Handball star raves

“That was magical – an almost perfect game”

What a Champions League evening for Nikola Bilyk! Austria's handball star performed a "small miracle" with THW Kiel, as he says himself. Thanks in part to seven goals from the team captain, the German cult club made it to the Final Four in Cologne with a 31:21 win over Montpellier.

When the "Krone" reached him by phone yesterday, Bilyk was doubly happy, holding his little daughter Olivia in his arms. "She's just getting her first teeth!" The dad and his colleagues from Kiel had a bit of a bite the evening before in sporting terms. "We had our backs to the wall. Almost nobody thought we could do that, this game will stay in our heads forever, just like the Spain game at the European Championships," enthused the red-white-red handball star about the 31:21 celebration against Montpellier, with which THW Kiel celebrated a resurrection of a rare kind after the 30:39 thumping by France. "That was magical, an almost perfect game, a small miracle," he said the next day, still impressed by what had happened on Thursday evening in front of 8513 spectators in the Wunderino Arena at home.

"I was happy that I was able to help, I don't want to talk about myself, we did it as a team," he said with typical modesty. With seven goals, Bilyk made a valuable contribution to a handball finest hour, which was also celebrated extensively. "Things are going extremely well for us in the Champions League!" In contrast to the national competitions. Knocked out early in the cup, no chance of winning the league title or qualifying directly for the top flight. "Last season it was the other way around," recalls Bilyk, who is almost a veteran in his eighth season at THW at the age of 27. He struggles to find an explanation. "That's just the way sport is, we're like Bayern Munich!"

Now the red-white-red figurehead is looking forward to his third participation with Kiel in the final tournament of the premier class on June 8 and 9 in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne _ where he and the national team delivered legendary matches against handball giants such as Spain, Croatia and Hungary in January, setting the best European Championship ranking of all time (eighth place).

Back to the near future: "Anything is always possible at the Final Four in Cologne!" Barcelona are the favorites, Magdeburg are playing an outstanding season and have the chance to win all the titles, Aalborg are the underdogs.

Before that, however, Bilyk and the national team will meet in Istanbul on Monday, from where they will travel on to Tbilisi - Austria are the favorites in two games against European Championship newcomers Georgia. The chance to play in the next major event, the 2025 World Cup, is something they do not want to miss out on.