Kiel have put themselves in pole position to win the Champions League by picking up an invaluable 29-27 away win at Ciudad Real in the first-leg of the final.

The defending champions put in a great performance which took the gas out of the sell-out home crowd of 5,500 who had gathered in desperate hope that their team could take a decent advantage to Germany.

The lead went back-and-forth throughout the match, but Kiel led at half-time (14-13) and then actually extended their lead in the second half.

A lot of that was down to their French goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer who had an inspired match, especially in the closing stages.

Kiel managed to win the match despite the fact that Dominik Klein picked up an injury early in the contest.

Eurosport