Lauge

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2022.06.19. 14:04

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As we reported, Telekom Veszprém lost 37–35 to Kielce in the semifinals of the men's handball Champions League. Rasmus Lauge, the team captain of the Hungarian team, blamed the unnecessary exclusions and stupid mistakes for the defeat but did not question the referee's decisions. According to Gasper Marguc, they paid a high price for the beginning of the second half, while Patrik Ligetvári, who played his first Final Four, would like to finish the season with another medal.

Rasmus Lauge did his best with his eight goals to lead his team to the final, but after 60 minutes, he had to make a statement disappointedly to reporters in the mixed zone.

VESZPRÉM PAID A HIGH PRICE FOR THE START OF THE SECOND HALF
Gasper MARGUC, right winger of Veszprém: "In the first half, we played excellently, we led by two. I don't know what happened to us ten minutes after the break, we let Kielce turn the score around and have a four-goal advantage. We then made some technical mistakes in attacks, from which the opponent could score easy goals, and that was the main problem. In the first half, we closed well, prevented their quick counterattacks, and then in the second half, they quickly overrun us times. After that, we chased them all the time, we fought, but we couldn't come back into the game. We paid a heavy price at the start of the second half and should have played smarter. There were some interesting judgments, and several exclusions were awarded against us, but I have to say that the result was still up to us. With a more tactical game, we could have made it to the finals.” Patrik LIGETVÁRI, left back of Veszprém: “At the beginning of the second half, incomprehensible errors came in our attack and defense, and after that, we could not catch up with Kielce. I should watch back what caused this setback after the break in our game as the experience is very fresh now. This is my first Final Four, it's a special experience to play in front of so many spectators. On Sunday, we must do everything we can to repay the support of the fans who accompanied us to Cologne. We want to finish the season with a win and another medal.

– Do you agree with the statement that your team controlled the game in the first half?
– We did a really outstanding 30 minutes, based on our performance in the first half, we should have led by more goals – said Rasmus Lauge, Veszprém's team captain. – Before the break, however, we made some annoying mistakes to bring Kielce back into the game.

– What changed when the score turned around in just a few seconds?
– Unfortunately, in the first ten minutes of the second half we got some silly exclusions, we made a lot of mistakes in attacks, and suddenly Kielce was four goals ahead. The opponent's side did not have the same unnecessary exclusions and mistakes, which is why the end result of the match completely changed. I'm still looking for the whys.

– In the last part of the semifinals, did you feel the need to take responsibility?
– That's not the point. We all fought through the 60 minutes, we really wanted to get to the final. We are very disappointed that we did not succeed.

– Do we need to talk about the referees? How much did Blagotinsek's red card hold back the team?
– We have been in questionable situations several times, giving the referees a chance to punish us after the VAR. I don't assume they made bad decisions; we should have just prevented situations like this. We have three good central defenders, so we still had that position after Blagotinsek's exclusion, but mainly the other two-minute penalty caused the problem. We played 16 minutes with one less player in total, which is a lot, especially with Kielce being very strong in power play attacks. We gave them a big advantage with that. In the second half, we conceded 21 goals, while we also made too many mistakes in attacks – we should have won the game with 35 goals.

Adrián Sipos: We didn't fight the way we usually do

MEN'S HANDBALL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
FINAL FOUR (Cologne, Lanxess Arena)
SEMIFINAL
LOMZA VIVE KIELCE (Poland)–TELEKOM VESZPRÉM 37–35 (16–18)
Cologne, 19 250 spectators. R: Hansen, Madsen (Denmark)
KIELCE: Wolff – MORYTO 8 (3), Vujovics 2, Karaljok 2, Gebela, Nahi 2, Sicko 2. Substitutes: Kornecki (goalkeeper), A. Dujshebaev 4, KARACIC 5, Tournat 4, KULES 4, D. Dujshebaev 3, Naranjo, Thrastarson 1. Coach: Talant Dujsebajev
VESZPRÉM: Corrales– Gasper Marguc 6 (4), J. Omar 4, Mahé 1, B. Blagotinsek 1, LAUGE 8, STRLEK 7. Substitutes: Cupara (goalkeeper), Ligetvári, A. Nilsson 1, Nenadics 6, A. Sipos, Maqueda 1. Coach: Momir Ilics
Results minute by minute. 4th: 3–2. 10th: 5–7. 20th: 11–11. 22nd: 11–14. 29th: 14–17. 34th: 19–20. 39th: 23–20. 46th: 28–24. 52nd: 31–29. 54th: 34–30. 58th: 35–33
Exclusions: 10, and 16 minutes
Seven-meter throw: 3/3, and 4/5
COACHES' CORNER
Talant Dujshebaev: "Not the result at halftime that's important, but the one after 60 minutes. In the first half, we did not play so badly either, but our goalkeepers saved only five shots, while Veszprém guarded twice as many. After the break, Andreas Wolff had some nice, important, and decisive saves, which gave us strength that changed the game.”
Momir Ilić: "The second half was difficult, there were some unfortunate opportunities, missed shots, and technical errors that I did not understand how to even make them. That was the key, that's what decided everything. I'm not saying that Blagotinsek's exclusion was the most important moment because we were able to change our defense afterwards but it's a fact is that the 6-0 defense was not so effective without him.”

IN THE OTHER SEMIFINAL
THW KIEL (Germany)–BARCELONA (Spain) 30–34 (18–19)

THE SUNDAY PROGRAM
FINAL
6pm: Kielce (Poland)–Barca (Spain) (TV: Sport1) – live on NSO!
BRONZE MATCH
3.15pm: Telekom Veszprém–THW Kiel (Germany) (TV: Sport1) – live on NSO!