Møllgaard dreams of finishing his farewell tour in Cologne

Five times, the 40-year-old Danish defence specialist has already been part of the EHF FINAL4: three times with PSG, and twice with Aalborg — in 2021 and 2024. Three times, Møllgaard has played the final in Cologne, with the French side in 2017 and both times with his current club. He didn't lift the trophy, but his memories from those trips to LANXESS arena are still outstanding.

“2016 with PSG was amazing, it was my first time in Cologne. But being there in 2024 with Aalborg and all of our fans was extremely special. We came as underdogs, but in the end we were only one ball possession away from the ultimate goal and dream,” Møllgaard recalls.

Another participation in Cologne will come up if Aalborg manage to advance from their quarter-final against Füchse Berlin. The away game in Germany — the Match of the Week in the first leg — is scheduled for Thursday (24 April) at 20:45 CEST (live on EHFTV).

While Møllgaard and Aalborg qualified directly for the round of the last eight teams as runners-up to defending champions Barça in group B, Berlin had to go through the play-offs, where they eliminated the 2016 champions, Industria Kielce.

“We played in an absolute crazy group, by far the toughest group I can remember. We had some amazing games both away and at home,” Møllgaard says. “At the same time, we had some struggles in the autumn, which put us under a lot of pressure. In the end, we got the results we needed to qualify directly for the quarter finals, a huge statement in an explosive group.”

In his last season as a player, Møllgaard experienced a change of head coach when Aalborg replaced Maik Machulla in November with his former assistant Simon Dahl, though it didn’t change the defender’s role in the team, as he remained “still 100 percent player” instead of taking up a task as playing coach.

Møllgaard is in his second stint with Aalborg, after playing for AAB from 2009 until 2012. He was with Skjern Håndbold for the next seasons but spent the last of those four on loan with PSG, joining the likes of Nikola Karabatic, Thierry Omeyer and Mikkel Hansen at the only foreign club in his career. Møllgaard stayed in France for three seasons until returning to Aalborg in 2018.

In his first season back at Aalborg, he faced Füchse Berlin for the one and only time – in the final qualification round of the EHF Cup. The Danish side won the home encounter 31:29 but lost the return in the German capital 28:23.

“We did not win, but we learned a lot from those two games. Playing EHF competitions is also about experience,” Møllgaard looks back.

In contrast to 2018, Aalborg this time have the advantage of playing the second leg at home.

“Having the reverse fixture at home is often very decisive. We needed the help and pressure from our fans to make it to Cologne last season against Veszprém, we may need them even more this time. But hopefully we will win both games and then it won’t matter,” the Danish defender says.

Aalborg vs Berlin is a duel of world-class Danes, as the tie includes the likes of Møllgaard, Niklas Landin, Thomas Arnoldsen, or Simon Hald on Aalborg’s side, and Lasse Andersson and Mathias Gidsel on Füchse’s side.

“Those two guys can’t be stopped, but of course we need to control the damage. We have to find ways to control the pace and the game in general, and that job starts with Mathias and Lasse,” Møllgaard says.

“But we can’t ignore that the whole Berlin squad is extremely talented and they are playing at a high level every game. The Danes are not the only guys who stand in the way of our dreams.”

Møllgaard calls Gidsel, the IHF World Player of the Year, “the face of handball at the moment. His speed, his high handball IQ and greed for every ball is amazing to see. He is just a big kid with a passion for handball, and it is impossible not to love him. And he is just getting started.”

Still, Møllgaard hopes to go all the way in the EHF Champions League and get to another final: “Another participation in Cologne would be the perfect way to end things. And still, I have had my fun and loads of amazing experiences through handball. I really can’t complain.”

His next task in handball will bring him back to Paris, where he starts his coaching career as the assistant of former Aalborg coach Stefan Madsen, who will take over at PSG as successor of Raul Gonzalez this summer.

“At PSG, the pressure is enormous, but in a good way. The dream is to win the Champions League, of course. I am really looking forward to this challenge,” Møllgaard says.

“I know that I am in good hands with Stefan, and I am sure that our cooperation will be very strong. But I have no idea how I will react after stepping away from the fun side. I believe that I can bring something special, but I still can’t believe that my days as a player are over.”

photos © Henrik Hansen; Patryk Ptak (first in-text photo)