Flensburg took the trophy in Hamburg, and one of their players left with not only the gold medal, but also the MVP award: Emil Jakobsen was named the best player, after finishing the event as the top scorer with 18 goals – 11 in the semi-final against Dinamo (38:32), and seven in the final against Füchse Berlin (36:31).
For the 26-year-old Danish international, his individual MVP award was just the icing on the cake.
“Of course, it is nice to get this award, but the gold medal for being the European League champion is much more important,” Jakobsen said.
“Without my team and their passes, I could not score those 18 goals in two days. To win this trophy after such a long wait is much more important than any individual award.”
Jakobsen arrived at Flensburg in 2021 from GOG; since the start of the 2023/24 season, he is coached again by is former GOG coach Nicolej Krickau.
“The efficiency of our wings was an important key to the success, besides our strong defence,” Krickau said about Jakobsen and his counterpart on the right wing, Johan Hansen.
For Jakobsen, a key element to this weekend’s triumph was the strength of Flensburg’s defensive wall,
“In the final we were like warriors in defence; for example Lukas (Jørgensen) and Johannes (Golla) – what they did this weekend was amazing,” Jakobsen said.
“We trained and talked so much what we were going to do, and we managed to bring this plan on the court for two days. I am so proud of this team. Important was stopping (Füchse star) Mathias Gidsel, who got more and more tired at the end,” added the wing, who was looking forward to celebrating the success with the Flensburg fans at their own Campushalle.
