Alingsas are underdogs ready to pounce

24 May was a huge day for Alingsas, a town with a population of 23,000 in the western part of Sweden. The Malmö Arena was the venue for Alingsas HK’s Swedish championship triumph with a 24:22 win against HF Lugi in the final.

With this win, the club also qualified for the Group Phase of the VELUX EHF Champions League for the second time in history.

The first time was in the 2009/10 season, when Alingsas finished fifth in the group with just two wins from ten games and exited the competition.

This time the Swedish champions will be underdogs again, expects their current head coach, former Swedish international Mikael Franzén, who led the team to surprise a lot of people in Swedish handball by winning the championship last season.

“So far I can only judge on the basis of test matches we have played against Danish league teams. I was disappointed by our performances in the first one against Skanderborg (24:21 defeat), while I was a bit more content with our second match (a 23:17 defeat against Aalborg Handball).

“There is no doubt that we have a lot to work on, but then again, we are still at an early stage of the season, so there is still time,” Mikael Franzén tells ehfCL.com.

Fantastic for a small town

Mikael Franzén is no stranger to the EHF Champions League, as he has played in the tournament for Redbergslids IK as well as coaching IK Sävehof in the past.

He makes no secret of the fact that he is looking forward to yet another season among Europe's elite.

“First of all, it will be fantastic for the little town Alingsås to play in the Champions League. To us, playing the Champions League will be a great party and we will do everything we can to do well there.

“It will also be great for our players who get the chance to develop considerably, when they face some of Europe's best teams. We are all looking forward to that challenge,” says Franzén, who is not exaggerating when he talks about meeting some of the best teams in Europe.

In Group B, Alingsås will be up against FC Barcelona and reigning champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt, as well as Danish champions KIF Kolding København and the Polish club Orlen Wisla Plock. The group will then be completed with a team from the qualification tournament.

“We are obvious underdogs in that group. Flensburg as ruling champions, Barcelona who are notoriously strong, Kolding with Kim Andersson back in action, Plock who are also extremely strong, and then a team from the qualification tournament which may very well be Constanta.

“Obviously that is an extremely tough group, but also an extremely interesting group. It will be exciting to meet those teams and to show our strength against them all,” finds Franzén.

Always looking for opportunities

With such mighty opponents, does he see any chance his team can finish among the four teams to progress from the group?

“You must always look for the chances, and of course the possibility to reach the knock-out rounds is there. Of course it will be extremely tough, we are well aware of that, but as a coach and a player you always have to look for the opportunities. That is part of the reason why you play handball,” concludes Franzén.

Photo credit: Alingsas HK