Aalborg Handball had several opportunities to defeat mighty Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final, but they failed to take advantage of them. Consequently, Sunday's final will be without Aalborg, who lost the extra-time drama 32-37 to the Spaniards on Saturday.
In the ten extra minutes of play, Aalborg made too many mistakes, and they were duly punished by the experienced Catalans.
The Spaniards scored several times into an empty Aalborg goal as Aalborg tried to play seven against six. The Danish champions trailed FC Barcelona for most of the match, but a strong final surge meant that Aalborg actually attacked for the win at the end of regular time.
That opportunity will probably keep several of the Aalborg players sleepless ahead of Sunday's bronze medal match against last year's winner, Magdeburg. Barcelona will now face Fuchse Berlin in the final, who beat the defending champions earlier on Saturday.
Barça had the upper hand throughout the first half, taking an advantage as clear as five goals after 20 minutes, on the back of a very strong defensive performance. For most of the match, Barça seemed to be in control, with Emil Nielsen making important saves to keep the Blaugrañas ahead.
But Aalborg gave a final push in the last quarter, giving themselves the opportunity to turn the game around — and they did, with Thomas Arnoldsen scoring an equaliser within the last 90 seconds to send the game into overtime.
Barça’s experience prevailed, as their defence pushed them to lead by three after the first five minutes of overtime and ultimately led to the Spanish side securing another appearance in the final.