After the clear defeat in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League against Montpellier this Thursday (6.45 p.m., Dyn), THW Kiel has to make up nine goals in order to reach the final tournament on June 8th and 9th in Cologne. “We have nothing left to lose with this mortgage from the first leg,” said THW coach Filip Jicha: “Out of a hundred games in this constellation, you can turn things around in five. But everyone here has to believe that we will have one of these five games in our arena on Thursday.”
If Kiel were to be eliminated against Montpellier, it would be the low point of a disappointing season. With six league games left and six minus points behind second-placed Füchse Berlin, it is unlikely that they will take part in the premier class again. The championship is already out of reach for the defending champions with a ten-point gap to SC Magdeburg. Before the second leg, the 42-year-old THW coach also talks about Andreas Wolff’s comeback to the German handball record champions and his lessons from the changeable season.
Ask: Mr. Jicha, in the Champions League quarter-finals you have to create a miracle in the second leg on Thursday in Kiel after the 30:39 in the first leg in Montpellier. Do you believe in it?
Filip Jicha: There are these miracles in handball. The Füchse Berlin even made up an eleven-goal deficit against Ademar Leon in the 2012 Champions League. Kielce trailed Veszprem by nine goals with a quarter of an hour to go in the 2016 final and still won. Flensburg came close to overcoming a twelve-goal deficit against Montpellier in 2005. Last week, Barcelona won the second half in Paris by eleven goals. I believe in miracles.
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Ask: Actually?
Jicha: We are capable of beating any team in the world by ten goals and have nothing left to lose with the first leg mortgage. But: Each and every one of us must be courageous and believe in the miracle. Only then can it come true. This works maybe five times out of a hundred games. Thursday is supposed to be one of these five times. But one thing is also clear: we need faith, courage, better defense, a more effective attack and good goalkeeping.
Ask: There is a threat of elimination in the Champions League, you were eliminated in the cup against Wetzlar in the third round, and you are in 4th place in the Bundesliga – what grade would you give THW Kiel this season?
Jicha: I grew up in the Czech Republic with the grading system from 1 to 5 – so I would give us a 3. We had good games, but unfortunately we also had too many slip-ups that prevented us from getting a better grade.
Required: Coach Jicha (l.) and managing director Viktor Szilagyi
Source: dpa/Claus Bergmann
Ask: How can these performance fluctuations be explained?
Jicha: Top performers like Landin, Sagosen and Zarabec have left us. This is a completely normal process in handball. I admit: we thought we were already further along. That the experienced players can maintain their level and the younger ones reach world class more quickly. The high expectations after three championship titles in four years were perhaps too much for the boys. The task was too big. I see it this way now: We take a step back, analyze what is happening and concentrate on the process of further development.
Ask: You often fail because of inadequate utilization of opportunities. A matter of experience?
Jicha: We sometimes lack the coolness to score goals from well-created chances. Every world-class player gives away 100% chances. The trick is to let it bounce off you and throw with the same confidence next time. We didn’t always do that. We have hung our heads too often and too quickly.
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Ask: Their goalkeepers Samir Bellahcene and Tomas Mrkva haven’t always shown top performances recently. Have you ever looked into the national goalkeeper and ex-Kiel player Andreas Wolff, who is about to leave Kielce and is linked to Magdeburg?
Jicha: We always talk about a lot of options. But I’m not a fan of populist announcements. In addition, possible new additions must be affordable – at THW Kiel we only spend the money that we have in our pockets.
Variable performances: Kiel goalkeeper Tomas Mrkva
Source: dpa/Claus Bergmann
Ask: Have you looked into Juri Knorr? He wants to leave the Rhein-Neckar Löwen…
Jicha: We met with Juri before his move to the Lions. At that time he decided to take a different path. It is currently not an issue for us.
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Ask: Emil Madsen (23), Bence Imre (21) and Lukas Zerbe (28) have been confirmed as newcomers for the new season. Do you want to rejuvenate yourself?
Jicha: I would love to freeze Domagoj Duvnjak with his extraordinary qualities – but unfortunately that’s not possible (laughs). We have to and want to rejuvenate ourselves – but this process is also part of everyday life in sport.
Ask: Can you catch up with Magdeburg in the next few years?
Jicha: Magdeburg is strong and broadly based – my compliments! As of now they are ahead of us. But Magdeburg will also reach a phase at some point where some people will also look at other top European clubs. We concentrate on our path.
Ask: Next season you will no longer play in the Champions League, but in the European League. Can you even motivate yourself there as THW Kiel?
Jicha: We will be highly motivated! We have to say goodbye to the idea that just because Daniel Narcisse and Thierry Omeyer used to play here, we have a subscription to the Champions League. What we need is humility. The European League is good for younger players who want to develop. A few years ago (2018/2019, the editorial team) THW has already gone this route before. Magdeburg and Berlin also played in the European League for many years and prepared their teams there to deliver top performances. But it’s also clear that we want to get back into the Champions League as quickly as possible. That will remain our goal.
Ask: The fans in Kiel are spoiled for success. That’s why there was criticism of you. In the fan forums your handball is described as “out of date”. How do you deal with that?
Jicha: I don’t need a pat on the back. As soon as things don’t work, a lot of poison comes from “social media” and things quickly go below the belt. But that doesn’t influence my actions. I can look in the mirror morning and evening because I always give everything for THW. As a player, I sacrificed my health for the club, and even in my actions today, the club is above all else. So I would personally like some respect. We have been champions three times in the last four years, won the Champions League and the cup. This is quickly forgotten. Still, I’m the last person who doesn’t question myself.
The history was researched for the Sports Competence Center (WELT, SPORT BILD, BILD) and first published in SPORT BILD.