In its last Champions League game of the year, SC Magdeburg lost 28:29 (15:11) at French runners-up HBC Nantes. Daniel Pettersson and Manuel Zehnder were SCM's best scorers with six goals each. Magdeburg is in sixth place in the table, but still has a chance of reaching the round of 16.
Magdeburg went into the encounter without numerous injured players, which was characterized by a lot of hectic action in the opening phase. However, Magdeburg took advantage of this and led by five goals early on (7:2/9th minute). The home side reduced the deficit when it was outnumbered, but Magdeburg remained in the game, although it was not able to maintain the initial tempo. Nevertheless, SCM fought its way into a half-time lead.
After the break, Magdeburg, with Pettersson playing in the jersey of the injured Omar Ingi Magnusson, also held on to the lead. Nantes only equalized (23:23/48th) when the club from the city on the Elbe slowly ran out of steam.
Magdeburg was not able to make its usual changes: Magnus Saugstrup, for example, was in the squad but not fit to play. Magdeburg produced too many missed shots in attack and the home side took the lead for the first time after 51 minutes (25:26). Ten seconds before the end, the referees decided on a forward foul instead of a seven-meter penalty for SCM after video evidence and so Nantes narrowly won.
