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Ciudad Real sealed their third Champions League title in four years after narrowly beating THW Kiel 67-66 on aggregate to retain their crown.

Following their creditable first-leg defeat 39-34 in Germany, the Spanish side came back from 13-14 down at half-time to win the second leg 33-27 at the Quijote Arena.

That comeback consigned the 2006 champions to a second successive runners-up spot at the hands of their Spanish opponents.

If there was any consolation for the travelling German fans who made up a small part of the 5,200 spectators in Spain, it was that their Czech player Filip Jicha finished the season as the tournament's top scorer with 98 goals.

FIRST LEG

A late goal burst from Kiel helped them to defeat Ciudad Real 39-34 in the first leg of the Champions League final.

The crack German outfit had led 18-13 at half-time and had seemingly been in control but Ciudad Real fought back and with five minutes to go the score was 34-33.

However, Kiel outscored their Spanish opponents 5-1 in the final spell to take a healthy lead into next Sunday's second-leg.

Vid Kavticnik and Filip Jicha were Kiel's top performers on the day as they scored nine goals apiece.

The tie is a repeat of last year's final which Ciudad won.

Eurosport