Bundesliga
Duel for the title: Magdeburg’s handball players demand foxes
Magdeburg’s coach Bennet Wiegert and the SCM welcome the Füchse Berlin in the top game. photo
© Ronny Hartmann/dpa
Is the preliminary decision made? With a win against the “strongest team in the world” the Foxes want to get closer to their first championship title. But Magdeburg relies on the extra kick.
The advertising is based on the cinema poster for the science fiction film Dune Handball Bundesliga shows the top game between Füchse Berlin and SC Magdeburg on its social channels as a thrilling blockbuster.
Just like on the desert planet, a power struggle has broken out in Germany’s handball halls. There are a few main protagonists this Sunday (4 p.m./Dyn/MDR/rbb). Mathias Gidsel, Nils Lichtlein and Felix Claar will be particularly in focus.
First against second. A huge rivalry. The Eastern derby has never been so tense. Will the preliminary decision be made in the title race or will pursuers Magdeburg (38:6 points) increase the pressure on Berlin (41:5)? After the important Champions League victory against Hungary’s top team Telekom Veszprém HC and reaching the quarter-finals, the Elbe city residents welcomed their guests with big chests. Respect? Yes. Fear? Absolutely not.
Magdeburg “the strongest team in the world”
Magdeburg is an absolute power in the domestic arena in the current Bundesliga season and has won all eleven games. If they also manage to win number twelve at home, the SCM would move up to one point at the top of the table – with one game less. “We’re playing at home. The spectators will set the hall on fire. That’s why we win,” said left winger Matthias Musche to “Sport Bild”. For the spectators it is an “extra kick” to win against their arch rivals.
The Berliners, for their part, could take a giant step towards the first championship in the club’s history, but they know how difficult the task is. “Magdeburg has certainly been the measure of all things in recent years. They are perhaps the strongest team in the world,” praised Füchse sports director Stefan Kretzschmar and demanded of his players: “You have to accept the fight.”
Magdeburg shines in the premier class
The former national player expects “a fantastic showdown” of particular explosiveness. “There will be pressure, the house will burn from the first second. They could probably have sold 30,000 tickets. You have to be up to the crowd,” said the 51-year-old, who once won the Champions League with Magdeburg, to the German Press agency. Both teams will almost exclusively have national players on the floor.
The form curve speaks for the SCM, the team of the hour. Their premier class performances against Veszprém and FC Barcelona were impressive. The team is broader and can bring more players off the bench. The Icelandic backcourt duo Omar Ingi Magnusson and Gisli Kristjansson are becoming increasingly impressive. “I’ve noticed since the beginning of the week that there’s no normal game coming up,” said SCM coach Bennet Wiegert to the “Handball-World” portal. But his team is prepared.
Young wild and experienced world stars
With only one defeat and three draws, the Berliners are playing an almost flawless Bundesliga season. Their budget is not the highest, the fox pack is quite small compared to the competition. And yet coach Jaron Siewert’s team, which relies heavily on its own young talent, has managed to reach the top of the Bundesliga. A lot depends on the Danish world stars Lasse Andersson and Mathias Gidsel. Together with defense chief Mijajlo Marsenic, they form the framework of the ripped-off Berlin handball team.
“For me, Mathias Gidsel is the best player in the world at the moment, but Magdeburg is the best team in the world. And Mathias Gidsel alone will not win this game. Magdeburg will work very, very hard with him,” said Kretzschmar and concluded : “You can’t reduce this game to a few players. Although we realize that big games are decided by big players.”