Semi-final only a formality for the SCM?
The four semi-finalists in the Handball European League will be decided this Tuesday. In at least three of the quarter-finals, a preliminary decision seems to have already been made in the first leg. This also applies to the duel between SC Magdeburg and HBC Nantes. The Bundesliga leaders won the first leg last week in France and are well on their way to the Final Four.
The semi-finals and the final will be played at the end of May. Where this final round will take place, however, has not actually been decided yet. It doesn’t matter to the SCM, because Bennet Wiegert’s team is the big favourite to win the European League title again anyway. Nevertheless, they will have to put in a concentrated performance on Tuesday to avoid getting into trouble in the first place.
The question now is whether the Anhalt team will give 100 per cent in this match, because the next tasks in the Bundesliga are already on the agenda at the weekend. But we expect the SCM to build up a small lead before they save any energy. In any case, the forecast for this second leg between Magdeburg and Nantes is for a victory for the Germans.
The French, however, also won at the Füchse in Berlin in the round of 16 and only advanced to the semi-finals with this away win. Bennet Wiegert and his throwers should therefore be warned. However, despite the defeat in the German Cup final, the SCM looks very solid these days.
Magdeburg – statistics & current form
The title in the DHB Cup was squandered by the Anhalt team in the final. Nevertheless, it can be a season with three trophies. The Magdeburg team has already bagged the IHF Super Globe, the unofficial World Cup title for club teams. In the European League, they should take the next step towards defending their title with a solid performance on Tuesday.
On the way to more titles
In the Bundesliga, there should also be nothing left to lose. Seven games before the end of the season, the SCM have six minus points less than their pursuers from Kiel. However, Bennet Wiegert’s team no longer plays against any team in the top six of the standings. In addition, four of the seven games will take place in their own arena.
There is no small indication that the SCM will claim two more titles in the coming weeks. Last weekend, the Magdeburg team had the last tough challenge on the way to the championship. Midway through the second half, they were four goals down at home against Füchse Berlin. After 21:25, however, the Anhalt team turned up the heat and won 28:27 in the end.
When you win games like that, you have nothing to fear. The SCM is not feeling any pressure at the moment. Participation in the Champions League was the goal. Now you can achieve so much more and that’s why we expect the tension to be kept high. Recently, that has worked out very well against strong opponents with six wins from the last seven games.
Predicted line-up of Magdeburg:
Green, Jensen – Bezjak, Chrapkowski, Damgaard, Gullerud, Hornke, Kristjansson, Magnusson, Mertens, Musche, O’Sullivan, Pettersson, Saugstrup, Smits, Weber – Coach: Wiegert
Last matches played by Magdeburg:
Bundesliga
01/05/2022 – SC Magdeburg 28 – 27 Füchse Berlin
EHF European League Final Stage
27/04/2022 – HBC Nantes 25 – 28 SC Magdeburg
Bundesliga
10/04/2022 – HSG Wetzlar 26 – 29 SC Magdeburg
EHF European League Final Stage
06/04/2022 – SC Magdeburg 36 – 35 Sporting CP
Bundesliga
31/03/2022 – SC Magdeburg 30 – 22 TSV Hannover-Burgdorf
Nantes – Statistics & current form
The team of the Spanish coach Alberto Entrerrios plays a good season in France. After 24 of 30 matchdays, they only have to give way to the league leaders Paris Saint-Germain and are in second place. The championship is not an issue, of course, because the gap to the leaders is too large. The big goal is to finish the season as runners-up.
Recently two defeats
Currently, however, there is a duel with third-placed Aix. HBC are only one point ahead and still have six games to play. Last weekend, they could have taken a big step towards consolidating second place, as the team from Aix were guests in Nantes. With a home win, they would be hard pressed to reach the top.
However, Alberto Entrerrios’ team had to admit defeat to their pursuers. In a very close game, HBC lost 25:26 in the end. That was the second defeat in a row. The team is now only one point ahead of third place. However, they don’t have the big ones ahead of them. Second place is not unrealistic and Nantes are also in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France.
But SCM is a bigger player than many of their opponents in France. Therefore, before the second leg between Magdeburg and Nantes, we make the clear prediction that this match will be the last international match for the French this season. It might even be the last match in the European Cup for 41-year-old Kiril Lazarov, but he might not be in the line-up due to injury.
Predicted line-up of Nantes:
Nielsen, Robin – Rivera Folch, Minne, Portela, Monar, Balaguer Romero, Briet, Pechmalbec, Damatrin-Bertrand, Milic, Persson, Marchan Criado, Vellenoweth, de la Breteche – Coach: Entrerrios
Last matches played by Nantes:
1st Division
01/05/2022 – HBC Nantes 25 – 26 Pays d’Aix handball
EHF European League Final Stage
27/04/2022 – HBC Nantes 25 – 28 SC Magdeburg
Coupe de France
22/04/2022 – HBC Nantes 32 – 27 Pays d’Aix handball
1st Division
09/04/2022 – HBC Nantes 36 – 21 USM Saran
EHF European League Final Stage
05/04/2022 – Füchse Berlin 30 – 33 HBC Nantes
Magdeburg – Nantes Direct comparison / H2H-balance
In total, the teams from Magdeburg and Nantes have faced each other in five matches so far. The direct comparison is clearly in favour of the defending European League champions. In addition to four victories for the Anhalt team, the French team has only managed one draw. The first two matches took place in the group phase of the 2012/13 season, at that time still under the name EHF Cup.
SCM secured the group win at that time, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals. The two clubs then faced each other in 2019/20. Both times the SCM won, but the season was cancelled due to the pandemic. The last duel was now scheduled for last week. Magdeburg won 28:25 in Nantes. SCM’s best scorer was once again Omar Ingi Magnusson with six goals.
Magdeburg – Nantes Tip
We have no great doubts that SC Magdeburg will make it to the Final Four. The only question is how Bennet Wiegert’s team will do after a mammoth programme in the last days and weeks. We think it could be a similarly close match as it was in the first leg, when Magdeburg only secured the decisive advantage in crunch time.
In Berlin, HBC won by a three-goal difference at the Füchse in the round of 16. We think that the Anhalt team will not let it get that far. But we also don’t expect SCM to send the French home with a resounding victory.
We also think it is conceivable that a relatively large number of goals will be scored. We expect both teams to score in the 30-goal range because HBC in particular will try to finish relatively quickly, which is always the case for Bennet Wiegert’s team anyway. In the end, however, we decided to play the betting odds on a handicap win (+2.5) for the French in the second leg Magdeburg vs Nantes.
