Handball Match of the Week: FC Barcelona Lassa – THW Kiel

FC Barcelona Lassa-THW Kiel: the Catalans to take “revenge” for the last year’s quarter final elimination.

It seems that there is no other derby in handball Europe with more weight that the one between Barcelona and THW Kiel. The former are the absolute rulers of the EHF Champions league with 8 titles, the latter have so far played seven finals, winning the trophy three times. Last year they met in the quarterfinal where THW Kiel eliminated Barcelona from the further competition after a victory in the Sparkassen-Arena 29-24 and a defeat in Palau of only three goals, 33-30. Now the zebras are coming again to the Catalan pearl. A perfect reason for all of you handball lovers and bet on sports in EU fans to sit in front of the TV and enjoy this EHF Champions League excitement!

Barcelona: an eternal favorite

Regardless of the competition Barcelona seems to be the favorite in any sport. Handball, especially, is not an exception. In the group of death, as it is usually called this group A of the EHF Champions League this year, they are not considered to be the top favorites but still among the top three pretenders for ending up first in the group.

• Barca is invincible at their Palau Blaugrana

• THW Kiel hopes of repeating last year’s perfect match in Sparkassen

• Bookies consider Kiel absolute underdogs

This year they made many replacements in the squad brining mainly young players which will hopefully form a perfect collective with experienced superstars such as Kiril Lazarov and Filip Jicha. As internet betting sites in Spain claim, they returned Saubich on the right back position, brought Lasse Andersson and Timothey N’Guessan on the left back, hired the French Dika Mem on the right. Last week they made an important victory against an always unpleasant opponent such as Plock, but the real first challenge for this team this season is the match on Sunday against THW Kiel.

THW Kiel fearless against Barca

THW Kiel already played a great match last week against the top favorites for winning the group, Paris Saint-Germain. Although they were considered by many not to be favorites in the match they still managed to win it and earn precious points for a better position in the group which will bring easier crosses in the next phases. What we saw past Sunday was an excellent play by the new incorporations in their team such as Raul Santos and Lukas Nilsson. Especially the second one together with Christian Zeitz were responsible for keeping Kiel on a small distance from PSG during the second halp which in the end was crucial for the tight victory.

The betting odds

Online sportsbooks in Austria such as bwin give 1.30 odds to FC Barcelona for the win, leaving THW Kiel way behind with incredible 4.50. The draw between these two teams is evaluated by the Austrian bookies on 9.0. Other sportsbooks such as netBet offer the European derby for betting at the top of their huge handball betting section including all European handball Leagues. To the current Spanish champions FC Barcelona Lassa they give a bit higher betting odds of 1.35 for a win, while THW Kiel are estimated on 4.20. Indications that most probably will prove to be right this weekend.