Barcelona Take a Twelfth Trophy, Vardar Awaits an Invite: Handball Between Millions and Historic Gold From Skopje

Barcelona Win a Twelfth Trophy, Gidsel Breaks the Record but Misses the Title

Cologne hosted another Final Four with a Balkan flavor at the end - Barcelona won their twelfth Champions League trophy, beating Fuchse Berlin in the final for the second time in a row. And the biggest personal story ended bitterly: Danish right back Mathias Gidsel scored 161 goals in the season and broke a record previously held by his compatriot Mikkel Hansen (141 goals). "I'm sad we lost, that's the only feeling right now. I'd gladly swap this recognition for the big trophy," Gidsel said. Here's the whole truth about team sports in one sentence - you can be the best individually and still go home empty-handed. Barcelona's playmaker Domen Makuc was named MVP.

Kiel Part Ways With Jicha After the Worst Season in Their History

German giant Kiel and Czech coach Filip Jicha are ending their partnership after a season the club calls a catastrophe - for the first time in 33 years, the "zebras" won't play in any European competition. For a club used to the top, a season without Europe is like an earthquake. It's easy to shift the blame onto the coach - the oldest reflex in sport, fire one man and present him as the solution to a systemic problem. But a club that falls this deep rarely falls because of a single name on the bench. The question at Kiel isn't who's leaving, but what will change once he's gone.

Vardar Awaits a Decision on Its Spot in the Expanded Champions League

The EHF is expanding the Champions League format to 24 teams for the 2026/27 season, with a total of 27 applications - among them our Vardar 1961. That means not everyone will get in, and while Partizan has already secured a spot through a special invitation under strict conditions, the Macedonian representative is still waiting for the Executive Committee's final decision. A familiar Balkan position - we've applied, we're hoping, and we depend on someone else's pool where the spots are handed out. Vardar was for decades a name all of Europe stood before, and today it waits to be told whether it's even invited. How quickly you fall from the top once the money and the results turn the other way?

The Cadets Brought Home Historic Gold From the World Championship in Skopje

While the clubs fight for money and spots, the national team brought home something money can't buy. President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova received the members of the men's and women's cadet handball teams, who at the 27th World Championship for high-schoolers, held in Skopje, achieved a historic success - the men's cadet selection won the gold medal. At home, in front of their own crowd, with kids who may tomorrow wear the national team jersey. This is the real foundation of a sport - not a transfer for millions, but a generation growing up and winning. The question is whether the system will know how to use that gold, or whether, as so many times before, it will congratulate it today and forget it by next season.

Former Macedonian Coach Brestovac Leaves Al Arabi

Macedonia's former coach, Danilo Brestovac, is no longer the coach of Qatar's Al Arabi. Our strategist, who finished the season with a championship title in the Qatari league, decided after two years to end his mission at the club - a departure from a position of strength, with a trophy in hand, which is a rarity in the coaching world. Balkan specialists have long been an export product of the region: we value them more when they work abroad than when they were here at home. Brestovac leaves a title behind him and is now choosing where to go next - and the question that always returns is why our best coaches write their greatest successes on other clubs' benches.