Since that debut season in Europe’s top flight, Felix Claar has been patient in his development, remaining with the Swedish club until last summer, a move that sparked a series of events beyond his wildest dreams when he was packing for Denmark this time last year.
“I could not have imagined I would be playing in a World Championship, going to the EHF FINAL4 and enjoying so much success in Denmark as well. It has been a crazy year but a really fun one.”
“At my highest level”
Claar arrived at the club alongside Nikolaj Laesø, another young playmaker, making that vital position one of the big question marks for Aalborg before this season.
But the pair of them have risen to the challenge and exceeded expectations, scoring over 100 goals between them on the journey to an EHF FINAL4 ticket in one of the most remarkable campaigns in years.
“We have had our ups and downs this season in Europe but the more the season went on, the better we got and it is incredible to have come this far.
“It has been the same for me, personally, I had some good and some bad games at the beginning of the season but things have improved and now, towards the end of the season, I think I am at my highest level,” says Claar, who scored 14 goals in the two quarter-final legs against Flensburg.
The majority of Aalborg’s players will be experiencing this event for the first time, though they are not short on international experience, with seven players included in the Danish and Swedish squads which competed in January’s World Championship final.
The most experienced of all is Henrik Møllgaard, the former PSG player who has worked brilliantly in tandem with Claar and Laesø as the three of them have found a way to deliver the goods at left and centre back in attack.