Magdeburg's "day to make history"

The EHF Champions League has been contested since the 1993/94 season. The first eight years of the men’s competition were marked by absolute Spanish dominance: Santander, Bidasoa Irun, Barcelona five times in a row, and San Antonio (Pamplona) were the winners in those early years.

The big question was which team would end the Spanish winning streak, and when? The answer finally came on 27 April 2002: SC Magdeburg.

One year after their first domestic title since the reunification of Germany and in their very first season in the EHF Champions League, the team under coach Alfred Gislason celebrated the triumph in Europe’s premier club competition, having previously won the EHF Cup in 1999 and 2001.

"Those were two incredibly intense finals against Veszprém," Gislason recalls. "Never before or since more people were in the old arena in Veszprém."

The Hungarian side won the first leg 25:21, but six days later, the Bördelandhalle (now GETEC Arena) in Magdeburg was on fire. “Today is a day to make history,” read a huge banner presented by fans.

“There was an incredible atmosphere in the city among the fans and, of course, within the team,” Gislason says 24 years later.

The SCM team full of world stars delivered, particularly the back-court duo of Olafur Stefansson and Nenad Perunicic, who finished as top scorer of the 2001/02 season, with 83 goals. The two scored the last two goals of the return leg to hand Magdeburg a 30:25 win — enough to make up the for the defeat in Hungary. SCM were the first non-Spanish team to win the competition and, obviously, the first from Germany.

“It was the greatest thing to finally bring this trophy to Germany. We were the best team in Europe. I was incredibly proud. We’d been working towards this success for so long and had even sacrificed Bundesliga matches,” says Gislason, who faced plenty of criticism when he rested his star players in the Bundesliga to get them fit for the final against Veszprém.

“We lost by 13 goals in Großwallstadt and we had the media and the fans against us. After we had won the trophy, everyone said: ‘Alfred, you did everything right.’ That’s how quickly things can change.”

Currently the national team head coach who led Germany to the finals of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Men's EHF EURO 2026, Gislason says that for him it was not Stefansson nor Perunicic who were the key players in the final, but Russian playmaker Oleg Kuleshov, a world champion and Olympic gold medallist who later became head coach of the Russia national team.

“Perunicic was always stronger in the Champions League than in the Bundesliga,” recalls Gislason. “Overall, we had a great mix in the team.”

In the pivot position, Frenchman Gueric Kervadec provided a physical presence. In goal was another Frenchman, Christian Gaudin, who was outstanding in the second leg of the final, along with Denmark's Sune Agerschou and Joel Abati, another Frenchman who was particularly formidable in defence.
On the left wing, Stefan Kretzschmar was the number one ahead of the man who is the connection Magdeburg’s current triumphs: Bennet Wiegert.

Wiegert has led SCM to four consecutive EHF FINAL4 tournaments (2023 to 2026) and two EHF Champions League titles so far (2023, 2025). On 13 June, Wiegert and Magdeburg will face Füchse Berlin in the all-German semi-final of the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2026.

“Back then, I couldn’t realise that Benno would become such a successful coach. But his character was already exceptional,” says Gislason, who recalls how Wiegert excelled in the first leg of Magdeburg's quarter-final against RK Celje, when Kretzschmar was out injured.

“That was perhaps the best game of his life. Benno scored five times against Dejan Peric [current Füchse goalkeeper coach], who was the world’s best goalkeeper against wing shots at the time.”

Magdeburg lost 31:29 at home, but still prevailed after winning 28:25 in Celje, who "had one of the best teams in the world" according to Gislason and won the EHF Champions League three years later.

While Veszprém dethroned defending champions San Antonio in the semi-finals, Magdeburg faced no troubles against Danish side KIF Kolding (29:19, 28:25) to reach the final in their very first EHF Champions League season.

At the Alter Markt, 20,000 fans celebrated SCM the day after triumph.

“It was a massive party, but as with all subsequent titles, I preferred to stay in the background,” says Gislason.

Gislason, alongside Olafur Stefansson, laid the foundations for future Icelandic superstars in the SCM jersey, currently with Ómar Ingi Magnússon and Gísli Kristjánsson, who has the chance to become the first three-time EHF FINAL4 MVP after his awards in 2023 and 2025.

Gislason made history twice at LANXESS arena. In 2010, with THW Kiel, where he had been in charge since 2008, he not only became the first winner of the new EHF FINAL4 format, but also the first coach to lift the trophy with two different teams.

“We beat Ciudad Real and FC Barcelona within 24 hours — that was unbelievable, given that Kiel had previously lost every Champions League final against Spanish teams. This format was something new for everyone, and on top of that you’re playing in this massive arena in front of 20,000 fans. It was truly phenomenal,” says Gislason. 

Gislason went on to steer Kiel to their second victory in Cologne in 2012, after a semi-final against Füchse Berlin and a final against Atlético Madrid, capping the best season in THW’s club history — 34 wins in 34 Bundesliga matches, the domestic cup and the EHF Champions League.

So, what does Gislason expect for the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2026, where Barça and Aalborg Håndbold lock horns in the second semi-final?

“For me, there’s no clear favourite this year. I’m very curious to see who makes it to the final. All four teams are packed with top players, so for me, both semi-finals are 50:50 matches.”

Photos © kolektiff images/Axel Heimken/Eva Manhart/Uros Hocevar/Jozo Cabraja; EHF archive; Victor Salgado; Lars Skaug; Eroll Popova; Henrik Hansen