Aalborg Håndbold, runners-up in Europe’s premier club competition – the EHF Champions League – last season, are in Saudi Arabia for their debut appearance in the IHF Men’s Super Globe. And they do not only debut on their own behalf, but all Danish handball, as no club from the Scandinavian nation has ever contested the event before. 

It has been a big few years for Aalborg, who started to garner more attention outside Denmark in the 2019/20 edition of the Champions League with some impressive results before rising to the top in the 2020/21 season and achieving by far their best ranking in history. Prior to that, Aalborg’s top achievement in the Champions League was reaching the Last 16 twice, in 2013/14 and 2014/15. 

Those results were in the era of Norwegian superstar Sander Sagosen, one of the most notable of the recent former players for the side, who since moved on to the powerhouses of PSG and now THW Kiel. Sagosen is among an illustrious list of former players for Aalborg who have gone on to international acclaim and showcase the impressive development within the club.

While developing top talents, Aalborg have slowly risen as a club as a whole, and it was a well-earned celebration when the team made it to the EHF FINAL4 in 2021 then continued to the trophy match, where they lost to defending Super Globe title holders Barça. 

Now contesting the EHF Champions League 2021/22, Aalborg have enjoyed a strong start to the season – one in which they can no longer be a surprise package but are in the position of being earmarked as a side to beat by their rivals. In three games so far, the Danish side have clinched two wins and had a narrow defeat at the hands of Macedonian team Vardar, who took the bronze medal at the Super Globe in both 2019 and 2017. 

On Thursday evening, Aalborg will meet Magdeburg in the Super Globe semi-final, after winning their quarter-final against Al Wehda with a decisive margin, 38:27. Wing Sebastian Barthold was the top scorer of the clash, with eight strikes and was named Player of the Match. ihf.info spoke with Barthold following their quarter-final win on Wednesday. 

ihf.info: Congratulations on the big win. It seems everything went according to plan for your team today. 

Sebastian Barthold: It’s hard to make a plan for games like this, cause we’re meeting an opponent that we’ve never seen before, never met before, so it’s a bit different circumstances than we’re used to. But I think we attacked the game professionally. We played great defence and got the easy goals on fast breaks, so I felt we stuck to our game plan and that’s why we got a comfortable victory here.

ihf.info: As you say, Al-Wehda were an unfamiliar team for you, although you had the chance to analyse at least their quarter-final qualification match here in Jeddah. How do you approach a game like this, where you don’t know what to expect? 

Sebastian Barthold: It’s one thing to watch a game and it’s another to feel the opponent. You don’t really know what you’re going to meet until you get there. They won quite comfortably yesterday, so it’s hard to extract something from a game like that, so we’re just really satisfied with how we executed the match.

ihf.info: On Thursday you will face a more familiar opponent, Magdeburg, in the semi-final, who have many players you know well. What are your thoughts on this match?  

Sebastian Barthold: It’s a lot of Norwegian players there and some other players too, and then there are some players that played in Aalborg previously, so we are familiar with the team. We had a pre-season match against Magdeburg in Denmark as well, so they are quite a bit more familiar for us. Also, they play quite similar to how we play, so it’s going to be a tough match. I think whoever gets the defence and the goalie going is going to come out on top.

ihf.info: It has been a big couple of years for Aalborg and now you are here at your first Super Globe. What does that mean for your team? 

Sebastian Barthold: It means that we have a fundament that’s really good. We have built layers and layers all the way and our last season was amazing in so many ways. Reaching the Champions League final was a dream come true for each of the players but also the club – something that we strive every day to accomplish and do again. So being here means that we have done something right in the previous season and that’s a validation for our team, that we can be here as well.

ihf.info: Speaking of the Champions League, how do you see the current season? You have had a solid start. 

Sebastian Barthold: We got off to a good start with two victories and we had a tough game down in Vardar, but we are quite satisfied with how we started the season. You see all the teams are beating each other, so it’s a really tough, competitive season, but we are looking forward to progressing in the tournament.

ihf.info: Of course, this is a jump from where we are in the Super Globe competition, but there is potentially a rematch of the 2020/21 Champions League final on the cards here in Jeddah. 

Sebastian Barthold: That would be amazing. We have a tough game tomorrow of course. If we are good enough to beat Magdeburg, and we can hopefully maybe meet Barça again, I think we have something to avenge on them. It was a tough and hard loss for us there [at the EHF FINAL4 in Cologne]. We would really look forward to meeting Barça, but let’s see the semi-final.