Arnoldsen and Aalborg are bubbling: Here is the explanation

SKIVE: Before Tuesday’s cup match, there were flowers from Skive fH to Mikkel Hansen as a thank you for the great career that sings on the last verse. For example, the match in Skive was the last cup match in Hansen’s creditable career.

The hosts did not show quite the same hospitality when the match against Aalborg got under way. Skive went ahead 3-0, and then the hall boiled, where a slightly overzealous DJ turned the match into a greatest hits review of Crazy Frog’s achievements.

Perhaps it was the overly loud and persistent music that turned on Aalborg Handball and especially Niklas Landin. In any case, the fact was that the Aalborg keeper transformed himself into a living wall.

Among other things, this is why the big team got to the top of the game despite several lapses in concentration at the start of the match.

While it was Landin who made the audience roar defensively, it was Thomas Arnoldsen who led Aalborg Handball’s offensive.

The young full-back was unstoppable and a clear overmatch for the chanceless Skive players.

Whether it was on a break or a shot from nine meters out made no difference. Arnoldsen did as it suited him.

– I think it’s starting to look really nice. I was out for half a year, and then it just takes time to come back. However, with each match I think it’s getting better and better. I am about to reach the level that I would like to reach myself, notes Thomas Arnoldsen, who is clearly frolicking like a fish in the North Sea.

– I just love being on the field. Whether it’s me or my teammates who score doesn’t matter to me. I’m really happy with the way we’re playing. Maybe not the game today, but we’ve been really good in the last three playoff games. It looks really good, so I just enjoy being part of it on the pitch, says Thomas Arnoldsen.

Both Mads Hoxer and Niklas Landin showed high class at Aalborg.
Photo: Lars Pauli

It seems as if Aalborg Handball has really found the rhythm and some cohesion in the game, which was not quite seen at the same level earlier in the season. The three relegations of Ribe-Esbjerg, Mors-Thy and Bjerringbro-Silkeborg have only emphasized that Aalborg Handball is currently in a class of its own in the Danish league.

– We have the advantage that we have a largely injury-free squad again. Every man is joining in, and that helps. Furthermore, we have used the recent training period to become more confident in the things we were already good at and to train some new things.

– It has been good to have that period of three or four weeks, because we were good in the basic game, to train some of these things. It has certainly helped us to be so sharp for the playoffs, says Thomas Arnoldsen, who continues to involve us in the next partial goal.

– Even though the semi-final place is secured, we must have secured first place. It is important to us. It is clearly a huge advantage to have a home ground in a possible third semi-final, so we must have that in place. It will also be an advantage if we have clarified it when we have to start the matches against Veszprem, says Thomas Arnoldsen.

The big-playing star also does not hide the fact that he is looking forward to trying his hand with the big team in the two quarter-final matches in the Champions League.

– I am looking forward to it. It was also one of the reasons why I went to Aalborg. It is great to have to play some of the funniest matches in the world’s strongest tournament. That it is then against a big team like Veszprem, I think, is something we are all looking forward to, says Thomas Arnoldsen.

Before it concerns the Champions League, however, there is a task against Mors-Thy, which fills Arnoldsen and the Aalborg players.

– We must have secured first place on Sunday, states the future world star.

Skive fH – Aalborg Handball 27-32