Barcelona's eleventh European Handball Cup goes through defeating a family

Talant Dujshebaev and his son Dani, this Saturday during the Champions League Final Four semifinal against Veszprem in Cologne. Martin Meissner (AP)

Talant Dujshebaev (Frunze, Kyrgyzstan; 54 years old) retired this Saturday seriously, with a clenched jaw and a brisk pace through the corridors of the Lanxess Arena in Cologne after reaching the final of the Handball Champions.

He just gave a quick greeting to Veszprem's Spanish goalkeeper, Rodrigo Corrales, whom he had just defeated and whom he wanted to sign back in the day for Kielce.

A minute later, his son Álex (Santander, 29 years old) made him more smiling.

"If it wasn't for you, we would have already been winning at halftime," he yelled at the goalkeeper, his teammate in the national team.

The two of them, Talant and Álex, plus Dani (Santander, 24 years old), the third of the clan, are the last hurdle that Barcelona must jump to lift their eleventh European Handball Cup this Sunday (6:00 p.m., Dazn) and be the first in revalidating the title since it was decided in a Final Four.

A father directing two sons, a very unusual case of family coexistence in a high-level locker room considering all sports.

For the Dujshebaevs, it is also their first Champions League final together.

More information

Barcelona handball qualifies for the Champions League final

The patriarch, named the second best player of the 20th century, took refuge in 2014 in southern Poland when the gigantic Ciudad Real project (and its short continuation through Atlético) exploded in the great fall of Spanish club handball .

From winning three European Cups almost in a row in La Mancha (2005-06, 2007-08 and 2008-09) to starting again at 3,000 kilometres.

The place where he has been regrouping the family, in the booth of this club -hegemonic in his country- and even in the same block of buildings, where other Spaniards who passed through this group also lived, such as the winger Ángel Fernández, this time rival at Barca.

In this mining and commercial city of some 200,000 inhabitants, Talant, an indomitable character, educated in the non-negotiable discipline of the communist USSR, has made his warrior speech good, pure fire, while he has carved his children on the track, referents as he was in his day of the Spanish team.

Especially the eldest, Álex, one of the great names in world handball.

“He is the one who is most like me, he had to fight a lot.

When I was little they wanted me to play as a winger.

But I saw him more as a centre-back because he had vision of the game”, he commented last summer in an interview in EL PAÍS.

With his baby, in addition, he has been able to act as a biscuit grandfather.

And soon another grandson will arrive.

"I want pitbull players"

“I have never thought if they are my children.

Of course they are, but if it weren't for their quality, they wouldn't be.

I treat everyone equally.

Sometimes, I have even been a little unfair with Álex and Dani, I have given them a little more anger for being my children.

Off the court, we practically never talk about handball.

My wife also practiced it, as did Álex's wife.

If we talk about this all the time, we would go crazy, ”she pointed out in the same talk.

At the final this Sunday, Kielce de Talant and his children arrive after beating Barcelona in two consecutive games of the group stage (30-32 and 29-27), two defeats that hurt the Palau at one point of great uncertainty and doubts due to the risky change made on the bench with the arrival of Carlos Ortega instead of Xavi Pascual who had been fired after a perfect season (61 wins without failure).

Half a year later, Colonia attends the final judgement.

Talant, who debuted in the great European tournament in 1994 with Teka, already lifted another Champions League with the Polish club in 2016 in one of the most incredible comebacks in memory (he lost by nine against Veszprem with 15 minutes to go).

Álex also won it with Vardar in 2017, although with a less leading role than the current one.

And Dani looks for hers.

The youngest arrives at this Sunday's appointment after overcoming two serious knee injuries in just two years.

From the last one, which left him without Games, he recovered at the Barcelona facilities at the invitation of the club, whose shirt he visited between 2013-16 despite his status as a confessed Madridista, like his father.

Just a year ago, on another hot summer morning in Madrid, Talant Dujshebaev called for more ardent players, predators, what he called "pit bull".

“I am trying to sign players with race.

Because those who do not train to the fullest and complain, they go and attack them ”, he exclaimed.

“They are all big, tall, handsome, impressive, but then they don't have that guts of leaders.

In my team I lack the evil of these people.

I have a couple of Poles who are very good, but very noble.

I'm biting them to be more bastards.

At the end of the day, our challenge is to win.

I don't mind playing well.

And, if you can smash, even better.

And it is not disrespect to the rival, quite the opposite.

I loved Valero Rivera's Barcelona because they were pit bulls”, he concluded.

In that Barça of the five European Cups in a row (1996-2000;

the final was two-way) was the current culé coach, Carlos Ortega, who is now looking for his first on the bench.

If he wants her, he will have to defeat a family.

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on