"It is crystal clear that in such an important final against a world class opponent the team who has the second leg in own hall has a small advantage", declared Kiel´s manager Uwe Schwenker for the German press agency, DPA. Supported by more than 10.000 enthusiastic fans it is obvious that the Zebras will exploit this small advantage and they will have more power to defend their title.
THW Kiel and Ciudad Real will dispute in May one of the most interesting Champions League final all times. On one side will be the Spanish Champions, Copa Asobal winner and Champions League winner from 2006, known as the richest squad in the world due to its 12 million euro budget. On the other side will stay the German Champions and Cup winner and the Champions League title holder, named the best team in the world. Two "troupes" composed of stars who met only one time until now in the European Clubs Competitions. On 26th October 2002, Ciudad Real, the Cupwinners´ Cup winner, beat Kiel, the EHF Cup winner, with 32:20 (14:11) in the match for the third place counting of the European Supercup.
"Ciudad Real is very strong on home soil. They are a very experienced team. Altogether this is a dream final. But for the moment we focuse only on the derby against HSV Hamburg on Wednesday", added Schwenker.
